promiseandpeace

I need your help!

Here’s the deal. My professor at Biblical Seminary gave our class the option to choose between two books for one of our readings. The first is Models of Contextual Theology by Stephen B. Bevans. The second is Doing Local Theology: A Guide for Artisans of a New Humanity by Clemens Sedmak. I have no idea about either of these two books or authors. I don’t know which one is good, or maybe both are? Both book covers suck so we can’t choose a book by its cover.

So, I need your help! Please vote in the poll below on which book you believe I should read for my seminary class. Even if you haven’t read them, read the reviews on Amazon and help me out. I thank you. My class will also thank you.

I think I often am too critical of the Church (that is, the global body of Jesus’ followers). Perhaps, it is a good thing in many ways, instead of following it blindly. I have many problems with evangelicals, and I have stated those throughout my time on this blog. I am evangelical so I find that I must be most critical of what I am closest to. Like family, evangelicals drive me insane, but, like family, I do love them. Like family, the Church has made me question if I even want to be a part of this, but, like family, I love the Church so much.

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Can I Get a Witness?

For one of my classes at Biblical Seminary, I was asked to summarize Brian Blount’s Can I Get a Witness? Reading Revelation through African American Culture. The following is a chapter-by-chapter summary ending with my thoughts on a very good book.

Chapter 1: “The Revelation of Culture”: Brian Blount suggests that any interpretive schemes seeking objectivity are pointless since in the end “all readings are politically situated” (p. 12). Instead, one should admit his or her cultural standpoint and read the text through his or her cultural lens. The reader should seek “what Revelation means for us” (p. 5). With this being said, the most appropriate method is that of cultural studies. Blount suggests that culture is simply the sharing of experience (p.8), and all interpretations have “meaning potential.” If this is the case, biblical interpretation takes into account various opinions and participates in the “construction of meaning” (p. 22), specifically valuing the conclusions of “previously marginalized contemporary communities” (p. 25). This does not allow for a subjective, “anything goes” interpretive style, but it simply suggests that “the case is always open” (p. 35).

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Colossians Remixed

We covered the first ethic (ethic of secession) a few days ago. The second ethic in Colossians Remixed is the “ethic of community.” Walsh and Keesmaat quote Rodney Clapp, who states that the early Christians “were about creating and sustaining a unique culture…and they were determined to be a culture, a quite public and political culture, even if it killed them and their children” (p. 179; emphasis mine). The last line sticks with the reader. Losing one’s own life for a cause is difficult to perceive but to also put one’s children in harm’s way is seemingly inconceivable. The writer of the paper is indifferent about this statement, but it makes the reader think about his or her family’s commitment to the cause of Christ. The Jesus painted by much of American Christianity, frankly, is not worth dying for and especially not worth putting one’s children in harm’s way.

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Colossians Remixed

Part 1.

Jesus is no longer worth following, or, at least, the Jesus painted by twenty-first American Christianity is not worth following. He is not exciting. He does not energize. Many in America have made Jesus into a prosperous, white-collared North American in order for anyone to pay interest. On the other hand, the Jesus, who Paul espouses, is exciting and challenging. Through Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat in their book Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire bring to light a first-century Jesus, who is the Lord of the whole world and an alternative to Caesar and his empire. Based on this type of Jesus, the authors do well to remind the reader of a few things that he or she should take into account. They take this first-century, subversive message of Jesus and apply it directly to followers of Christ today. This Jesus is worth following.

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Theology

We’ve explored two specific marks of the missional church over three different posts. This leads us to the last mark of the missional church — a theologically educated laity. As one approaches the general laity in his or her congregation, he or she can quickly assess whether or not the local church has properly served its congregants by providing some type of theological education for engaging everyday life. In the trend of seeker-sensitivity, many churches have neglected theology believing that “seekers” individuals have no interest in such training. However, Tim Keller suggests that missional churches need to theologically train laity for their vocations when he explains, “In a ‘missional’ church, the laity needs theological education to ‘think Christianly’ about everything and work with Christian distinctiveness…lay people renewing and transforming the culture through distinctively Christian vocations must be lifted up as ‘real kingdom work’ and ministry along with the traditional ministry of the Word” (p. 2). As seminaries continue to close their doors and biblical illiteracy increases, theological education of laity must be of utter importance in the Church’s call to disciple-making.
The twenty-first Church continues to struggle with its identity in the current context. However, there are numerous things, which the Church should continue to focus upon, if it is to be a peculiar people. The Church has and must continue to be shaped by the Great Commission, specifically surrounding the area of discipleship. As stated, discipleship is the most important task for the twenty-first century, missional Church. In light of this, the Church must paradoxically engage culture while at the same time promoting a counter-cultural mentality. These are difficult to balance, but the Church must be able to do both. The missional Church is counter-cultural specifically by promoting multiracial communities and rejecting consumerism and nationalism. In the end, it is important that laity be theologically trained in order to participate as missional people in daily life. The Church for so long has relied on Christendom to assist its efforts for making disciples. However, Christendom overemphasized conversion and not discipleship; thus, neglecting the Great Commission. The people of Christ are to be a peculiar people. If the Church forgets this and falls into the trap of overemphasizing something like relevance, it forgets its identity. If the Church focuses strictly on conversion, it forgets its identity. If the Church becomes racially homogeneous, it forgets its identity. Thus, the Church is a peculiar people, and a peculiar people that have forgotten their identity can never fulfill Christ’s words to “make disciples of all nations.” These things must mark the missional Church in order to do ministry in a twenty-first century context.

There is not enough time to cover all the “marks” so what “marks” would you add?

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Conclusion of series on “The Marks of the Missional Church”

Read Part 1 on Discipleship here. Part 2 - (Counter)Culture 1 here. Part 3 - (Counter)Culture 2 here.

Citations for all posts:

1. DeYoung, C. P., Emerson, M. O., Yancey, G., & Kim, K. C. “All Churches Should Be Multiracial”, in Christianity Today 49 (April, 2005).
2. Emerson, M. O. & Smith, C. (2000). Divided by faith: evangelical religion and the problem of race in America. New York: Oxford.
3. Hirsh, A. (2006). The forgotten ways. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press.
4. Keller, T. (2001). “The missional church.”
5. Walsh, B. J. & Keesmaat, S. C. (2004). Colossians remixed: subverting the empire. Downers Grove: IVP.

Consumerism

Thoughts on a multiracial church lead to the second way in which the Church must be counter-cultural. The Church must be counter-cultural by standing against the overwhelming consumerism, most prevalent in American culture. Emerson and Smith suggest that evangelicals are not immune to consumerism when they state, “The organization of American religion is characterized by disestablishment, pluralism, competition, and consumer choice. This organization is partly shaped and often capitalized on by evangelicals. And as a consequence of sociological and social psychological principles at work, congregations become and remain highly racially homogeneous” (p. 151; emphasis mine). The racial homogeneity of Christian congregations is a by-product of the emphasis of the surrounding culture.

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Culture

For the people of God to “make disciples of all nations,” they must be not run from culture but engage it. Keller suggests that Christians engage the stories of the culture in order that they might restate the stories in light of the gospel. Christians will be faced with a strong temptation to fall into sectarianism, but they must never yield to this. Engaging the culture marks the missional Church, as Keller states that “to ‘enter’ [the culture’s stories] means to show sympathy toward and deep acquaintance with the literature, music, theater, etc. of the existing culture’s hopes, dreams, ‘heroic’ narratives, fears” (p. 2). The missional Church must familiarize itself with its surrounding culture.

The Church has always been tempted to over-engaged culture that it becomes the culture’s bedfellow. Paradoxically, the missional Church must engage culture and be counter-cultural at the same time. If the Church is not counter-cultural, it ceases to be a peculiar people and abandons its calling. The Church has often neglected its calling by overemphasizing the desire to be relevant in order to reach the culture for Christ. However, in many situations, the Church fails to look different from culture since the people of God were so concerned with looking like society.

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