Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Works of social justice are signs of the Kingdom.

I have recently read N. T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope. This is a greatly needed corrective to the dualistic view of the afterlife that much of the church holds.

To summarise this view, heaven is seen as being a purely spiritual place, that is diametrically opposed to the material world, which is seen as evil. This dualism comes from Greek philosophical thought, which elevated the spiritual and despised the material.

Biblical views however do not make these distinctions. Spiritual does not necessarily = good, and material does not necessarily = evil. For that matter, heaven does not necessarily = spiritual, and earth does not necessarily = material.

From these Greek categories, we have fallen into believing that the afterlife will be an entirely spiritual reality, where our bodies will be discarded, and we will float on clouds, playing harps.

In brief, as N. T. Wright highlights, the bible teaches that after a time all the dead in Christ will rise in bodies, as Christ did. Our bodies will be physical (Christ ate after His resurrection) and glorified (Christ appeared/disappeared at will). The new heavens and new earth, as described in Rev 20-21, will be the fusing of heaven and earth together. God will make His home amongst man. The presence of God will no longer be in the temple, or just in believers through the indwelling of the Spirit, but will light up the city of God. He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and revelation also speaks of “the healing of the nations”.

This is an altogether PHYSICAL understanding of the new creation. For this reason we cannot see salvation as a purely spiritual matter. We are not just trying to save souls. We are trying to save WHOLE PEOPLE.

When Christ was on earth, he did miracles and proclaimed that “the Kingdom of God is near”. His signs and miracles pointed forward to the consummation of the kingdom where there will be health, freedom and people will be fed. Thus His miracles consisted of healing people, setting them free from oppression and feeding them.

When we challenge unjust social structures that hold people in bondage – that is a sign of the Kingdom. When we feed the hungry – that is a sign of the Kingdom. When we liberate the oppressed – that is a sign of the Kingdom. When we work for the conservation and sustainable stewardship of the earth – that is a sign of the Kingdom.

Christ did not just preach the word; He accompanied the word with the signs that would confirm the coming of His Kingdom. When we do works of social justice, we continue Christ’s work, we point forward to the Kingdom.

God bless,
Bec

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Attractional model of church growth

I do not believe that the attractional model of church growth is biblical. The foundation of Christian evangelism and mission, is the Great Commission where we are told “to go out”…

Often the disciples inviting people to “come and see” Jesus is cited as a biblical basis for the attractional model. I would point out the following, those who did the inviting had already seen Jesus, and gone out from Jesus to their friends in order to invite them back to meet Jesus. So this is an example of going out, not attracting people in. Secondly, inviting people to meet Jesus is not the same as inviting them to church. Sometimes people who are invited to church MIGHT meet Jesus there. But people might meet Jesus just as easily walking past the station, or crying on the lounge room floor. Sometimes coming to church is an impediment to people meeting Jesus.

I think this really comes out of two things. Firstly, people are scared to be evangelists in their everyday lives. It’s uncomfortable, if you would really prefer Christianity to be a Sunday thing that we compartmentalise away from the Monday to Saturday “real life”. Secondly, we don’t feel that we’re as “holy” as our Pastors and leaders, so even if someone does come to Christ, how can we be sure that they said the right version of the sinner’s prayer?

So the question really is, how do we empower Christians to see themselves as being on the frontline in God’s mission? That they are where people will meet Jesus. In the workplace, in the home, in the supermarket?

Pastors need to be freed up from DOING the “saving” via means of the attractional / altar-call methodology to do what they are supposed to be doing, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph 4).

God bless,
Bec

Friday, March 20, 2009

Church Structure & Institutionalisation is a Stronghold

I’m coming to think that church structure and institutionalisation is a stronghold that as a Christian community we need to overcome if we are going to be effective in spreading the gospel in our increasingly secular society.

Many of the problems we face as a church come out of making a lot of assumptions about what church should be. If we challenge those assumptions, solutions to the problems we are facing start appearing.

For example, many churches spend a lot of time, money and effort on building projects. During these periods effort and resources are diverted from mission and evangelism into getting buildings built. The argument goes, we can’t support more growth if we don’t have room for people.

However, there are a number of assumptions underlying this problem. Firstly, there is the assumption that the church needs to stay together. Why do we assume this? Why do we assume that it is only the “church planters” and “missionaries” that should be going out into the world? It seems to me that the assumption that we have to stay together drives the decision to buy property. I think a kingdom focus would see these times as an opportunity. An opportunity to plant a new church, ensuring the ongoing flexibility and mobility of the church for mission & evangelism. We need to remember how in Acts the Holy Spirit used the persecution of the church in Jerusalem to break up their cosy little community, and drive them out into the world to fulfil the Great Commission.

The second assumption is that physical space equals social space. Many churches have empty pews. There is physical space for many more people. However, that does not necessarily mean that there is social space for people. Churches tend to be very clique-y, and the use of religious jargon is an impediment for many. Most importantly though, we fail abysmally in showing people (inside or outside the church) the kind of radical, self-sacrifical love and grace that Christ showed us. Having someone meet you in the carpark is not the same as being loved unconditionally and extravagantly by your enemy.

And there are so many more examples… My point is we have to stop assuming that things have to look the way they always have. We need to challenge our assumptions. If we keep doing what we are doing, and expect different results… well we all know the saying… that’s the definition of insanity. Just as the structures of the world institutionalise injustice and need to be challenged, so do church structures that get in the way of the people of God living out the gospel in a secular society.

God bless,
Bec