David Bosch & Churches of Christ #1: Ecology
I've not been the most faithful blogger lately. Lots of good things are happening, but this has left me less time for posting. Back to our subject...
How do Churches of Christ stack up against David Bosch's 6 suggested elements of a Western missiology? In other words, do we in Churches of Christ already have any of these components in place? Or do we have to completely reinvent ourselves if we hope to survive beyond the next generation or two?
There are multiple factions within Churches of Christ, as with any Christian denomination or fellowship. My experience is with the more moderate or progressive elements in our fellowship. We all have strongly sectarian roots, but most progressives have jettisoned big portions of this heritage. As a matter of fact, the most popular pastime among Church of Christ progressives is bashing their own heritage. The preachers who get the biggest laughs and have the widest followings are those who are not only good speakers but who also cleverly poke fun at our narrow-minded and legalistic past. (I should note that this "past" still holds sway within other segments of our loosely connected fellowship.)
So it will naturally sound strange for progressives to hear me asking if Churches of Christ have anything to offer to the emerging world. Most progressives have already answered this: NO! They have concluded that we have nothing to offer. They sometimes wonder why anyone would want to join us. So some churches do everything they can to distance themselves from our heritage. They ditch key elements of our identity believing that this will help them connect with the emerging world.
They might be right. But they might not. Most of these decisions are being made based on gut feelings and emotions rather than on theological reflection. If theological reflection about God and our world leads us to make substantive changes, then I am ALL FOR IT. But if theological reflection on God and our world points us toward building on things that already exist in our midst, then why would we throw them out only to start over? Those who start over are often blindly stealing & borrowing practices & forms from elsewhere that may make them feel good. But have they done the "heavy lifting" of thinking through the missiological challenges of reaching this emerging world? Will these changes help in our work to win the world for Christ?
I described the 6 elements of Bosch's missiology for the West on Nov. 23 & 24. Here is the first one with my newly added perspective about Churches of Christ in light of that point:
We in Churches of Christ generally disregard most environmental concerns. And I'm baffled. I'm not sure why we fight this. It doesn't take a theological heavyweight or a biblical scholar to see that the Bible urges us to care for our world and our fellow humans. Why would we resist ecology as a key concern, especially if that will help us be
more effective in reaching the world for Christ? Are we more concerned with political conservatism in whatever form we find appealing than in winning the world for Christ? Of course not!
Our eschatology is partly to blame, not just our political views -- though the two intersect. Many evangelical Christians think the earth is going to burn soon anyway, so we shouldn't worry about using and abusing it while we still have it. I have many critical things to say about this view of the end, but allow me just to suggest that this view may be a horrific misunderstanding of scripture. And more importantly for our missiological discussion, this short-sighted view of the earth destroys the credibility of our witness.
I don't think Bosch wants us to become tree-huggers. Nor is he suggesting that we should love delta smelt (a small fish here that is part of the water wars) more than people. But he firmly believes that we must show genuine care for the created world. This could take any of multiple forms. We don't have to become politically liberal in order to become ecologically friendly. How about using less water or switching to energy efficient bulbs or turning the thermostats down or promoting recycling or planting trees in neighborhoods?
There are a million ideas like this when you think about it, and many of us are moving that direction anyway. Imagine if the church was a leader in this, not a reluctant follower.
For now, Churches of Christ are woefully deficient according to #1 of Bosch's components of a Western missiology. We'll look at #2 tomorrow.
How do Churches of Christ stack up against David Bosch's 6 suggested elements of a Western missiology? In other words, do we in Churches of Christ already have any of these components in place? Or do we have to completely reinvent ourselves if we hope to survive beyond the next generation or two?
There are multiple factions within Churches of Christ, as with any Christian denomination or fellowship. My experience is with the more moderate or progressive elements in our fellowship. We all have strongly sectarian roots, but most progressives have jettisoned big portions of this heritage. As a matter of fact, the most popular pastime among Church of Christ progressives is bashing their own heritage. The preachers who get the biggest laughs and have the widest followings are those who are not only good speakers but who also cleverly poke fun at our narrow-minded and legalistic past. (I should note that this "past" still holds sway within other segments of our loosely connected fellowship.)
So it will naturally sound strange for progressives to hear me asking if Churches of Christ have anything to offer to the emerging world. Most progressives have already answered this: NO! They have concluded that we have nothing to offer. They sometimes wonder why anyone would want to join us. So some churches do everything they can to distance themselves from our heritage. They ditch key elements of our identity believing that this will help them connect with the emerging world.
They might be right. But they might not. Most of these decisions are being made based on gut feelings and emotions rather than on theological reflection. If theological reflection about God and our world leads us to make substantive changes, then I am ALL FOR IT. But if theological reflection on God and our world points us toward building on things that already exist in our midst, then why would we throw them out only to start over? Those who start over are often blindly stealing & borrowing practices & forms from elsewhere that may make them feel good. But have they done the "heavy lifting" of thinking through the missiological challenges of reaching this emerging world? Will these changes help in our work to win the world for Christ?
I described the 6 elements of Bosch's missiology for the West on Nov. 23 & 24. Here is the first one with my newly added perspective about Churches of Christ in light of that point:
1. Ecology. The time is past, Bosch argues, for Christians to ignore the environment. Part of being good stewards of God's creation is taking care of our planet. Some gutsy evangelical Christians are starting to refer to this as "creation care." If nature is to shout out the glory of God, we had better be sure that we haven't done anything to detract from that glory. Bosch believes that care for our world is a key component of being a missionary in the West.
You might want to argue Bosch's point. Many evangelicals in the US seem to follow right-wing politicians in laughing at concepts like global warming, and the progressives within Churches of Christ generally lean toward evangelicalism. So if you are a Church of Christ progressive, you might not agree with this component of Bosch's Western missiology.
You might want to argue Bosch's point. Many evangelicals in the US seem to follow right-wing politicians in laughing at concepts like global warming, and the progressives within Churches of Christ generally lean toward evangelicalism. So if you are a Church of Christ progressive, you might not agree with this component of Bosch's Western missiology.
We in Churches of Christ generally disregard most environmental concerns. And I'm baffled. I'm not sure why we fight this. It doesn't take a theological heavyweight or a biblical scholar to see that the Bible urges us to care for our world and our fellow humans. Why would we resist ecology as a key concern, especially if that will help us be
more effective in reaching the world for Christ? Are we more concerned with political conservatism in whatever form we find appealing than in winning the world for Christ? Of course not!But I think we haven't seen the two in competition before. Well, it may be time to wake up and smell the coffee. The church is declining in the West and our message seems hollow to many Western non-Christians for multiple reasons. One is that they seem to care more for our world than we do. Strange, eh? How can we profess love for God and humanity yet blatantly destroy our earth and deplete her resources?
Our eschatology is partly to blame, not just our political views -- though the two intersect. Many evangelical Christians think the earth is going to burn soon anyway, so we shouldn't worry about using and abusing it while we still have it. I have many critical things to say about this view of the end, but allow me just to suggest that this view may be a horrific misunderstanding of scripture. And more importantly for our missiological discussion, this short-sighted view of the earth destroys the credibility of our witness.
I don't think Bosch wants us to become tree-huggers. Nor is he suggesting that we should love delta smelt (a small fish here that is part of the water wars) more than people. But he firmly believes that we must show genuine care for the created world. This could take any of multiple forms. We don't have to become politically liberal in order to become ecologically friendly. How about using less water or switching to energy efficient bulbs or turning the thermostats down or promoting recycling or planting trees in neighborhoods?
There are a million ideas like this when you think about it, and many of us are moving that direction anyway. Imagine if the church was a leader in this, not a reluctant follower.
For now, Churches of Christ are woefully deficient according to #1 of Bosch's components of a Western missiology. We'll look at #2 tomorrow.
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