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AEC2000 A Gospel Invitation in a World of Many Peoples - Point 1Art McPhee Assistant Professor of Missions and Evangelism, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana Return to Beginning of This Presentation | Return to AEC 2000 Index ____________________________________ What does it take for a church to faithfully and effectively communicate the gospel cross-culturally? 1. It seems to me that the first thing it takes is a clear-eyed look at the implications of the gospel.If, in the New Testament, there is any single word that summarizes what the church was all about, it is the word "gospel." In all three synoptic gospels, Jesus is depicted as the proclaimer of the gospel—the Good News. Matthew says that he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom and cured every disease and sickness (4:23, 9:35). Mark reports that he announced that the kingdom of God had come near and that people should, therefore, repent and believe the good news (1:14). Luke reports that he declared that this good news was for the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed (4:18). So, we are not surprised to find that the persecuted Christians who fled Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen were, as we just read, "proclaiming the good news" to many of the villages in Samaria (8:25). The apostle Paul, also highlights this word gospel. In fact, he identifies himself as one "set apart for the gospel of God" (Rom. 1:1), which he regards as "the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith" (Rom. 1:16). Similarly, Peter says that the gospel was even preached to the dead. He also describes it as news that needs to be obeyed (1 Pet. 4:6,17). Clearly the term gospel is a kind of shorthand for what the early Christians thought their faith was all about. But what is the gospel? To look at its uses is easily to come away confused. It is described as the good news of God . . . the good news of God’s grace . . . the good news of God’s son . . . the good news of Christ . . . the good news of the glory of Christ . . . the good news of the kingdom . . . the good news of our salvation . . . the good news of peace . . . and so on. It is also identified with truth and light and hope. Who is the gospel for? Well, we are told that it is meant for the poor (Matt. 11:5), for Jew and Gentile (Acts 14:7; 16:10), for the nations (Gal 3:8), and, indeed, for the whole world (Matt. 23:16). Although the gospel is used diversely and for diverse peoples, one also senses continuity in its use, primarily because it seems always to center on Jesus. One also senses a certain consistency in its use. No other term rises to its prominence as a general term for what the Christian faith is all about. It’s equivalent in Buddhism, I suppose, would be dharma; in Greek philosophy, gnosis; in the mystery cults, mysterion; in Judaism, the Torah. Yet, it is essentially different from all those words. It is not about dogma, or knowledge, or mysteries, or laws. It is news—you know, the stuff Dan Rather and Peter Jennings and their colleagues put out each night. It was the word reserved for significant events like a great military victory, or the coronation of royalty, or the birth of a royal heir—only, in this case, the event is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Because this news focuses on an event—the life of Jesus—the kingdom is not an abstraction but a fact of history. Because it focuses on his suffering and dying in our behalf, it makes concrete the love of God. Because it also includes his resurrection, it offers us more than the teaching of some dead person. As someone said, "You come to a fork in the road and find two men—one dead and the other alive; from which one would you seek directions?" What did the early church do with this news? Well, what do you do with any news? You tell people about it! But the early church considered this news so pivotal, so important, so terrific, it not only proclaimed it but decided that the very reason God had called them apart as a church was to proclaim it! As Peter put it:
For the early church, then, ecclesiology was the outcome of missiology more than missiology was the outcome of ecclesiology. News was for getting out—especially good news. And when you’ve got good news, you, therefore, had an obligation. That is why the recovery of the emphasis on the missional church is so needed. That is why Emil Brunner’s well-known words, "The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning," ring so true. And that is why seeking a cross-cultural ministry needs to begin with a clear-eyed look at the implications of the gospel. ______________________________ Continue to Point 2 - A Clear-Eyed Look at the Cultural Mosaic Return to Beginning of This Presentation | Return to AEC 2000 Index
Art McPhee, assistant professor of missions and evangelism at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, is the former "friendship evangelism" speaker on the Mennonite Hour.
Taken from A New Humanity: Anabaptist Ministry Among Many Peoples (© 2000 New Life Ministries). Permission to reproduce for local church use only is granted. Provided by New Life Ministries, 6404 S Calhoun St, Fort Wayne, IN 46807, through its web site at www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org This and all presentations from the council meeting, along with a record of the proceedings, are available in booklet form for $10.00. Use the online order form (product code AEC00).
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