Where to Go with Newbigin?

Recently I blogged about an upcoming discussion on Lesslie Newbigin and his contribution to mission thinking in the West. For this discussion, we were asked to share what he contributed and where we thought we should go in light of that contribution. I discussed his contributions, now I will briefly share where my thoughts on the future...

One approach would be to see if the seeds Newbigin planted are now growing in the church, or whether we still have work to do.

To what extent can the church name the powers? Most of the Western church has been formed within the fact/value split – if not from the culture, then from within the church itself. Not yielding to the sacred/secular split, how might the church learn to speak prophetically to the powers, all the while seeking their redemption? How might the church look to where Jesus is at work in the culture, and follow him there? How might the church learn to foster the rearrangement of cultural items to Christ, not adding or subtracting to the culture, but glorifying God within the culture itself? How might the church follow Christ in all realms, including politics, economics, arts, education, recreation? 

Regarding Christendom, to what extent is the church still patterned after Christendom models? Has the clergy/laity split been rooted out or simply replaced by professionalization and various modes of control? Do we train individuals or entire communities in giftedness? On the church question, do Christians see the church see itself as the people of God dispersed rather than as a place and time to meet? Do communities of faith meet in all sorts of configurations, consistent with the culture, presenting no unnecessary barriers to those outside?

Newbigin advocated for the church’s engagement of all spheres of culture, thereby proclaiming public truth. Sphere by sphere, our members need skills to embody this truth; they need to learn how to embrace, to critique, and to see where God has gone before them. The church today has yet to acquire the skills for which Newbigin advocated. I think we would do well to press on until these skills become synonymous with ‘church’.

Comments

[David]

Maybee your next post in this series could be practical steps for implimenting these shifts.

Do we just teach/preach through the Gospels? Assign Newbigin as summer reading for our leaders? Something else? What are your suggestions?

I know a lot of people (i.e. emerging church types) recognise and are naturally making these shifts, but what of everyone else?

[billy]

Great questions Ryan. I have only recently been introduced to Newbigin (last couple of years) but I agree that the church needs to aquire these skills. Recently, I wrote an article dealing with naming and speaking prophetically to the powers in the context of the city in which I live which drew heavily on some of Newbigins ideas. The attempt was to consider these ideas in a specific setting or context and to consider what it might mean to move forward. (I live near UCSB which was just named the number 2 party school in the nation by Playboy Magizine. The article Swimming in the Divine Chaos… » Blog Archive » the Playboy Prophecies asks questions about the prophetic nature of this type of endorsement on the overall ethos and environment in the university community I call home and what it might mean to faithfully live and speak prophetically to reshape this ethos.

I am surprised that Newbigin is not more widely read by faith community practitioners. Which brings me to another question... How wide is the gap between the academic community and faith community practitioners in the U.S.? Another question: What would your "top ten books to read" list be for church planters/practitioners looking to start some type of missional expression of "church" in a California community?

[chester]

it is not about where the culture is. what did Jesus preach: REPENT.... for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Heb.10:31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living GOD. Don't preach any other gospel than that of Jesus Christ.