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Can pioneers water down the gospel? (by David Muir)

Posted by: Andrew Wooding - 09 August 2009

As an Ordained Pioneer Minister, I am sometimes asked whether gospel truths are being watered down in my pioneer work. People are worried that I may be diluting the challenge of the gospel in order to make it acceptable to the kinds of people I want to reach.

I can only agree that this is a genuine and important concern. Pioneer work involves expressing Christian faith in new and innovative ways, ways that resonate with people in our society and strike a chord in their hearts. It seeks to reformulate Christian truth and Christian lifestyle in order to apply the wisdom and grace of God to a different situation. There is a danger that we are not wise and astute enough to sustain the abiding truth of the gospel as we put new clothes on it. Keeping Christianity true to itself requires constant vigilance.

I think this is a danger that most of us pioneers are very aware of. Precisely because we long for people to embrace the Christian faith, we are tempted to 'soften' the gospel where it sits uncomfortably with people's values and viewpoints. But the danger mustn't deter us from engaging in the process of making the gospel relevant to today's society. An irrelevant gospel is just as untrue to the Faith as a watered down one. Both deprive the gospel of its power.

Christian faith becomes richer as it becomes more diverse

But beyond the danger there is a wonderful thing happening in pioneer work. As the gospel is related to more situations, to more different kinds of people, the truth of God keeps expanding. The wisdom of God is shown to be wise in new and unexpected ways. The grace of God transforms yet another situation, which we had never seen before. Far from being diminished and diluted, Christian faith becomes richer as it becomes more diverse. Christ is shown to be truly the Saviour of the whole world.

David Muir is an Ordained Pioneer Minister in the Okehampton Deanery of Exeter Diocese. With a long background in adult Christian education, he is now supporting 23 largely rural parishes to create fresh expressions of church that will resonate with the increasingly diverse population of Devon. He is also course leader of The Pioneer Disciple, an Anglican/Methodist Devon adaptation of the mission shaped ministry course (see www.exeter.anglican.org/pioneer).

Comments

Diluting the gospel?

Posted by Pam Smith on 31 March 09 - 08:59

God has always used people to spread the gospel - and has spoken through the Bible to people's own situation.

One of the most amazing examples of this is when the Bible is used by people in power to assert that God is on the side of the powerful but somehow the powerless still get the message. Eg slave owners in America who made their slaves into Christians so that they would know their place heard that God led his people out of slavery and believe that God would free them too.

If we receive good news we want to pass it on - and people want to find out more for themselves. If we know God loves us, we just have to tell people who don't know.

Of course people who have invested a lot of time, care and prayer into traditional forms of church may feel they're being sidelined if pioneer ministry is the flavour of the month. If pioneer ministry loses its connection from the rest of the church then it will become just another good idea that didn't quite take off. So it is a genuine concern to make sure other people understand and support what we're doing.

I love the story of Zaccheus as a paradigm for ministry because the challenge comes from Jesus' acceptance not from harsh words about his previous lifestyle. His repentance is extravagant and comes from his thankfulness and sudden understanding of God's love, acted out by Jesus.

How many of us are up to issuing that kind of challenge?

diluting the gospel

Posted by Rob Ryan on 31 March 09 - 13:51

'An irrelevant gospel is just as untrue to the Faith as a watered down one'.

Thanks David - I think this is a truth that we sometimes forget which then causes us to play safe. The fear of dilution can sometimes cripple people in their mission.

As a fellow OPM who spends a large part of each morning in a local pub chain it is interesting to observe that people are searching for a relevant gospel. They may not realise that, but its true and that search expresses itself in many different ways.

I have been sitting and waiting in this lace nearly every morning since my ordination last September, and after 7 months of such visiting I have experienced first shock and now intrigue that 'the church' is seeking to be relevant here.

It's true that when tricky questions come that there is a temptation to water down the gospel ... but I am finding that God is transforming situations jsut by having a presence ....the wisdom of God appearing in new and unexpected ways maybe! Onme thing I'm seeing more and more as I sit and watch is how little we really understand or can see of what God is doing

Pioneer ministry and the gospel

Posted by Andrew Jones on 31 March 09 - 13:54

Zaccheus is a great example, Pam, because the way Jesus dealt with this tax-collector was probably shocking to the "religious" establishment. Instead of avoiding him, Jesus crashed at his house.

Its examples like Zacchaeus, and what we experience in our own pioneer settings, that illustrate what Andrew Wooding is saying here: Pioneer ministries allow the surprise element of God acting in "new and unexpected ways" and that in turn causes a re-evaluation of the gospel that can add relevance and clarity to a gospel that has been shelved and not give freedom to run around the neighbourhood.

This is why its vital for fresh expressions to communicate back to the inherited church what they are finding and seeing as the gospel is grasped and fleshed out in new contexts.

diluting

Posted by Andrew Jones on 31 March 09 - 14:00

Clarification - David Muir wrote this post but Andrew Wooding posted it. Sorry.

More on Zaccheus

Posted by David Muir on 02 April 09 - 09:17

Thanks to Pam and to Andrew for their reflections on Jesus’ approach to Zaccheus. I loved the idea that accepting people as they are and reaching out to them with God’s love and care can itself present the ‘challenge’ of the Christian faith – precisely because such acceptance is so unexpected. So perhaps we can turn today’s stereotypes of the church to our advantage, by specifically befriending those whom society ‘knows’ religious people don’t want to have anything to do with? Or whom society thinks no-one should have anything to do with?

I also agree with feeding back insights from pioneer work into mainstream church. But sadly this is not always well received. And I wonder if Pam overstates the case in saying that without sustaining the connection, pioneer work will just become another good idea that didn’t take off. The early Christians never wanted to part company with Judaism and start a new religion; John Wesley never wanted to part company with the Anglican church and start a new denomination. But if parent social realities do not accommodate and bless new movements from within themselves, they must be prepared for the possibility that the new movement will become a separate and flourishing reality. Time and again the price of mission is schism. Jesus warned us about that. See Luke 12:51-53.

Posted by Pam Smith on 02 April 09 - 17:16

I think it depends on what particular aspect of God's vision for his church he has shared with you.

The way I feel is that none of our hearts or minds or denominations or movements are big enough to hold all God's vision, so we have to work together, and particularly with those who seem furthest away from out own grasp of what God is doing because they are the very people who challenge us to enlarge our own vision.

I don't think I have any more insight than anyone else. But very often I am overwhelmed by a sense of the grief God feels when we are trying to further his kingdom by division and individual endeavour.

I don't think this means we should be in one monolithic church but we try our best (and I know I fail dismally at this myself) not be competitive or judgemental about how others are doing mission. We don't know what they're struggling with and more importantly we can't see what God can see in terms of what is being achieved in Kingdom terms!

Johnny Baker's take on 1 Corinthians 12.12-end says it better than I could:

http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/2008/10/the-network-of.html

Who we are is what we grow

Posted by Sue Butler on 05 April 09 - 00:28

Jesus seemed to say very little but relied heavily upon the influence of His father. He loved much, spoke in riddles but was honest and truthful. Much of what seemed to grow came out of relationship and a certain knowledge that he was not aiming to win acclaim or be popular with authorities. He spoke prophetically, loved as God, moved relationally and did wonders. Maybe teaching is not mainly about words but who we are and how we live what we are.
The Holy Spirit seems also to be very instrumental in the growth of the early church.
Unless the Lord builds the house, it's builders labour in vain...

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