It's highly unlikely that I'll be able to post a blog this week. I'm heading out of town in a couple of hours for a week of meetings. However, it's a meeting with strategy leadership from around Africa, so I hope to actually get inspiration for several topics for future posts.
I would still love to get some varied dialogue going on this blog -- comments, though moderated for security reasons, are highly valued and I'm on the lookout for guest bloggers. Is there a topic related to missions in Africa about which you would like to write? Do you have an experience to share that might help someone else -- either a success or a failure? Send it to me at sta(dot)ssap(at)gmail(dot)com
For the Kingdom,
Bob A
22 February 2010
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Dear Bob,
ReplyDeleteI wish I would have read your blog before meeting you face to face in Kenya. I really enjoyed your insights from a movie that I may actually now go and watch, although that was not your intention. I agree whole heartedly with your observations.
I agree the church needs to be more outward focused. I am shying away from the word church in my Bible studies because there is so much baggage and western influence with just the word. I would rather call them studies or worship times, anything but using the "c" word. I also think you were exactly right about baggage and cultural bias that we missionaries bring to the cultural we desire to change. I think one of those items is time. We set dates, make plans, and move forward with an agenda to fit our schedule when God may decide to work faster or slower than we desire. Then we get frustrated. I think it is in the time of deepest frustration that we then start to check out. I am amazed at how many movies missionaries watch, or books they read, or plants they nurturer. It seems anything is acceptable but engaging the culture and people around us, all in the name of I need to rest. I am deeply concerned about our effectiveness because we have become frustrated and have lost the big picture.
Now confronting missionaries will never work. Blogs are good for those who already think like us, but truth is, another missionary will never be able to take credit for changing another missionary. That is what God desires. Copying Scripture is my love because I find it doing the very things that I cannot. Confront people in their sinfulness without arguing about culture. God's Holy Spirit comes through his word and affects change. It is the very thing you used in your blog which made the most sense and cannot be argued with. I know there are cultures that do not give any credence to the word of God, but if they would taste and see, they would discover that the Lord is good.
Thanks for listening, His word will not come back void.
kelly
Kelly, thanks for your thoughtful comments. You're right, I wasn't necessarily recommending the movie, Avatar. There are a number of things in the movie to which many would object.
ReplyDeleteOne of the challenges in starting churches in Africa is to get those churches to think beyond themselves. That same challenge exists, perhaps to an even greater degree, among US churches. I do know of some specific Kenyan churches that are definitely looking outward and are missional. I wonder if there are some reading this who know some successful strategies for getting churches to look outward.
I actually like the word "church" as it is a Biblical term, not a western cultural term. The problem is, as Kelly said, with the western influence on the word. It points to the necessity of teaching the correct meaning of the word. If this is understood from the beginning, it is much easier to have believers doing what "church" is. In some ways, it can be easier to work with UUPG as they may be less likely to have an incorrect, prejudiced definition of church.
ReplyDeleteThe Apostle Paul would agree with you, MamaSam. It's too far past my bed time and I'm not thinking straight, but a rough paraphrase would be, I prefer to work where no others have worked before. If one could find an uninfluenced, unengaged, unreached people group (would that be UUUPG?), one could more easily avoid the external corrupting influences. The flip side, though, is that the PG would only have general revelation and would already be interpreting that general revelation via their existing worldview.
ReplyDelete"Church" is a biblical term and I, too, plan to stick with it. Technically, it's the English translation of the biblical term, ekklesia, which itself is formed from two other Greek words, ek (from, out) and kaleo (call, summon, invite). It's used 77 times in the NIV New Testament. (Side note: I've always found it interesting that English Bible translate the term as church in Matthew 16:18 before there was ever even an informal identified church.) So I wouldn't argue with someone who wanted to translate it differently but retained the same meaning.