Question 2
Chapter 2
In chapter 2 the authors say that we, as a church and as individual Chrisitans, should see ourselves as "missionaries" in a foreign culture. I think what they are saying is that the culture around us has shifted dramatically and we may not have adjusted to that shift. This was highlighted to me the other day. Claire and I were watching the Disney channel and we were watching a Disney cartoon about the beauty of trees. Throughout the entire cartoon there is not one reference to Christianity, but at the very end, the cartoon ends with a picture of the cross on the hill as one of the most beautiful "trees" ever. Claire was amazed at this blatant reference to Christianity in this Disney cartoon. Of course the Cartoon was made in the 1940s or 50's.
Now there are clearly still elements of Christianity in our culture, but nothing like 50 or 60 years ago. And many in coming generations have no starting place to even consider Christianity. They have no concept of heaven and hell, of sin or a final reckoning. And the Bible is not really viewed as authoritative. The authors view 1 Peter as the model we ought to adopt, as "strangers in a foreign land". My question is this:
1. Do we as Lewes Presbyterian Church, need to shift to more of a missionary model for doing ministry?
2. If we decide that this is exactly what we need to do, what would mean for the way that we do ministry?
3. On page 38, the authors say that event based evangelism will not work in our new context. Do you agree or disagree and why?
4. The authors answer to our new culture is modeling Christian community to the world and inviting non-believers to join us. What do you think of this notion?
5. Finally, I read about storying as one technique for sharing the Gospel. I experienced this as a child with Child Evangelism. It's how I became a Christian(at a good news club). I think it still works, but not sure how it would work in the context of 21st century American adults. What do you think?
(you don't have to answer all of these questions. I just want us to discuss chapter 2)
In chapter 2 the authors say that we, as a church and as individual Chrisitans, should see ourselves as "missionaries" in a foreign culture. I think what they are saying is that the culture around us has shifted dramatically and we may not have adjusted to that shift. This was highlighted to me the other day. Claire and I were watching the Disney channel and we were watching a Disney cartoon about the beauty of trees. Throughout the entire cartoon there is not one reference to Christianity, but at the very end, the cartoon ends with a picture of the cross on the hill as one of the most beautiful "trees" ever. Claire was amazed at this blatant reference to Christianity in this Disney cartoon. Of course the Cartoon was made in the 1940s or 50's.
Now there are clearly still elements of Christianity in our culture, but nothing like 50 or 60 years ago. And many in coming generations have no starting place to even consider Christianity. They have no concept of heaven and hell, of sin or a final reckoning. And the Bible is not really viewed as authoritative. The authors view 1 Peter as the model we ought to adopt, as "strangers in a foreign land". My question is this:
1. Do we as Lewes Presbyterian Church, need to shift to more of a missionary model for doing ministry?
2. If we decide that this is exactly what we need to do, what would mean for the way that we do ministry?
3. On page 38, the authors say that event based evangelism will not work in our new context. Do you agree or disagree and why?
4. The authors answer to our new culture is modeling Christian community to the world and inviting non-believers to join us. What do you think of this notion?
5. Finally, I read about storying as one technique for sharing the Gospel. I experienced this as a child with Child Evangelism. It's how I became a Christian(at a good news club). I think it still works, but not sure how it would work in the context of 21st century American adults. What do you think?
(you don't have to answer all of these questions. I just want us to discuss chapter 2)
Greg , as I read through this chapter I came away with the thought that while the culture has changed tremendously there remains that segment of our society that still is searching for something to fulfill that empty spot in their life .
ReplyDeleteThat being said there is no one answer to how we reach these people, some will only be reached by individual testimony , some may be reached by group evangelism events . The truth is as Christians we need to prepare ourselves to meet people where they are most effectively probably by one on one conversation but always by being Christ like .
Gerry
Thanks Gerry. There are people out there still searching and we need to be able to find them and share the Gospel with them.
ReplyDeleteThat was Greg
DeleteI was convicted by the last paragraph on page 50 prior to the heading. "Programs are what we create when Christians are not doing what they are supposed to do in every day life. " so Yes to Question 1, I think we need to move to a more missional model. 2. So (when corona is gone) we form a bowling team and join a local league, we send teams to play trivia games, join photography clubs, etc - but intentionally, with the purpose of getting to know people outside our normal circles who (eventually) we engage in gospel conversations.
ReplyDeleteJeannine, I agree with your comments about programs. I don't think we do completely away with programs but the focus becomes less on program and more on daily living. What does anyone else think?
ReplyDelete