An interesting article has been published in the latest Missional Journal from Biblical Seminary which picks up on some important thinking from Miroslav Volf and James Davison Hunter on the mode of Christian living in the world and the need for disciples of Christ to operate in a mode of Soft Difference.
Read the article here...
Showing posts with label Growing as Disciples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Growing as Disciples. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Baptist Times: Whole-life Discipleship (Article 2)
LICC has been asked to contribute a series of articles to the Baptist Times exploring themes in whole-life discipleship. In the second of the series Mark Greene explores a vision for human flourishing...
Flourishing from Eden to Exeter
Here’s a question:
Why does God create Adam on Day 6? Why doesn’t he create him on Day 1?
And what has that to do with whole-life discipleship?
Well, if God had created Adam on Day 1 it would have been dark and there would have been nowhere for him to stand.
In fact, by the time God creates Adam everything is ready for him. There’s air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, productive work to pursue and it’s beautiful. What has God done? He has created a context for human flourishing. That’s the big project.
That’s what a parent or a single person is trying to do in their home – trying to create a context for the flourishing of those who live and visit. That’s what a good manager does in a company, tries to create a context in which people can flourish. As one senior manager put it; “My job is to roll the rocks off the runway so other people can soar.” That’s what a pastor is trying to do in a church, trying to create a context in which people can flourish in Christ.
Certainly the Fall has made that more difficult but God’s primary purpose has not changed. Christ, after all, is not only described as co-creator of all things: “For by him all things were created” (Colossians 1:16)
He is described as the one through whom “all things” are reconciled:
“and through him to reconcile all things to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20)
All things, not just some things.
This is the wonder and glory of God’s plan in Christ – not a partial salvation, not an interim solution, but a definitive, once and for all, all sufficient, redemptive sacrifice that promises the utter renewal of all things.
Tony Campolo, the American Christian social activist, put it this way,
“Evangelism is an invitation to join a movement to change the world.”
Of course, evangelism is more than that, but it is never less.
This is the big project we are all involved in – working with God to create a context for human flourishing in Him, with him, for Him, to His glory… wherever we are, day by day.
That may sound all very academic but it works out in very concrete ways, in ordinary situations.
So, a while back, a scientist called Anita pondered the lack of positive relationships in her workplace. Every day, the “team” would come in, suit up in white and scurry like moles into the single-person labs that the purity of their research required. Occasionally one of them would scuttle out to replenish a coffee cup and then scamper back. No one talked to each other, no one shared ideas about the research, no one really had much fun. So Anita decided to do an experiment and announced that on Friday, she would make coffee for everyone at 10:30 and she would bring chocolate biscuits.
And so it was that, on Friday at 10:30, the scientists, lured by chocolate, scampered out of their single-unit labs, into Anita’s benevolent conversational trap. And talked about life, about the news, and, of course, about their research. And so Friday by Friday, calorie by calorie, the “team” became more of a team.
What might you do in your context to combat something that inhibits people flourishing? Is your context full of gossip? Then practice affirmation. Is it full of selfishness? Then suggest something that helps people think of others – getting together to give to a particular charity, for example. In sum, prayerfully, look for an antidote that might, over time, lead to people experiencing Jesus’ ways. As God puts it to the exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:7): “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Flourishing from Eden to Exeter
Here’s a question:
Why does God create Adam on Day 6? Why doesn’t he create him on Day 1?
And what has that to do with whole-life discipleship?
Well, if God had created Adam on Day 1 it would have been dark and there would have been nowhere for him to stand.
In fact, by the time God creates Adam everything is ready for him. There’s air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, productive work to pursue and it’s beautiful. What has God done? He has created a context for human flourishing. That’s the big project.
That’s what a parent or a single person is trying to do in their home – trying to create a context for the flourishing of those who live and visit. That’s what a good manager does in a company, tries to create a context in which people can flourish. As one senior manager put it; “My job is to roll the rocks off the runway so other people can soar.” That’s what a pastor is trying to do in a church, trying to create a context in which people can flourish in Christ.
Certainly the Fall has made that more difficult but God’s primary purpose has not changed. Christ, after all, is not only described as co-creator of all things: “For by him all things were created” (Colossians 1:16)
He is described as the one through whom “all things” are reconciled:
“and through him to reconcile all things to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20)
All things, not just some things.
This is the wonder and glory of God’s plan in Christ – not a partial salvation, not an interim solution, but a definitive, once and for all, all sufficient, redemptive sacrifice that promises the utter renewal of all things.
Tony Campolo, the American Christian social activist, put it this way,
“Evangelism is an invitation to join a movement to change the world.”
Of course, evangelism is more than that, but it is never less.
This is the big project we are all involved in – working with God to create a context for human flourishing in Him, with him, for Him, to His glory… wherever we are, day by day.
That may sound all very academic but it works out in very concrete ways, in ordinary situations.
So, a while back, a scientist called Anita pondered the lack of positive relationships in her workplace. Every day, the “team” would come in, suit up in white and scurry like moles into the single-person labs that the purity of their research required. Occasionally one of them would scuttle out to replenish a coffee cup and then scamper back. No one talked to each other, no one shared ideas about the research, no one really had much fun. So Anita decided to do an experiment and announced that on Friday, she would make coffee for everyone at 10:30 and she would bring chocolate biscuits.
And so it was that, on Friday at 10:30, the scientists, lured by chocolate, scampered out of their single-unit labs, into Anita’s benevolent conversational trap. And talked about life, about the news, and, of course, about their research. And so Friday by Friday, calorie by calorie, the “team” became more of a team.
What might you do in your context to combat something that inhibits people flourishing? Is your context full of gossip? Then practice affirmation. Is it full of selfishness? Then suggest something that helps people think of others – getting together to give to a particular charity, for example. In sum, prayerfully, look for an antidote that might, over time, lead to people experiencing Jesus’ ways. As God puts it to the exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:7): “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Gospel Shaped Discipleship - Antony Billington Mp3 (1)
- Good News from God
- Good News about Jesus
- Good News of Salvation
- Good News for Life
20th October - Engaging with the Word
3rd November - Belonging to the Church
10th November - Walking with the Lord
24th November - Living in the World
1st December - Standing in God's Grace
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
WITH vs FOR God
This short but thought provoking video by Skye Jethani, editor of Leadership Journal and the Out of Ur blog, was posted last week. Jethani looks at the difference between a faith that is lived FOR God and a faith that is lived WITH God. It is a subtle but crucial difference and as I was watching it I wondered if what Jethani is giving is a descriptor of whole-life discipleship that avoids a works-based activism. Living as whole-life disciples, we seek to consciously live our lives with and before God in all we do.
How do you respond to what he is sharing?
How do you respond to what he is sharing?
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Event: Antony Billington on Gospel-Shaped Discipleship
LICC's Head of Theology, Antony Billington, will be delivering a six lecture series on 'Gospel Shaped Discipleship' at LICC this autumn.
This series explores key facets of what this looks like for Christians and churches today - introducing some core theological themes at the heart of a gospel-shaped perspective on discipleship.
Lectures run 1.00pm-1.50pm, with the option to stay on for discussion afterwards.Wednesday 13 October 2010: Beginning with the Gospel
Wednesday 20 October 2010: Engaging with the Word
Wednesday 3 November 2010: Belonging to the Church
Wednesday 10 November 2010: Walking with the Lord
Wednesday 24 November 2010: Living in the World
Wednesday 1 December 2010: Standing in God's Grace
Single lectures cost £5, or pay £10 for three, or £18 for the series of six.
Book here.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Baptism and the Whole-life Disciple
When do we become a whole-life disciple? What fuels our discipleship? I'd like to suggest that our identity and comissioning as a disciple is firmly rooted in our baptism. There is much more to say about this and hopefully we will explore it further elsewhere, but I recently came across this quote by the Swiss theologian Hans-Ruedi Weber from his article The Ministry of the Laity - Reconsidered from an Old Testament Perspective that helpfully encapsulates this idea. He writes:
a) Baptism is the ordination of the laity which authorises them to participate in Christ’s ministry in and for the world. Baptism is therefore the starting point for a theology on the laity.
b) Baptism introduces each church member into a basic apostolic succession. Just as each apostle is called, so each member of the apostolic Church is called to discipleship and mission.
c) In baptism each Christian becomes the responsible steward of the gifts of grace, the ‘charismata’ which have been given to him. These ‘charismata’ have to be used both for the up-building of the Church and for Christian service in and through the ‘secular’ jobs of the church members.
d) In baptism, each member of the Church is introduced into the dying and uprising with Christ, who, as the eternal High Priest, offered himself to become the victim for the salvation of the world.
From their baptism onwards, all Christians are therefore called to share in Christ’s priestly work by offering themselves in love and obedience to God and in love and service of men.
Monday, 26 July 2010
Jesus the Discernment Artist
We are convinced that discernment is a crucial skill for disciples on the Frontline, it was therefore with great interest that I read these posts on John Frye's blog Jesus the Radical Pastor. In his most recent series he is exploring some of the dimensions of discernment from a New Testament perspective:
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Who's Shaping You? 21st Century Disciples
The prolific Bishop Graham Cray's latest book Who's Shaping You: 21st Century Disciples has just been published by Cell UK priced at a very reasonable £4.25. An edited version of the talks Graham Cray has been delivering in partnership with LICC across the UK, the book explores 4 foundational issues for disciples of Christ. The publisher writes:
Graham gives us an exciting theological vision to help us work out our foundations for living this life. He describes a radical way of life, based on blblical thinking which he sees is necessary if we are to impact our world. He encourages us to allow Jesus to infect the whole of our lives and to live those lives openly in front of those we come across day by day.Order a copy of the book from Cell UK here.
The CD version of the talks is available here.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Crafting Conversation
The following article was written as part of LICC's weekly Connecting with Culture email series last November. I am reposting it here as we believe that the question it addresses is of fundamental significance for disciplemaking communities. We would love to hear your responses and ideas for how we might creatively address this issue...
Bernard Cribbins, familiar to generations of children as the voice of Jackanory and the Wombles, receives a special award at the Children's Baftas this weekend. Interviewed recently, he was asked the secret to good storytelling. He replied, 'to concentrate on one child, look them directly in the eye, and make them listen to every single thing I say.'
Yet in our world of hyper-communication, myriad means of contact (texts, blogs and tweets) provide an ever-greater choice of options for avoiding eye contact. The art of storytelling - even the art of conversation itself - are under threat as the quality of our interactions is reduced and ever more functionalised.
Bernard Cribbins, familiar to generations of children as the voice of Jackanory and the Wombles, receives a special award at the Children's Baftas this weekend. Interviewed recently, he was asked the secret to good storytelling. He replied, 'to concentrate on one child, look them directly in the eye, and make them listen to every single thing I say.'
Yet in our world of hyper-communication, myriad means of contact (texts, blogs and tweets) provide an ever-greater choice of options for avoiding eye contact. The art of storytelling - even the art of conversation itself - are under threat as the quality of our interactions is reduced and ever more functionalised.
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Giving Church Another Chance, Todd Hunter
Why read this book
At a time when many people are re-thinking the value of the gathered church as a place of spiritual formation, Todd Hunter writes to encourage us to connect all we do in gathered worship with our everyday life.
About the author
Previously he was the national director of both the Vineyard Churches USA and Alpha USA. He’s now a bishop for the Anglican Mission in the Americas. He has a website where you can read more about his work and other books.
At a time when many people are re-thinking the value of the gathered church as a place of spiritual formation, Todd Hunter writes to encourage us to connect all we do in gathered worship with our everyday life.
About the author
Previously he was the national director of both the Vineyard Churches USA and Alpha USA. He’s now a bishop for the Anglican Mission in the Americas. He has a website where you can read more about his work and other books.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
5 Values: 5 - We Commit To Growth As Whole-life Disciples
This is the last in a series of posts on 5 Values for a Whole-life Disciplemaking Church. Read the inroduction to the series.
As our lives develop, we are faced with the challenges of new transitional moments, situations that are new to us, challenges and opportunities that we couldn’t have imagined. And in each situation we are given the chance to grow or to retreat to familiar practices.
This commitment to ongoing learning on everyone’s part, can make some feel vulnerable. We have been happier when we have felt that we have known everything and can teach everyone else. This has been a false confidence.
As our lives develop, we are faced with the challenges of new transitional moments, situations that are new to us, challenges and opportunities that we couldn’t have imagined. And in each situation we are given the chance to grow or to retreat to familiar practices.
This commitment to ongoing learning on everyone’s part, can make some feel vulnerable. We have been happier when we have felt that we have known everything and can teach everyone else. This has been a false confidence.
Friday, 28 May 2010
Holy Spirit in the World Today Conference
Last week I was privileged to attend the Holy Spirit in the World Today Conference at Holy Trinity Brompton. Amongst others speaking were Jürgen Moltmann, Miroslav Volf, David Ford, Tom Smail and Rowan Williams – quite a line up!
The conference was significant for a number of reasons: firstly, it was determinedly church centric. Few academic conferences would be hosted in a church context, yet on a number of occasions participants explicitly noted that academia has lagged behind the church in exploring pneumatology. Jürgen Moltmann in particular reflected on his experiences in his church in Tübingen, echoing the cry of the ecological movement that we ‘think global, but act local.’ Secondly and strikingly, explicit connection was made with the Frontline. The second speaker on the Thursday was Ken Costa, Chairman of Lazard International Bank and creator of the God at Work course, speaking about the need for a pneumatology that embraces the workplace and the home.
The conference was significant for a number of reasons: firstly, it was determinedly church centric. Few academic conferences would be hosted in a church context, yet on a number of occasions participants explicitly noted that academia has lagged behind the church in exploring pneumatology. Jürgen Moltmann in particular reflected on his experiences in his church in Tübingen, echoing the cry of the ecological movement that we ‘think global, but act local.’ Secondly and strikingly, explicit connection was made with the Frontline. The second speaker on the Thursday was Ken Costa, Chairman of Lazard International Bank and creator of the God at Work course, speaking about the need for a pneumatology that embraces the workplace and the home.
Monday, 26 April 2010
Conversations Journal: How We Change
Conversations journal, published twice a year in the US, has devoted its latest issue to the question of How We Change.
As the editorial puts it:
To explore the contents and purchase a copy go to the Conversations website.
As the editorial puts it:
...it has become commonplace to live as though what Jesus meant to be Christianity 101 - learning to live our lives with supernatural abilities - has become Christianity 401, a curriculum most reserve now for the saints.So, they have devoted the latest issue to exploring the dimensions of change and growth. Coming out of the spiritual formation school it provides a certain take on the question and there is little on the role of the church in the transformation of the individual but with contributions from Dallas Willard, Larry Crabb, David Kinnaman and Ruth Haley Barton there is much for reflection.
To explore the contents and purchase a copy go to the Conversations website.
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