Have we ourselves repented?

 by Rose

I was recently challenged by what Rev. Nelis du Toit (former director of the Christian AIDS Bureau for Southern Africa) wrote about Mark1:15…

“...we have to be careful to assume without further ado that we understand what “Repent and believe the good news!” …mean(s) to us today.”

“Some preachers say that, where there is a high incidence of HIV and AIDS, “repentance” means: “Those who practice free sex must stop doing it”. From this point of view, the role of Christians and the church is to go out to the “promiscuous people” and persuade them to change their ways... In other words: to these preachers and Christians it is the “others”, the “sinners”, who have to repent.”

“But the story of the AIDS pandemic is also a story of judgement and rejection (stigmatisation), denial, apathy and self-justification. Christians and churches have often been guilty of these loveless reactions and actions that most definitely require repentance.”

“When I read Mark 1:14–20 again, it strikes me that Jesus’ call for repentance…comes in the first instance to Israel, the people of God. This reminds me of what a friend once said: The Bible is for the church and the Church is for the world. In other words: The church must read and hear and obey the Bible, so that the world can read and hear and understand the gospel in the life and actions of the church.”

“In the midst of the AIDS pandemic the call for repentance...is in the first instance directed to Christians and the church. We will have to repent of attitudes and words and actions that grieve Christ, our Leader, and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter. When we do this, we as his disciples will be able to practice the love of Jesus in the midst of the AIDS pandemic.”

Being incarnate in the Global North - Advantages

 by Peter Magnusson

What are the advantages in this approach?

First of all, it is biblical to go to where people are and not wait for them to come to us. Jesus’ whole ministry had this focus. It is also biblical to not only meet people´s needs but share life with them as part of society. As one man said “You share our thoughts and speak as from own our hearts. You became one of us, but with more authority as you have the Swedish language, multi-cultural understanding and a wider network.”

Secondly, meeting not only spiritual but all the needs of people is both more biblical and makes people of all backgrounds more open to our message. We underline the testimony of our lives with what we are asked to say; we have no ‘hidden agenda’. We believe that God genuinely cares for the whole person and whole community. His person and His message are declared through my whole person to the whole person and from the whole community of believers to the whole greater community. God is so great that He alone convinces people; my role is simply to reflect Him in every way.

Thirdly, instead of saying “Jesus is the answer” when no one asks a question, we live and share lives with people which make them ask questions. Logically, this is much more effective! Living incarnationally is to be aware of your own smallness, but also reflect that to others. It is to be clear that people will always be weak and only God can be fully trusted, as well as to quickly learn to repent and ask for forgiveness. My need for forgiveness, and the ability to ask others for it, may be the most powerful way to incarnate. As we identify with our neighbours, our attitude is always “We are not better in anyway—but we are better off, thanks to Jesus Christ only”.

Fourthly, credibility on an individual and societal level is developing. Many very secular or anti-Christian people have suddenly brought up spiritual issues. Credibility leads to more people respecting the church and Christians. This is in contrast to Christians’ claim that there is a direct correspondence between the hostility we meet and our truthfulness to the gospel. We may meet opposition, but we are not trying to generate more opposition to prove ourselves.

Fifthly, our own children and other young or old people can be proud of being Christians that are highly relevant. It is natural to follow a faith that makes sense in every area of life. Even though we still meet opposition—and we often risk a lot with our high profile—we see many positive effects at different levels. In our part of Sweden, Christians and Christianity have had a very bad reputation (probably true for most of Europe) being seen as hypocrites, judgmental and often wealthy, with little concern for the poor and weak. Our message has been understood as “we are right and you are wrong—turn or burn”. This has been a major challenge for many young Christians who see that a lot of the criticism has been merited i.e the church is not relevant to our society. Incarnationally, the focus is on Jesus instead.

We do not believe that we have found a miracle model that always meets with success and positive response. It is often tough and hard; we cry often with people around us and we make many mistakes. We do not claim to have got it all right; we are a bunch of struggling people seeing the word becoming flesh to other people and then witnessing how they in turn touch more struggling people.

It’s not about us, but about the One we follow. People see that, and understand. As Jesus is reflected, we see lives and communities transformed!

Creativity and conformity

 by Greg Kernaghan

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.

(George S. Patton)

Experience is costly, which is why most of us let our past guide our future. And there is good cause to collate experience in a way that prevents repeated failure. Remember the classic definition of idiocy: doing the same thing, over and over again, in the hopes of a better result. We tend to dress up our messy mistakes and hard-fought lessons with a profundity we call ‘wisdom’. It’s hard to challenge established wisdom.

However, what passes for the status quo—the way we do things around here—must also recognize its limitations: as a system that manages resources or a keeper of shared values, this ‘wisdom’ serves a purpose. But when it forgets its roots—the price and process paid to achieve understanding and success—and instead declares that the days of messy learning and mistakes and exploration are over or should be distrusted, its clamour for conformity and optimized public appearance should be viewed with suspicion and concern. If we’re serious about impacting the world, we should be inspired and defined by exploration and risk far more than strict adherence to policy.

Sclerosis of the faith

This increased fretting over individuals who colour outside the lines can happen in the best of movements. Never mind that the renegades are filled with vision and passion and faith to a degree we know is lacking within us. Never mind that they are ready to pay whatever price in obedience to God. Never mind that, probably unconsciously, they are imitating the founding generation of a whole movement. They haven’t filled out the proper forms! They didn’t get the right training (from us)! They’ve completely ignored their retirement! They haven’t waited (and waited and waited) for official permission to seize the day!

This tension between adventurers and settlers is probably inevitable, but needn’t be intractable. My plea is only that the spirit of the adventurer be highly esteemed and, in fact, a core reason for the bureaucracy behind it all. We’re called to make disciples—not policies, not training centres, not organizational flowcharts or even CMS software. Those are tools, not the task.

If for some reason we feel responsible for the spiritual validity of their visions, we can learn from the Pharisee Gamaliel who faced not only the non-qualified Peter and his gang but also his own law-loving peeps in the Sanhedrin. To them he said, “In the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts 5:38,39

One acid test for all

Time changes everything but God. Muhammed Ali said that if a man at 50 sees the world the same way as when he was 20, he has wasted 30 years of his life. God has placed people of various talents into the body to build each other up (1 Cor. 12). If you are the creative, seizing-the-new type, be thankful that you have others around you who keep our communal ship on an even keel. If you are committed to making everything run smoothly, be thankful that it is to enable others to be on the front lines, often in uncertain environments beyond your own comfort threshold.

Ultimately, each of us answers to God. Are we faithful to Him? Are we seizing every opportunity (Col.4:5) to make the way of Jesus known to those around us? Are we focused on the task or the tools? All of us face the danger of assuming that we are ‘effective’ whether or not it is true. The one who manages admin can keep the machinery well-oiled but utterly lack spiritual heat and light, or passion for those without God. And the extroverted, can’t-shut-him-up cutting-edge ministry type could be little more than hot air and self-promotion with little to show for the hoopla in terms of disciples. To the mirror, then. 

Think Again: You’ve Got to Know Your Players, Coach!

 by David Greenlee.

The 2009 movie The Blind Side tells the story of Michael Oher, a homeless kid turned American football star. Seeing her adopted son struggling on the practice field under the barking of his high school football coach, Leigh Ann Tuohy brazenly interrupts the scrimmage. Pulling extra-extra-extra-large Michael aside she speaks to him in terms he can understand, linking his powerful instinct to protect his family with his need to block for his teammates on the field. Amazed at the instant change in performance, the puzzled coach stares at Mrs. Tuohy, gloating from her sideline seat, and asks without words, “What in the world did you say?” “You’ve got to know your players, coach,” she shouts across the field, “You’ve got to know your players.”

The International Coordinator Nomination Group has been working through dozens of messages offering recommendations of whom we should consider. In the early stages we have often been more interested in the reasons why a person was recommended, and not just who was named. One such email caught my eye. The person writing to us had had very little direct contact with the leader he was recommending. However, he warmly remembered, “When I was appointed to be a field leader, he looked me up and asked if he could pray with me.” We all recognize that our capacity for relationship is limited; none of us can be close to dozens of people. Our leaders, whether at the local level or in an international role, can have a deep personal link with only a few colleagues. That former field leader, though, captured something important: relationships matter deeply to us, even if they cannot always be intimate friendships.

A Common Thread

Jonathan, serving in Russia, is one of the Joshua Journey participants contributing to this series (as described in my February column.) He explained the importance of relationship this way:

In reflecting on the leaders I most respect and want to imitate, there seems to be at least one common thread. They are able to, on the one hand, generate loyalty through deeply valuing their people, living at their level, and engaging them with them regularly. On the other hand, they are able to make difficult decisions, and follow through on a vision. They are risk takers, but don’t lose their people along the way.

Serving in Zimbabwe, Tinashe (whose suggestions gave the structure I am using in this series) reminds us that the leaders must first develop their relationship with God. As they practice spiritual disciplines, they should then “model the godly lifestyle to those following. In addition leaders should be able to build relationships with people. I believe a leader can have influence and lead better within the framework of relationship. They have to be concerned about the people they are leading and provide the best environment for them to grow.”

Seasons of Relationship

How long do relationships last? I have served under my current leader since 1998. But such longevity might not be the experience or expectation for younger OMers. Marnus, from South Africa, writes that

If I can build a good relationship with the person, I will follow him anywhere. But also I work in seasons. For now, I may walk with one leader, but two years from now I may change and walk with another. For me that is important for both parties to understand and it needs to be a safe place that when the time comes to move on both can part ways and know they’ve learned from each other and have become better people. 

Knowing Each Other

Have you watched Barcelona play soccer recently, or do you remember Spain in the 2010 World Cup? Those teams excel not just because of individual skill, but because they value each other, they know each other, and players and coach make each other shine, on and off the field.

Players and coaches, shepherds and sheep we all need to know each other (John 10:3,4). And as we “love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23) we demonstrate that valuing relationships is not just a leader/follower matter; it is an unspoken core value vital at every level of our fellowship.

Being incarnate in the Global North

 by Peter Magnusson

It’s always been natural for me to spend time with non-churched people, involved as I have been in sports associations, the political arena, school boards and community councils. As a teacher and youth counselor, I liked to work with ‘rough’ kids rather than the well-behaved. Sharing life with those around me came naturally—until I began receiving comments from Christians about wrong priorities i.e. doing things outside the church! That made me think…

Following developments in Operation Mercy, other parts of OM, and Swedish denomination´s efforts to evaluate foreign mission more holistically, I realized the need to more clearly live out an incarnational lifestyle even in Sweden. Living in one of its poorest suburbs has helped.

My family, other OMers and people from our local church have applied this for years. We have fought discrimination, challenged media and politicians about their approach to foreigners and poor suburbs, and helped individuals and families to fight injustice. We have worked with individuals, local officials, higher politicians and secular media. Our family is involved with a number of Middle Eastern families, inviting their children and young people to stay with and spend time with us under contracts with social services.

Interestingly, for many years this lifestyle which transcended merely running an office to send people elsewhere was not always supported within OM.

Ten years ago, the city-owned housing company´s new CEO asked me (as then Field leader for OM Sweden) and our pastor to visit. All his people in our area told him that we represented two organisations that made the area a much better place to live. He wondered what he could do for us. Since then, OM Sweden has had a significant rent deduction for both ministry and office facilities, making this secular company the biggest contributor to our local operations! OM and the church started a secondhand shop to create work opportunities as well as provide inexpensive furnishings for local people.

When later asked by the city, through the local church, to run a local youth drop-in center on Saturdays, we naturally said yes. The city operates the center on three weeknights; we now run it Saturday, and Sunday evenings. The local manager for the city´s youth department (a Muslim) raises most of the needed funds, while other city and secular sources provide the remainder.

We have 50 to 100 teens coming every night. 40% are Muslims, 40 % Christian, Orthodox or Catholic and 20% are a mix from the rest of the world! Most similar drop-in centers in Sweden have 90% boys; we are the only center with a majority of girls in all our programs.

We have a volunteer driving school for young people (90% girls, as many otherwise would have no chance of a license). We offer counseling (also through web chats, safer for many teens), schoolwork help, a leadership school for promising teens, and several other programs.
The media, politicians and others ask why we have seen so much transformation in society and why Muslim and Orthodox families trust us with their girls, when they do not trust others.

Just show up…and stay
We never have ‘Christian’ programs, which has led people to ask us if we compromise the gospel and even ourselves. Our answer is that we may not read Bible verses (though we quote the Bible all the time) nor do we put them on the walls. Instead, we want to BE Bible verses or letters of Christ (2 Cor 3:1-4).

I have never been in a situation where so many people ask spiritual questions and want to know more. We never compromise who we are or where we come from. We openly say that we want to see spiritual as well as social and emotional change. However, we wait for questions before we say “Jesus is the answer”. We do not claim that we have the right approach for every situation, but I believe that more groups in the Global North need a similar approach. Consider Jesus and the Samarian at the well: he was not confrontational, but lowered Himself (physically, emotionally and socially) to the point where questions bubbled up. Continuing to avoid religious discussions, He remained absolutely clear about True Life through Him.

We not only work in this area, we also live there. Thus we get many questions as to why we chose to do so, and why we work with those often most despised (even in this community) or neglected. That is an excellent starting point to share about Him who came to share our conditions to reconcile us with God!

During our early days, several questioned why we didn´t preach every time or at least put Bible verses on the wall. I became quite discouraged when it seemed we were not going to have enough people to continue. I needed to talk to the manager from the city (a Muslim) about practical matters, when he suddenly stated “Peter, no one else is doing what you are doing! Everyone else wants people to come to their club, sport association or church—but you have gone to the people!” He continued: “I am convinced that, in the future, so many people will come to your church and listen to your message because of this.” When I told people about this, they realized that God had spoken through him. Since then we have had all kinds of people from different religious backgrounds (even atheists) supporting what we do.

Next time we will look at the advantages of this approach.