Transposing The Gospel

In an attempt to effectively communicate the gospel message in the modern age, I have often heard people suggest that we need to make the gospel more relevant.  While the intention is to make the gospel more accessible, this suggestion can infer that the gospel is no longer adequate or compromise the integrity of the message.

I hold a strong conviction that the gospel is always relevant and entirely adequate with its message transcending time and culture for all generations!  The only inadequacy it faces is our ability or inability to communicate it effectively.  This is the space where the relevance of the method often gets confused with the truth of the message.

We can attempt to translate the message, which runs the risk of changing its form and altering its original meaning and intention.

We can attempt to transfigure the message, which runs the risk of embelishing parts to appear more attractive or palatable to our audience.

or...

We can attempt to transpose the message, which transfers it to a different place or context without changing its original state.

The word transpose is most often used in the context of music to describe the process of changing the key or the sound of the music while remaining true to the structure of the original score.  A thoughtful transposition of a piece of music preserves the integrity of the original compositon, compliments the gifts of the musicians performing the arrangement, and makes a meaningful connection with the target audience.

When it comes to effectively communicating the gospel today, the idea of transposing the message, like with a piece of music, seems to fit well and resolves the conflict between the message and the method; preserving the integrity of the former while promoting the innovation of the latter. 

Unveiling The Gospel

Imagine being rescued from almost certain death by a good samaritan who was in the right place at the right time, coming to your aid when it really mattered.  Then, after an initial heart felt expression of gratitude, your rescuer becomes a forgotten memory as you embrace your second chance at life.

Imagine being saved from the bondage of sin through an encounter with the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ who demonstrated his love for you in all your brokenness.  Then, after a period of praise and thanksgiving, you live out your redeemed life without any reference to your Redeemer.

Imagine a church emerging out of a time of renewal when the Spirit of God brought revival to a community of believers in Jesus Christ.  Then, after witnessing to the power of God, the church continues to work in His name without mentioning His name or acknowledging His presence.

Unfortunately, in the words of the late John Lennon, "It's easy if you try."  

I don't have to look to hard across the church as a whole to see plenty of evidence of good deeds being done but I am straining my ears to hear very much evidence of good news being spoken.  While the later is incomplete without the former, the former is inconclusive without the later.  In other words, good deeds without good news may demonstrate the generosity of humanity but denies by omission the graciousness of God.  Paul describes this as "having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5). 

God entered our broken humanity through the person of Jesus Christ and "demonstrated his love for us in this:  While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).  All His miracles, signs and wonders were done for this single purpose - "that you [and I] may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

So, when Jesus said, "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16) it is the good news behind the good deeds that needs to shine the brightest!  Otherwise, when the world sees our good deeds, all they will see is us, not Jesus.  We get all the glory, not our Father in heaven.  However, no matter how helpful our good deeds might be they cannot bring salvation on their own without the good news of Jesus Christ.

If you truly want your light to shine, you must unveil the gospel in your good deeds so that those you serve will "see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

"Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it." (Jeremiah 33:9)

Transformed Worldview

I read a statement this week that was a powerful reminder of why Christians are called to share the Gospel: "The Gospel is intended to influence and change people at the deepest possible level - the worldview level." 

Accompanied with a previous statement by the same author - "A people's worldview provides them with a lens, model, or map in terms of which reality is perceived and interpreted" - the mission of the Church is crystalised! 

We are called to share a message of good news that transforms the hearts and minds of people towards a kingdom worldview, whereby their reality is seen through the eyes of God who "so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).  Such a transformed worldview provides a vision of a redeemed reality where despair is turned to hope, sorrow to joy, oppression to freedom, death to life!

Therefore, "let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story..." (Psalm 107:2)

Quotes by Charles H. Kraft, Anthropology For Christian Witness, Orbis Books 2011

Who Is Taking Whom?

This week I embark on a new semester of study for my degree, focusing on Cultural Anthropology.  Already, as I dive into the pages of the prescribed text book, I am captured by this study of human behaviour from a cross-cultural perspective and how that shapes the way Christians give witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The author of the text Charles H. Kraft relays a story illustrating some of the misperceptions that are experienced by the messenger and receptors of the gospel when there are differing views of reality.  He shares the prayer that was prayed for three missionary recruits who were preparing to go to Nigeria:  "Oh, Lord, help these young men to realize that it is You who are taking them to Nigeria, not they who are taking You."

What a powerful prayer that somewhat challenges the paradigm of many missionaries and evangelists who genuinely believe they are taking God to not-yet-saved people.  To believe that we are taking God anywhere is to assume that God is not already there.  In contrast, this prayer affirms that God is already present and that He sends us to go and join in where He is already at work.  This radically changes the context, content and conversation of mission.

To go where God is already present opens our eyes to a partial revelation of God, opens our ears to interpret what God has already spoken and opens our mouth to speak appropriately into the conversation a full revelation of God through the person of Jesus Christ.

Maybe we need to remind ourselves of this prayer before releasing anybody, anywhere into an evangelical mission so we don't allow our preconceived cultural perceptions to get in the way of what God is doing among all cultures on earth. 

GO

"The great missionary movement we have today did not exist 300 years ago:  it all started with a young thirty year old Baptist minister by the name of William Carey reading an article in England's first missionary magazine reporting on Moravian missions around the world.  After reading the article, Carey marched into a meeting of senior Baptist ministers and in front of his fellow ministers threw down onto the table copies of the magazine and said, "See what the Moravians have done!  Can we not follow their example, and in obedience to our heavenly Master go out into the world and preach the Gospel to the heathen?"  Carey proposed that at a future meeting of Baptist pastors they should consider taking concrete steps to reach out to the world's unreached.  A senior pastor curtly told him:  "Sit down, young man!" and added, "If God wants to save the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine!"  (Tony Keys, First Love Discipleship Series, Philippians - 'For to me, to live is Christ')

The beginning of the modern mission movement emerged out of a self-centered gospel and realigned to a Christ-centered gospel that embraced the spirit of Paul and the command of Christ to go into the world and preach the gospel to all nations.  Missionaries like William Carey became discontent with what the church had become and captured a vision of how the world should be.  Not deterred by bad theology, wrong thinking or insular tradition; but challenged by the efforts of the Moravians, compelled by the mandate of Christ and filled with the power of the Spirit, Carey inspired a movement of missionaries and societies with a renewed passion to take the gospel to the whole world!

While I am a little uncomfortable with some of the language and perception of this movement, viewing the unreached as 'heathen', I am captured by their courage and sacrifice to GO and advance the gospel to the far ends of the earth.  Our missiology may have changed and cross-cultural sensibilities developed, but I pray that our passion for the lost will intensify and inspire a new kingdom-oriented movement of Christ followers to complete what was begun - the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I [Jesus] have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19)

Do We Still Believe That People Need To Be Saved?

It always encourages me how God affirms something He is stirring in my spirit through the alignment of what He is simultaneously saying to others.  Last Sunday I wrote the blog post Imagine If... reflecting on what could happen if The Salvation Army invested the same level of energy, resources and time to mobilize Salvationists to engage in a week long salvation campaign as we did with the Red Shield Appeal.  At the welcome to the new Territorial leaders for the Australia Southern Territory, Commissioner Floyd Tidd asked the question, "Do we still believe that people need to be saved?  Don't answer with yes or no, show me the actions that reflect the answer to that question." This morning I presented the same question to our congregation and spoke passionately about the SALVATION mission of The Salvation Army, referring to Jesus response to the disciples in John 6:28-29.  So, I was excited to discover after church that a New Zealand Officer friend preached from the very same passage this morning as well!

Coming back to the Commissioners question, "Do we still believe that people need to be saved?" The default response of our congregation this morning was an overwhelming "Yes", however, if we were to measure the priority of our activity during any given week against our response, our results would suggest otherwise.  Like most Corps (churches), we are very busy serving people, meeting temporal needs, building relationships, running programs, etc. but how intentional are we about sharing the Gospel and inviting people into a relationship with Jesus?  When was the last time we led someone to faith?  Are we content with people just finding community rather than Christ?

Before I am misunderstood, let me be clear that I genuinely value the process that leads a person who is far from God to a place where they are open to engage in a spiritual conversation.  I celebrate compassionate ministry that cares for the most vulnerable people in our society.  I fully embrace a relational model of evangelism that takes us on a faith journey with people and recognise that this is a long journey for some.  And I believe that Holy Spirit is preparing the hearts and minds of unbelievers towards salvation and that our role is to connect with where the Spirit is already at work.  However, as I look around at the priority of activity in The Salvation Army, that is, where the majority of our time and resources are invested, the focus of our public relations and the tone of discussion on social media by Salvos, I'm not completely sure that our activity aligns with our rhetoric?   While we would agree there have been some less than helpful "methods" of evangelism that have devalued relationships and has presented something far less than "Good News", it seems to me that Salvationists have largely wandered far from the priority to "live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life."  That includes me!!

In the process of serving people we must remember that service is not the end goal but the means through which we can fulfill our primary mission of the salvation of the lost.  William Booth clearly articulated the priority of our salvation mission when he said, “We are a salvation people – this is our specialty – getting saved and keeping saved, and then getting somebody else saved, and then getting saved ourselves more and more until full salvation on earth makes the heaven within.”

Lord Jesus, reignite a passion for the lost in the spirit of every Christ follower.  Grant us the courage and wisdom to fearlessly and relationally share the Gospel in everything we do, making the salvation of the lost the first priority of our lives. 

Imagine If...

A further post Red Shield Appeal reflection...

Last week I reflected on some Leadership Lessons gained from the Red Shield Appeal. Today, my reflection stretches my imagination into the realm of what could be if all the time, energy and resources invested into the Red Shield Appeal were channeled into the salvation mission of The Salvation Army.

While I fully embrace the integration of our social and spiritual mission and recognise the importance of resourcing this mission, I can't help wonder what sort of results we would be celebrating if we organisationally engaged in a salvation campaign with the same intensity as the Red Shield Appeal.

Imagine if we set aside a week on the calendar of every corps and centre for the salvation of the lost!

Imagine if we mobilised every Salvationist to reach their community with the Gospel!

Imagine if we set bold, faith driven goals to see how many people we could win for Christ in that week!

Imagine if we gave to our community instead of taking!

Imagine if "Thank God for the Salvos" became "Thank the Salvos for giving us Jesus"!

Imagine if our PR campaign publicly presented stories of people whose lives have been radically transformed by Jesus Christ!

Imagine if The Salvation Army "will bring [God] renown, joy, praise and honour before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things [God does] for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace [God] provides for it." (Jeremiah 33:9)

Imagine if "the Lord added to [our] number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)

Imagine if every social media update and status was flooded with reports like: "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." (Luke 7:22)

Imagine if The Salvation Army actually fulfilled the Great Commission!!

A Holy Spirit fueled movement of God could easily imagine such a possibility, because the same Spirit who filled the early church at Pentecost, fills His Church today.  Dare to imagine because, "It is [the] Gospel that houses the poor, benefits the working class, promotes temperance and good health, reforms criminals, and transcends politics.  It is Jesus Christ who changes lives and makes all these things possible.  It is Christ only who is the answer to the problems and struggles" (William Booth).

Saved to...?

I was interested to see the revived discussion on Major Stephen Court's Facebook page about the original intent of The Salvation Army S's worn on their uniforms.  Do they mean "Saved to Serve" or "Saved to Save"?  

As a Junior Soldier growing up in a working class Salvation Army Corps in the Melbourne Central Division I remember being taught that the S's represented "Saved to Serve."  This fitted the image I had of The Salvation Army in my small corner of the world and the emphasis of the busy program of our Corps.  In fact, as an older teenager who had a passion to share my faith in a lost and broken world, I remember coming to odds with some of our leaders at a Corps Council meeting who angrily declared, "Robert, we don't have time for evangelism!"  Less than content with this dismissal of a burning passion in my soul, a small group of us formed a team called "The Blitz Brigade" and hit the streets around our church to tell people about Jesus!  The irony of our bold attempts to evangelise our community is that the primary response we got at the door was, "Hang on, I'll go get you some money."  The public were more than willing to contribute to our mission of service, but showed little interest in our message of salvation.  It seems that the "Saved to Serve" ethos I grew up with was not only embedded into the culture of our Corps, but was strong in the psyche of our community.

Years later as a Salvation Army Officer, I attended a Brengle Holiness Convention in 2009 where I heard a message from Major Stephen Court who presented an alternative historical and biblical understanding of The Salvation Army S's as not representing "Saved to Serve," as I had grown up to believe, but "Saved to Save."  He quoted then, General William Booth writing in "The Salvationist" publication in 1879 as saying:

“We are a salvation people – this is our specialty – getting saved and keeping saved, and then getting somebody else saved, and then getting saved ourselves more and more until full salvation on earth makes the heaven within.”

More recently, Stephen offered further evidence of a "Saved to Save" mission from Major Allen Satterlee who shared a story from the "Officer" publication in 1922:

"The motto refers to the well known story of our Founder's visit to Buckingham Palace, London, when he was asked to write in the Autograph Album of one of the Princesses. The simple inscription, 'Saved to Save, William Booth,' produced such an impression that the next day Queen Alexandra sent her Album with a request that the same entry might be made in it."

In my estimation the shift from a "Saved to Save" mission to a "Saved to Serve" mission is indicative of a significant shift of emphasis from the spiritual mission to the social mission of The Salvation Army.  While one is not complete without the other, it does seem that a "Saved to Serve" mission dominates our public image at the expense of a "Saved to Save" mission.  Maybe this is why the statistics in the Australia Southern Territory show a decline in church membership and the number of people getting saved, while our social programs have increased in size and complexity.  At this point, I should make clear that I believe strongly in William Booth's assertion that our social and spiritual mission are "joined together like Siamese twins, to divide them is to slay them" and the biblical understanding of real religion; "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (James 1:27).  However, when our service precedes or precludes our salvation, the core of who we are as The "Salvation" Army is seriously compromised.

If we are a "Saved to Serve" Army, it suggests that the primary goal of our salvation is to serve others.  What then is the end purpose of our service?  What eternal difference does our service make in the context of the Great Commission?  What distinguishes The Salvation Army from any other philanthropic or religious organisation who share a platform of service?  

If we are a "Saved to Save" Army, then it suggests that the primary goal of our salvation is the salvation of others and service becomes the means, not the end in itself.  This presents a holistic view of service that is concerned about the salvation of the whole person.  Our service becomes an incarnational message of salvation.  In other words, service is salvation with skin on! 

For me, "Saved to Serve" is an incomplete mission that ultimately does a disservice to the people we serve, robbing them from the power of a complete gospel that presents a holistic salvation message.  I fully embrace a "Saved to Save" mission as it gives my service power and purpose as I "live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life."

Spirit On The Move

"As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.  Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.'  So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God's way?"  (Acts 11:15-17)

Who am I to think that I could stand in God's way?  There is one thing that has become abundantly clear to me at this stage of my faith journey; God is already at work in places and through people and in ways that defy my expectations, in spite of my strategies and programs and with or without the structure of the Church!  Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts and minds of all people of all nations, drawing them towards faith in Jesus Christ.  While churches continue to develop sophisticated evangelism strategies and programs, the greatest evangelism strategy of the Church has little to do with what we do, but everything to do with looking and listening for where the Spirit of God is moving.

God broke through Peter's religious and cultural prejudices with a vision that opened his eyes to see a group of spiritually hungry people who were ready to hear the gospel message.  May our vision extend beyond our own religious and cultural boundaries to recognise where the Spirit of God is already at work.  May our hearts be open to respond to the 'faith of the unbeliever' wherever it may be expressed.  And may our voices be ready to join a conversation that has already begun to speak a revelation of Jesus Christ!

Gospel Of Hate?

I'm writing this post while watching a Louis Theroux documentary on ABC about the "most hated family" in America who are members of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church in the USA.  They are known for their offensive ministry that preaches God's hatred and judgement against anyone or anything they interpret as an affront to the Word of God.  With placards like - "God Hates Fags" - "Pray for More Dead Soldiers" - "God Hates You" - "You're Going to Hell" - they picket funerals and public places with their gospel of hate.

As a student of theology I am often engaged in discussion with people who interpret Scripture differently, but never have I encounted such an extreme misinterpretation of the Word of God that is so opposite to the established character of God, who is presented in the Bible as a God of love.  

Every action of God from the Fall of humanity to the Cross of Christ was to bring people back into relationship with God, whereas the actions of this church repel people from God.  The gospel of John teaches that "For God so loved the world...For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  Whereas, the gospel that Westboro Baptist Church teaches says God hates the "world" and condemns it to hell.  Jesus demonstrated his love for "sinners" by doing life with them and creating community, whereas this church demonstrates a lifestyle that divides communities.

A "gospel of hate" is not only offensive to the world, but I am convinced that it is offensive to the Creator of this world also!  Any doubt or confusion about the core message of the bible and the character of God, as manifested through Jesus, can be put to rest through the revolutionary words and the relational ministry of Jesus Christ as recorded by all four gospel writers.  Their eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus (the incarnational presence of God) promote a gospel of love, not a gospel of hate.

While this documentary evokes all sorts of strong emotions as I see God and his Church so grossly misrepresented, I know that hate can only be conquered by love.  For it was Jesus who said the very opposite to Westboro Baptist Church, "You have heard that it was said,‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:43-45)

Missionary Challenge

"The Church's missionary challenge in the West today is complicated by the fact that most western populations have been exposed to some distorted or diluted expression of Christianity that inoculates people against the real thing."
George G. Hunter III, How to Reach Secular People, 1992

Hunter's provokative quote highlights a recurring theme I am finding in my recent and current study about culture, mission and Trinitarian theology.  It seems that in the Church's attempt to evangelise the lost, instead of attracting people, we find ourselves increasingly alienating people from the Church.  If Bill Hybel's conviction that the "local church is the hope of the world" is true (which I believe it to be), then something has gone seriously wrong in the delivery of the message!  

I find myself getting frustrated and even angry at times when I see the gospel get hidden within a form of 'churchianity' that presents a "distorted or diluted expression of Christianity."  Theologian Clarke Pinnock goes as far as suggesting that atheists are “not rejecting the God of the Bible – they haven’t even heard of him!”  I think there is a confronting truth that the Church needs to explore if we are going strip away our religious cultural baggage that inhibits our ability to effectively communicate a life transforming message in a culturally appropriate way.

The missionary challenge is to preserve the integrity of the gospel message so that the people we are reaching have an encounter with the biblical God through Jesus Christ, not a pop-version of God who is formed in our own image.  Hunter warns against a "hash" form of Christianity that is a concoction of "patriotism, moralism, cultural values like materialism and the quest for the perfect 'high', with some wisdom from celebrities, mixed with selected bible verses."

Maybe we need to rediscover Jesus in our churches so that He may be revealed through our lives in a way that invites people to ask, "we want to hear you again on this subject" (Acts 17:32).