|
Stuff I've been thinking about...
by
Anthony Castle
Been thinking about the future of our movement in the
world.Here’s what’s on my mind…
1- Faith Fidelity.We believe...
Tattoo the doctrines into your flesh. Marry them. You know
that page in the back of the songbook? They aren’t
formalities. It’s the stuff. This isn’t hype. I recently
stayed up all night talking to a young man fleeing a suicidal
life of drugs, casual sex and prostitution. He met Jesus,
stumbled through a few churches and here’s what he’s been
taught:
‘Call on Christ and be saved. Try and hold on to faith amongst
the sin in your life. Avoid the world and wait for the
rapture. Just hold it together, then you’ll get a nice job in
heaven.’
I’m not making this up. That’s it.
We got the goods.Here’s what I see:
Hope and Action- We believe that God is waiting patiently for
all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), and thatonce the gospel has
been preached to the nations the end will come (Matthew
24:14). Post-millenialist eschatology results in active
evangelism and evangelical activism. It expects the world to
be a better place and acts accordingly. It’s optimistic. It’s
relevant. It’s beautiful. Remember our Mother’s words,‘I
believe we shall win…’
(I’m loathe to ever to suggest such a practice as book
burning, but Left Behind’s a great place to start, followed
closely by Twilight, simply for the sake of good taste.)
Dangerous Saints- We believe in full Salvation, born of free
will and maturing in holiness. It makes for a better faith and
a better world. Too many have been told they are just sinners
holding on till judgement day. Too many believers left
toothless, castrated. Yuk.No more tame saints.
I looked my friend in the eye and said something like this,
‘God doesn’t want you safe. He wants you unleashed. No one
meets Jesus and stays the same. Think Peter, Paul, Zacheaus.
Transformed. Think Pentecost- Holy Spirit comes. Ka-Boom.
Thousands saved. You met Jesus. You got the Spirit. You can
rise above sin. Free. You can reach out to the lost.
Unstoppable. Don’t hide in your closet waiting for the
rapture. You can lay down your life for love. You change the
freaking world.’
Like I said, we got the goods.
Disclaimer: There may be a fallacy that strict doctrinal
fidelity necessitates an uninformed, uber-literalist approach
to scripture. An undying passion for our doctrines still
leaves room for tough questions and the humility that
acknowledges the many mysteries and tensions inherent in
theology. Enjoy.
2- Innovation. The 20th century is dead.
Fukuyama was right(kind of).Traditional meetings, seeker
sensitive services, mega-church models, etcetcetc. What do
they have in common? They are all forms of religious activity
born out of the 20th century. Let me get one thing straight,
if you do any of the above well (and I know plenty of corps
and programs who do) then please continue. Souls saved and
sanctified is the aim and far more valuable than hip
aesthetic.
…but…
The data states that these religious traditions are in sharp
decline in western society. Folks just don’t go to church and
religious sub-culture is anathema. We gotta get real. Some of
what we do just is not working anymore. We can’t play catch
up. This old dog needs to learn new tricks.The world has moved
on.
So I’d reckon three issues are key to innovation in the
western world:
Flexiblity-Weshould at least ask the question ‘is a strictly
regimented corporate structure, born of Victorian England,
equipped for activity in the 21st century global village’?
It may be. It may not. How many spaces have we allowed for
fluid experimentation, organic growth and mutation? Do we
desire diversity or dread it? How flexible are we?
Progenation- (Yes I made that word up)Do we thrive
throughgenerational progression? I’m not just talking about
biological reproduction, but the process of evangelism,
discipleship and mobilisation of ‘the next’. Do we value young
people or try to control them?Do we view gen Y and Z as our
future, or as the present in their own right?
At in our inception we were a youth movement. Inversely, will
we meet our demise as a seniors movement? This isn’t just
about wrestling control from the baby boomers. This is the
next phase in our history. The next step in our evolution.A
passing of the torch.
Frontline- Where are the arenas where Christian spirituality
works best now? How do we live out our faith as a radical
movement in the western world?
Well, in mysoundbyte, Arts and Activism.
You heard it here first. The innovative Christian faith of the
21st century Western world will be identified by its presence
amidst the public arts and social activism. If I was a betting
man (and I’m not of course coz I’m a soldier) then I’d wager
my most valuable possession on this prophetic maxim (my most
valuable possession being a 1979 Superman pinball machine by
the way). One more time…
Arts and Activism. Pass it on.
Disclaimer: As for innovation, I’m not saying trash the mercy
seat and buy a gasmask. This isn’t euthanasia.We remember the
old and sow in the new. We drop tradition and claim heritage.
Salvationism, in an organic 21st mode. I’m saying keep the
meaning, rebuild the form (I’d actually argue that rebuilding
the form will rescue the meaning).
3- Everything Online.The Big Bang of Cyberspace.
The Internet happened. I know you know, I’m just saying. But
sometimes I think we missed it. We now have a global database.
That’s a big deal. Then, web 2.0 popped up. The web ceased
being about corporate information and company websites and
became a society. It became about people, for the people, by
the people. The web now exists to connect individuals and
manage relationships. Some have called it the new socialism.
Now, the brains are discussing the coming of web 3.0, known as
the Semantic Web. In short, the Semantic web will make sense
of the internet. Web 3.0, will give informationa qualified
context and link data through meta-tags processed via
artificial intelligence. The web will be bigger, smarter and
easier. It will likely yield previously undreamt of global
access to knowledge and human connection.
What has this got to do with anything?
Well, everything. Everything is online now- mail, jobs,
banking, news, the weather, road maps, shopping, movie
listings, music, games, networks, encyclopaedias, friends,
family etc. It’s not stopping. It’s at our jobs, in our homes,
on our phones. It’s our lives- more and more. Constant
connectivity is inevitable.
From an evangelical POV, it may seem a little unfair. The
Salvation Army has spent the last 150 years in careful
mobilisation and negotiation, infiltrating 118 countries, only
to have an entirely new realm of human society blast into
being.This is of course, actually an advantage.
We quite literally, have the globe at our fingertips.
Can you imagine how the innovative evangelistWilliam Booth
would have grabbed this opportunity by the throat?(I’m
actually friends with William Booth on Facebook, honestly…)
We have to take the web seriously. We must advance. Prioritise.
Stake the flag. We have to evangelise. Preach, teach, chat and
poke. We gotta develop networks, applications, publications,
blogs, myspaces, twitters, forums, podcasts, music, viral
videos and resources. We must pioneer. We must plant online
corps. We have to connect.
Now.
Disclaimer: We don’t pursue mission in the digital matrices at
the expense of the material world. You can’t feed the hungry
or sober the drunk with a keyboard. However, we recognise they
are interconnected and act accordingly.
4- Social Justice. Duh!
I almost didn’t include this inasmuch as it is simply a given.
The world’s need for justice and the church’s call to live it
out is quite literally and paradoxically, ancient history.
Look around- the greed of the rich has thrown the globe into
flux and caused untold suffering, 20,000 kidsstarve to death
every day and Coca-cola is hiring militia to kill defiant
union reps in South America. If we remain motionless in the
midst of this madness then we beggar extinction.
The thorough thinking and theology is there. Justice, as the
foundation of God’s throne, inherent in the Law, proclaimed
though the prophets and acted out through Christ’s example is
a must. We must live out the mantle of our movement, the
commands of scripture and the call of our faith. We must fight
for justice in our communities or be shamed by pagans whose
altruism leaves us in the dust.
This is for real. The last century saw the fall of apartheid
and aggressive communism, the rise of the NAACP and the
nascent of universal human rights. The next may see the end of
poverty, industrial exploitation and divisive strife.
Science may bedrawing in on biological disease and industrial
anachronism. The world’s economies are starting to talk
honesty and equity. Celebrities are activists. Hope is in
vogue. The world is changing. For God’s sake,let’s be
involved.
So that’s your lot. Just some queries and theories from my
limited perspective. So, may “the God of peace soon
crushSatanunderyourfeet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you.” Romans 16:20
Amen.
|
