AEC1998

Robert J. Suderman

Executive Secretary, Resources Commission, Conference of Mennonites in Canada

Popular wisdom suggests that a goldfish is more aware of happenings outside of its bowl than it is of the water in which it is swimming.

It is not abnormal to assume that the water in which we swim is the norm by which all other things can and should be measured. We see this assumption at work in international politics, race relations, cultural naivete, gender perspectives, and in religious truth.

However, those who wish to proclaim the Gospel of God must be fully aware of the water in which they swim. We believe that our proclamation does not originate within the fishbowl of our life but is truth revealed by God. This does not mean that God cannot be revealed through history, experience, and culture. It does suggest, however, that no culture, race, religion, or political situation can be regarded as the last word of revelation. We must be able to distinguish between the Gospel of God and the gospel of the water in the fishbowl in which we swim. What is the message of Anabaptist witness? And how can we understand the culture to which we wish to speak this message?

These questions made up the agenda of the first ever assembly of New Life Ministries. The papers presented in this volume were the launching pads from which dialogue about these questions began. We agreed that we swim in waters known as postmodernism. We must not be oblivious to our immersion in postmodernist worldviews. Otherwise our witness will reflect more the water in which we swim than the Gospel of God that should be revealed.

I will not attempt to summarize the discussions. These published papers will do that. I do want to highlight, however, the simple fact that this assembly was possible. As North American Anabaptists we have worked together for years in social ministries, in disaster service, in mutual aid, and in prophetic witness. We have not worked together well in church planting, in congregational renewal, and in strategic planning for evangelism. It seems that this agenda has been too threatening for us. Why? I don't know, but one can surmise some reasons:

i) A desire to grow numerically. Cooperation may have seemed to be counter-productive in achieving this goal.

ii) A lack of mechanisms to discern the Gospel together.

iii) A certain unwillingness to test our truth with the truth of others.

iv) A sense of evangelism as being a personal, more private matter in which cooperation with others has limited value.

v) A suspicion that evangelism might be subjected to strategy thereby limiting the work of the Spirit.

The momentum of non-cooperation in these areas, however, is now being turned around. New Life Ministries is an inter-Anabaptist effort to cooperate in areas of evangelism, church planting, church growth, and congregational renewal. It is North America wide. And it involves several denominations with Anabaptist roots. Related organizations are also involved. This first assembly brought together the Anabaptist academic community with the practitioners and administrators of program. Five theological/biblical colleges and seminaries were represented along with five Anabaptist denominations.

We are pleased to share with the broader community the fruits of our reflections. We also invite others to join the dialogue. This initiative is to be commended. We pray for God's wisdom in guiding our coming together.

Taken from Anabaptist Witness in a Postmodern Society (© 1998 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

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