Theresa and I carved our annual fall pumpkin and thought you might enjoy seeing the result.

 

The following is part two of the article I wrote for the BFC’s Fellowship News.

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In part I of this article, we talked about how the church in North America finds itself in a new cultural context. Traditional ways of incarnating the gospel in our culture are becoming increasingly less effective. So what are some of the changes in approach that we can make in order to reconnect with our society?

Relationships Outside the Walls

People in our society are more concerned with interpersonal relationships, and it is through those long-term intimate relationships that the gospel will impact people’s lives and transform them into disciples of Jesus Christ. Often our church programs are organized around getting people into our church so we can present the gospel to them. In our time, a more helpful approach would be to find ways to get our people out of our churches and into the community.

Does that mean that we cancel all our services and tell everyone to go join the Rotary and the PTA? Maybe not, but we need to get beyond the idea that church health is simply determined by the number of people that attend, the growth of the church’s attendance, the church’s budget, or the number of programs and outreaches the church executes. What really counts is having a fellowship of people who are continually deepening their relationships with God, developing relationships with the lost, and engaging them in a meaningful and effectual way.

A Missional Approach at Home & Overseas

Another implication of a missional approach to ministry is something I already alluded to – a dissolving of the distinctions between concepts like overseas missions, home missions, local outreach, and even church community. As I mentioned earlier, we are all part of God’s mission to restore his relationship with humanity and ultimately to bring glory to himself and therefore all that we do should be considered the advancement of that mission.

Cross-cultural ministry is a vital task and we must begin to see the cross-cultural workers we send overseas as integral parts of our church’s ministry, but we also must view our church’s ministry as integrally missional. Everything we do should be about reaching out into our communities and building the kingdom of God. We must realize that any distinctions that have been created are artificial and should only be allowed where they are helpful and eliminated where they are not. Certainly there will be facets of ministry that are directed toward specific areas or parts of the world, but our mission and thus our activities should be the same.

The Essentials of the Gospel

The BFC is already considering the practical implications of such a shift as we look at future church planting possibilities in Mexico. If this endeavor is successful, it will force us to deal with cross-cultural issues, not only in our dealings with those in our urban contexts and in those of our international workers, but also within our own denomination. As we begin to encounter cultural differences we will be forced to examine which of our practices and understandings of Scripture are influenced by our own cultural biases. As we engage in this examination, we should adhere to the principle of “majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors.”

This is one of the principles that cross-cultural missionaries in countries strongly dominated by other religions have been forced to practice for a long time. When you live in a village that has only ten Christians in it, individual views on issues that are not essential to the gospel are subsumed in the common goal of reaching those around them for the cause of Christ. When the people around you have no knowledge of the true and living God and the salvation provided through the death of his son, dialogue on those things and promotion of them serves to unite over and above denominational or theological distinctives. As we face secularism in our society, we must be prepared to accept the same reality.

A New Paradigm

In summary, I believe it is only through the rebirth of our church paradigm and the adoption of these principles – cultural engagement, relational outreach, missional orientation, and Christian unity – that we can truly be effective in allowing the gospel to impact our culture. This will certainly prove to be disconcerting as we move away from methodologies and conceptualizations that have sustained our ministries for the last hundred years and more, but unless a change like this is embraced, I believe that Christianity will become increasingly marginalized in a secular culture and our once Christian nation will become a pagan nation rivaling those we have sent cross-cultural missionaries to for the last two centuries.

So Colby and I have been taking a Japanese class lately.  We’re enjoying it fairly well and are trying to get a head start on the language for when we go over long-term.  It has been an interesting experience because it has forced us to start from the beginning like a child would.  I have been learning hyragana, which is the Japanese version of the alphabet, and it has honestly brought back memories of kindergarten.  I can remember my teacher standing in the front saying, “‘I’ is for Indian, now let’s all say it together….”  Although now it’s ‘Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko,’ and so on.  Thankfully, I am beginning to understand it better and can recognize and write the symbols – it is so encouraging!  My goal is to learn both the hyragana and katakana well so that I can read and write in it before we leave.  I’ll let you know how I progress!