Listening to the context Gospel ministry in post-Christian culture the Challenge for the local church Listening to the context

Double listening Two ears one mouth Use accordingly in mission Failure to enter the other persons world leaves us like the tourists who keep speaking louder in their own language To the essence of the Christian Inheritance To the Mission Context

Globalisation and ‘Glocalism’ Increasingly diverse cultures across the globe are subject to common global issues and culture Consumerism and commodifcation, subjectivism, new communication, a reaction against these, Keppel ‘the revenge of God’. Glocalism These are not expressed the same in each locality but are present in most so one must both ‘think global but act local’ but also listen to the local expression of the global One size does not fit all, there are no off the shelf solutions.

Post-community? In which community should church exist?

Post-modernity? Modernity to Postmodernity I tell my story I choose my beliefs truth as fact truth as experience I buy my identity The logic of consumerism

Post-Christendom? Church attendance 2005 76% of New Christians Come from 26% De-Churched finding faith today 1992 65% Non Churched This section of the population is older and decreasing over time 26% De Churched 9% monthly

Post-Christendom? Not just about church attendance Grace Davie, - Believing without belonging and vicarious faith But changing belief Fading of occasional office Decline in Christian identity Stages in the decline of Christendom not a new way for it to persist

Belief in God

Infant Baptism C of E 2007

Church Weddings 2007

Christian Affiliation UK

Christian Affiliation 2001

Christian Affiliation

Builders (born 20s+30s) in 2005

Boomers (born 40s+50s) in 2005

Gen-Xers (born 60s+70s) in 2005

Gen-Yers (born 80s+90s) in 2015?

Post- Secularism? Post-modernity - multi-faith in a post-secular age Post-modern move from truth as fact to truth as experience - From universal truth to true for me may be different to true for you. Rejection of objectivity for subjectivity Personal belief re-enters the public square Any and every belief …. All are equally unprovable And so … All of this much to the annoyance of Richard Dawkins……. and Christians? Religion once more on the agenda but any religion with no way back to Christendom …..indeed is Christianity disadvantaged compared to the alternatives?

‘Spiritual’ experience in 2000 Vs 1987 1987 48% report a spiritual experience - 2000 risen to 76% 55% saw a patterning of events – up 90% 38% felt God’s presence – up 41% 37% had answered prayer – up 48% 29% felt sacred in nature – up 81% 25% the presence of the dead – up 39% 25% the presence of evil – up 108% But what are they experiencing?

The ‘excluded middle’ Paul Heibert Many traditional religions have a sacred dimension about the Gods and secular dimension to do with the non-spiritual but also a middle ground of the superstitious and everyday spiritual. He saw this as missing from Christianity, This area very much addressed by new spiritualities

Believe in the soul

Believe in an afterlife

Believe in restless spirits

Believe in Karma

Experience of fortune telling, Tarot, astrology, psychics, palmists

Australian Gen Y – like Britain? Rationalist humanist Non believing 14% Moral relativism, pick ‘n’ mix, truth in all religions but not just one, something ‘out there’ occult and paranormal experienced BUT open rather than committed or seeing as important Includes neo pagans and followers or frequent participants in the esoteric/occult growing shrinking ‘new spiritual’ 23% Religious 17%

Japan Britain

Consumer Christianity?

Consumer Christianity? God the cosmic therapist? Cruise liner – or Battleship? John Wimber Church shopping? Looking for what I get out of it Looking for the one that does things my way Buying religious product? Baptisms & weddings Rosaries Retreats Christmas Carols

Network theory and small churches Culture formed through relationships Those around us raise us with views like theirs We tend to follow these unless we also form relationships with those of different views In a multi-cultural setting this can lead to loss of challenging relationships But minority opinions are kept out and taboos that make such views embarrassing or offensive are employed Reversing the Christendom picture?... In some cultures very hard now for Christians to enter other networks unless they keep faith quiet. Danger Christians create a protective ghetto that may protect Christians but kills mission Ghetto tends to reinforce negativity to the church But also danger that those in the world lose their faith We need confident supported Christians who can enter other networks for effective mission

Listening to God in the history of mission Gospel ministry in post-Christian culture the Challenge for the local church Listening to God in the history of mission

Jesus, mission and other faiths The Vision of the kingdom of God (cf Luke 5-8) Radical values of inclusion leading to transformation and reversals of status – the sinful, the unclean, women, the non-Jew ( in spite of Jesus claim to only be sent to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’) The use of parables Making disciples who will make disciples The parable of the sower (Luke 8) followed by sending of The 12 (Luke 9) and 72 (Luke 10) as Jesus has been sent (John 17) (apostolic church). To make disciples in all cultures (Matt 28) Weakness and vulnerability the marks of the missionary Sent to be the guests of those they are to witness amongst Becoming as servants and children (Mark 9) The small things leading to great change – mustard seed and yeast in dough

Crossing culture - The Early Church In Jerusalem The Pentecost Sermon to Jews Acts 2 The Jerusalem church Acts 4 The Hellenists – fresh insight & Persecution In Judea and Samaria The dispersal of the Hellenists Philip – the Samaritans & Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8 To the ends of the earth Peter and Cornelius Acts 10 The Church in Antioch Acts 11 The Gentile mission from Antioch

Paul does ‘double-listening’ Acts 14 – Lystra After healing a crippled man the crowd think Paul and Barnabas are Hermes and Zeus. Paul reasons from nature not scripture to explain his faith….and struggles to communicate Acts 17 – Athens Paul goes round the temples learning about Greek belief – we see the results in his address to the Areopagus. He debates with the philosophers in the market place….and struggles to communicate – they call him a ‘spermalgos’ – someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about!

Mission in Christendom is like Jewish Mission Paul’s two sermons Jews …….and…….Greeks? Jesus is the expected messiah who will fulfil the prophets and law He was killed as a sacrifice but rose He has been appointed judge and we must now change the directions of our lives We are all searchers after God The God of the universe doesn’t live in temples That God has set a day to judge the nations so we must now change the directions of our lives The judge will be Jesus who was raised from the dead We can see a similar process going on in the early church as they move from a Jewish to a gentile culture. Compare the two sermons Paul preaches in Athens. The first in the synagogue (click) Jesus is the expected messiah who will fulfil the prophets and law (click) He was killed as a sacrifice but rose (click) He has been appointed judge and we must now change the directions of our lives. This builds on the Jewish knowledge of scripture and the prophecies of the messiah and Jewish sacrificial system. The second at the Greek Areopagus is in some ways very different (click) it begins by saying We are all searchers after God (click) The God of the universe doesn’t live in temples (click) but goes on to say That God has set a day to judge the nations so we must now change the directions of our lives, as he said in the synagogue, and finally (click) The judge will be Jesus who was raised from the dead, mentioned right at the end. So how might we be called to do this in our different cultures? (click) as we were thinking earlier at the start of this session (click to next slide) Mission in Christendom is like Jewish Mission

Mission: shift to Christendom Early Church incarnate in local culture Greek Church - Paul uses poetry to Zeus Roman Church - Jesus as Orpheus Coptic Church - the image of Isis becomes Mary Celtic Church - Jesus the Druid (Columba) Germanic Church - the Heliand Christendom one faith one empire The Saxon Church and the war band Synod of Whitby - the date of Easter; monks hair Mission ends within empire, becomes conquest beyond it Modernity evangelism recovered in Christendom Individuals called to belief in a Christian country Aimed at intellectual conviction and crisis conversion

Embodying God in today’s world Gospel ministry in post-Christian culture the Challenge for the local church Embodying God in today’s world

A new Reformation? ? ? Eternal Gospel Early Church Judaism Christendom 400 BC 600 AD 1500 AD 2000 AD Early Church ? Judaism Christendom Reformation Changing expression – David Bosch ‘Transforming Mission’

Mission in Christendom Mission (abroad) Cultural export Vs Inhabiting local culture Evangelism (at home) Calling people back to ‘the national faith’

Learning from foreign mission “Do not call people back to where they were (they never were there) Do not call people to where you are, as beautiful as it may seem to you But travel with them to a place neither of you have been before” Vincent Donovan – ‘Christianity re-discovered’

To boldly go where no church has gone before Changing Mission? From: sharing the Gospel in “come to us” mode To: Exploring Church in “go to them” mode Church Missions To boldly go where no church has gone before Courses ‘Seeker’ Services

From individuals to all creation Restoring the whole story of salvation creation sin salvation New creation If we have already seen that emerging mission may move from come to us to go to them, from methods to exploration, from ideas to relationships it also I think suggests a move from salvation as centred purely on individuals to all creation. (click) what Graham Cray refers to as restoring the whole story of salvation. We have been good (click) at focusing on this bit of the story but have ignored the whole story (click) in which God’s saving work stretches from creation to new creation. Perhaps an important corrective in an age concerned with ecological issues. (click to next slide) Individuals saved All creation saved

God’s Mission & God’s Kingdom The transformation of people linked to the transformation of creation – Romans 8, 2 Cor 5 Reconciliation as a reversal of the fall Humanity restored to God’s image as missionary to creation Social transformation linked to evangelism Any Gospel that does not proclaim and seek to bring about God’s Kingdom fails to understand Jesus and God’s mission Any Gospel that does not set people free from sin will never achieve social transformation

Three levels of mission community wider community Christian community halfway meeting space

Who are on the way? Bounded set ? Or..

Who are on the way? Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?

Who are on the way? Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?

Lessons for sharing faith People increasingly come to faith through experience rather than changing thinking Many people want to grow spiritually and will take support in this seriously Sharing faith is welcomed. Telling others what they share is wrong simply closes the conversation Most people aren’t interested if Christianity is true but if it is inspiring and life changing In the internet age everything is public be consistent We need to know how we will handle issues of gender, the environment, evil, other-faiths Avoid Christian language like sin, salvation, redemption etc people don’t understand it or misunderstand it – but we still need to talk about them but with different words We need to live as if what we say really does work Remember God transforms people not Christians

Resources

Your Kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven Evangelism is….. Not getting people to Church ………………..….…….. but getting people to be Church Not taking God to people ………………………………… but seeing what he is already doing in their lives Not first about getting people into heaven …………… but getting heaven into people Not saving people from the world ..………………….. but allowing God to transform them as part of a plan to transform the world also Your Kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven