Christological question: What is the Gospel?
Missiological question: What is the purpose of God and his people?
Ecclesiological question: What is the form and function of the God’s church?
Newbigin’s Formulation for how to accomplish the above sequence:
1. A recovery of an eschatology that recognizes that our political or religious activity cannot establish the KoG. Rather, a belief that the coming reign of God is the framework for all missionary practice.
a. It is not up to our activity, our lobbying or practices, but simply abandoning ourselves to the hope that the reign of God will prevail.
i. Stop seeing what is wrong and start seeing what is right.
1. The KoG is unfolding all around us. Cooperate with it!
2. A rediscovery of the freedom of the Christian life, based in the grace of Jesus.
a. There is too much neurosis in the church today.
i. God is present and God is good.
ii. The kingdom of light is more powerful than the kingdom of darkness.
iii. Embrace the joy of grace.
3. A “declericalising” of the church and an equal recovery of the importance of so-called lay leaders who help congregations “to share with one another the actual experience of their weekday work and to seek illumination from the gospel for their daily secular duty.”
a. This is not to do away with the clergy, but to do away with the laity.
i. Commission (ordain) the average person for the work and ministry they have been given (no matter what it is).
ii. If you ordain everyone half of our battles (women and gays) would be over (Frost).
4. A radical theological critique of the theory and practice of denominationalism, which Newbigin became famous for claiming was the religious aspect of secularization.
5. An objective and distance examination of Western culture with the help of views of those from other culture.
a. To help overcome blind spots.
6. A resolute preparedness to hold fast to the core belief of the Christian gospel bearing in mind that “(t)he gospel is not a set of beliefs that arise or could arise from empirical observation of the whole human experience. It is the announcement of a name and a fact that offer the starting point for a new and life-long enterprise of understanding and coping with experience. To accept it means a new beginning, a radical conversion.
7. A commitment to the belief that mission must proceed from a dynamic worshiping community of faith and not merely from innovations or new methods and techniques.
a. The best hermeneutic (interpretation) of the gospel is a group of man and women who believe and live by it.
Some addition ideas by Frost:
· Let Jesus be your reference point
o Evangelism is an ethical framework
§ Not just an invitation to forgiveness and heaven, but a context for a better way of living.
· Complete and total renewal and transformation.
· Nonbelievers want to participate in the KoG (without using those terms)
o Racial reconciliation
o The environment
o Human trafficking
o Social transformation- not a means to another end.
§ Cooperation
o The table (kitchen, dinner room or pub) us a primary missional zone
· Foster a radical spirituality of engagement
o Retreat=Time with God
§ Engagement= leaving God behind to serve others (incorrect)
o Retreat=Time with God
§ Engagement= time with God
· The belief that our daily lives can be illuminated by the Gospel.
· Be inspired by prevenient grace
o The understanding God is at work in everyone’s life before we get there to convene grace.
· Follow the Missio Dei into strange places.
o Listen to the rhythms of your context. Sit in local places. Hang out in local coffee shops. Talk to local people. Join community groups.
o Be employed in the neighborhood. Be free of being so driven by results. Stop measuring your success by how many people attend and start measuring it by what God is doing in your context.
o Engage in snowball research. That is, meet the community gatekeepers, the movers and shakers. Listen to them. Hear of their dreams for your neighborhood. Who knows, they may be the persons of peace referred to in Luke 10.
o Get rid of your church building (he was being tongue and cheek).
o Say, “yes” to every invitation you receive. Say yes, to every party, every meal, every committee you get invited to attend.
· Inspire others around you to do the same.
o Then ask, “What does the rule and reign of God look like in this place?”
Quote of the day: “10-12 percent of the population in Australia attends church. Less in Britain, where 2% of the population in France and .05% in Austria regularly attend church.”
No comments:
Post a Comment