Light of the World, a City on A Hill
…thinking out loud about living missionally in the city of Sydney so that the city will come to know Jesus…Archive for Uncategorized
Reformed Missology - Preface
As I have mentioned in a previous post, I intend to put some thoughts up on how a reformed theology might inform and shape our missiology. Before doing that I wanted to give some prefatory comments.
First, I am not intending on exhaustively defending a reformed theology - there are others much better qualified than I to do this. The validity of the viewpoint will be assumed.
I will not be suggesting that my conclusions are the be all and end all.
I will inevitably “contrast” against a more free-will orientated viewpoint, but will try to be as gracious as possible in doing so.
Here we go…
Can you handle the Truth?
I quite enjoy studying Biblical Doctrine. As I am not a bible college student, pastor or other “professional” this probably puts me in the category of eccentric weird guy.
I have particularly been meditating/reading/listening up on God’s sovereignty, particularly as it relates to salvation. This is a very weighty topic, but also very crucial IMHO.
Matt from Journey’s in between has inspired me to consider how a reformed framework/theology might shape our missiology, and I will post on this soon. In the meantime, however, I am wondering whether the teaching of doctrine has been somewhat neglected in our churches?
Mars Hill will start a 12-odd week series on Doctrinal basics this Sunday. This content will essentially replace their Gospel Class which they use for inducting people as members.
As evangelicals we are sometimes accused of being all about bible (in terms of knowledge anyway) and lacking in other areas like social justice. Now while this is in some ways true, I have become less convinced that we even have enough bible understanding.
No doubt experience will be different across the city. For me, I did the Moore College Introduction to the Bible correspondence course last year. Great course and I would recommend it. The thing is, I was embarrassed by the amount that I learnt form that course, particularly with respect to the Old Testament.
Perhaps I am isolated in my experience, but if not, should we be more intentional about teaching our people doctrine? Or do we think that the average punter can’t cope with it?
Connect 09 is taking shape
I posted some time back some commentary/criticism levelled at the Sydney Anglican Diocese, which I felt had merit.
What particularly concerned me was the suggestion that the demographic of people typically in Anglican churches in Sydney was overwhelming either white or of Chinese heritage, middle-class, university educated and professional.
AB Jensen, who I have great respect for, has been doing a series of short video presentations in conjunction with the Connect 09program, which is the Syd Ang push for reconnecting with the Sydney community. In the most recent one (here) the Archbishop openly states that ” Anglican Churches have become very ‘Professional’ and that we need to break out of that ghetto”.
The more I hear from AB Jensen on what Connect 09 means, the more I like the direction the program is taking. What started out (in what was communicated at least) as some sort of bible distribution program, has started to take more of a missional shape. Ministers and Pastors are being encouraged to free up their diaries to focus on connecting with their communities. This is a good thing. And the recognition from the top that we have become way to demographically homogeneous is also a very positive message.
I am now looking forward to seeing Connect 09 come to life.
Christology, Missiology, Ecclesiology
I have been steadily ploughing through my recent Amazon haul of books and am finding them all really helpful.
I will post some more complete thoughts later, but for now I wanted to mention a line of thinking that has come out from a number of authors, and has resonated with me.
The view is that we first and foremost must understand and define our Christology (who Jesus is and what is the Gospel) and this in turn drives and shapes our Missiology (why are we here, what are we here to do) and then against the backdrop of our cultural context we form our Ecclesiology (what we do and how we do it).
Michael Frost explicitly spells this out in his “Exiles” book.
I think sometimes my faith tribe (and others like it) can be a bit “Pauline”, i.e. skewed toward the NT Epistles, and in turn de-emphaise the Gospels, reducing them to “Jesus died, rose, ascended,believe in him and be saved”.
I am now trying to re-discover the Gospels and perhaps move towards more well rounded view of ‘the’ Gospel.
Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought
I have worked for the last eleven odd years in the corporate world, the last 5 or so in management roles. After a very stressful year in 2006 my area was restructured and I was moved into a “project role”. Anyone who has been through this type of situation knows that this is the kiss of death, and less than a year after this, it was announced that my role was being made redundant.
Show me the money.
I have been pretty cool with that, though you always have the thinking that says you are being made redundant because you are not good enough.
A passage I have been meditating on in light of this is Romans 12:3 which says:
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” [ESV].
Now Paul here is talking in the context of the various gifts that are given to God’s people in relation to serving and building up the body of Christ, but I have been relating Paul’s words to my own life in relation to my work.
There were many aspects of being a manager that I loved and was good at. I loved working with people and helping them to succeed. I loved thinking strategically and dreaming up new and better ways of doing things. But honestly I think the pressures involved in being in these types of roles did not sit comfortably with me. I wanted to protect my staff from being overworked, and in doing so sometimes took the workload on myself. Additionally from a relationship perspective, boss-subordinate relationships are always very different from peer to peer ones, and this effected how I related my faith to those I worked with day to day.
Anyway, I was supposed to finish up a couple of weeks ago, but in God’s providence I was afforded the opportunity to stay on for a bit longer to fill a staff gap. The truth is I have really loved being back in this type of role. It uses my skills, it doesn’t have the pressure of the management roles, and I can relate my faith naturally to my colleagues.
So I am trying to apply Romans 12:3 and not think of myself too highly, but to be sober in my judgement. I will be pursuing a staff level role rather than a management role. This will mean dropping salary levels significantly (circa 30%), but we can get by on the money. The upside is that I will not be completely stressed, and I will have more time and energy for things that are of greater importance like Jesus, family and relationships.
This is a bit pathetic…
but I decided to rename one of my folders on my laptop.
It was called “Church” and I renamed it to “Life & Faith”.
I suppose I decided that having a compartment called church was exactly that - a compartment. Being a son of God is who I am, not what I do on Sunday.
So anyway, the name change was symbolic. It still probably isn’t very good, but I think it’s better.
Jeff
Under the pump
Sorry for the lack of posting action…I am studying furiously for my “Introduction to the bible” exam tomorrow…
It’s a bugger of an exam…you’d think “Intro” would be easy, but it covers the WHOLE bible…all 66 books!
I’m really enjoying the study though…just read the killer passage from Isaiah 52/53…reproduced here for your encouragement:
“13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up,and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations;kings shall shut their mouths because of him;for that which has not been told them they see,and that which they have not heard they understand.
53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,and like a root out of dry ground;he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men;a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefsand carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken,smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,yet he opened not his mouth;like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;and as for his generation, who consideredthat he was cut off out of the land of the living,stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wickedand with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence,and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt,he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” Isaiah 52:13-53:10 [ESV]
Post again soon
Jeff
Sorry about that…
Apparently this blog requires a reading level of “Genius” (according to http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx…who’d have thought?
Counter Cultural Living…Part 2
Let me state up front that this post will be controversial, at least for some…
