Continuing Jesus' Mission into the World

"It is the decision to carry on the mission of Jesus’ kingdom that remains the basis of the church" says John Fuellenbach in Church: Community for the Kingdom. In my Church and Mission class this last quarter, we discussed this idea -- continuing the work of Jesus as the primary task of 'church'. We talked about Jesus' central message, the proclamation of the kingdom of God. We talked about how the church finds its true identity when it continues this proclamation, both in their corporate life and in the story they tell about God. We talked about how the kingdom is not an abstract concept -- Jesus' proclamation created a space that included the outcasts and the sinners and invited them into community. It gave voice to the voiceless, the enemy a seat at the table.

I asked my very big class (74 students!), what would it look like if our sole mission strategy was to  continue Jesus' ministry? And what if it had to stay pretty concrete, staying pretty close to the actual things Jesus did in community with his disciples? What if that was the stuff we had to get right, the central stuff, and that the other stuff, while important, was peripheral? In our jobs at Starbucks, or in our neighborhood groups, or in our church systems, what if hospitality, including the marginalized, overflowing generosity, giving voice to those without, were the essentials? Could these sorts of communal practices point to God and change the world?

In our class, we replaced the church rubric (how many are in or out?) with kingdom rubrics -- how are our practices, anywhere, like the kingdom (or not)? Are our activities that we participate in moving in that direction? How might we foster, through our conversations, positive moves towards the kingdom at Starbucks, in our neighborhoods, and in our church systems? It was an engaging conversation that lasted all quarter -- both in small groups and in our large discussions. They are questions I hope they will continue to ask the rest of their lives. 

Here is Part II

Here is another post on this topic...

Technorati Tags: Fuller Theological Seminary, Jesus, kingdom of God, mission

Comments

[Drew Moser]

Good words. Nice to see you back in the blogging saddle.

[C. Wess Daniels]

Ryan, I'd have to say this was my favorite part of the class, discussing the KOG and it's many aspects helped to really flesh out what the church ought to be striving after. It was great learning.

[Bob Robinson]

Amen. Amen.

For many churches in the USA, replacing the church rubric with kingdom rubrics will take some major paradigm shifts. The negative effects of dispensationalism, which separated church from kingdom needs to be addressed.

Thanks for the great post.

[Markus Watson]

Would have loved to sit in on that class! I'm currently reading Dallas Willard's "The Divine Conspiracy," and his thoughts on the Kingdom of God is revolutionizing my understanding of what it means to live as a Christian and how to be the Church.

[Sivin]

Now I know why I intuitively felt the nudge to get the book by John Fuellenbach when I was at the catholic bookstore. You blog had a subconscious influence over me. :-)

[Ryan]

The academy has talked about the kingdom the last fifty years or so, but it took awhile to make it explicitly in US church circles, especially evangelical circles. Willard's work has inspired many, and so has NT Wright -- I find Catholic writing (from Orbis) on church and kingdom very helpful in these discussions...

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