Fm - Session 2
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The Challenge Why Church Growth Often Doesn’t Lead to Transformed Cities and Nations
Session 2
worship and prayer
10 minutes
• Sing 2-3 Worship Songs (Project songs on PowerPoint.) • Pray out loud for the course and for God to reveal himself through it and have each student pray for his or her neighbor at the same time that God may reveal himself and his purposes in a deeper way, give vision and renewed passion for his work on earth to be done.
review of previous session Ask students to summarize the most important points of the last session. 5 minutes
13 minutes
introduction: why has the growth of the church not transformed cities and nations? As we looked at the different case studies from around the world during our last session, we asked ourselves the following questions: Why has the fantastic church growth in nation after nation not led to the transformation of society? If we are seeing the highest level of new converts and church plants in world history, especially in the evangelical/Pentecostal/charismatic wing of the church, why do nation after nation where this growth is happening, remain so very broken?1 Give room for participants to respond to this question before continuing with the plenary introduction. Do not comment in specific on their answers. I think there are three major answers to this question. We’ll touch on all three answers today and then in the course of the next weeks, we’ll flesh out the answers. To find answers to these questions is a very important task, for if we don’t understand the answers to these questions, we will continue in the same way as the churches in these other nations have… and the result will not be transformation but simply more of the same. Maybe we will have more and fuller churches, but God is very clear throughout his word that church growth should never be an end in itself. e goal of God’s mission, as we shall see in subsequent sessions as we’ll delve into Scriptures, is the advancement of his Kingdom, the restoration of his creation. God didn’t die in Jesus Christ just to save our souls and carry them away to heaven, but to reconcile all of creation to himself, as Paul says so pointedly in Colossians 1:20 (See corresponding PowerPoint). e church is God’s means to accomplish this vision. Having said this, let
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me now outline the three major answers to our question (See corresponding PowerPoint): • We have not adopted a Biblical worldview, but have simply exchanged one religion for another, without changing our worldview. Because of that we have often read our Bibles with blinders. e consequence: • We have not understood the whole of God’s mission and vision and thus are no longer telling and living the whole transforming story as revealed in the Bible. Instead, our preaching and actions have just been based on portions of the Bible that though important, don’t tell us the complete story. e consequence: • We have not been clear about our own mission, calling and purpose and have not truly discipled our cities and nations, because we have not been teaching nor modeling to them to practically obey everything that Jesus commanded us to do (Matthew 28:20). Instead, we have let our cities and nations disciple us! We have thus not heeded Paul’s appeal that we not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Project Romans 12:2a on PowerPoint). e consequence: We have grown churches but have not transformed our cities and nations! No doubt, there are other answers to our main question… however, I believe that these other answers are more based on our lack of understanding God’s vision and mission and our purpose in it, and thus included in the major three answers that I just outlined. For instance, some of you may say that the reason we haven’t seen transformation is because the church has not been praying fervently enough. If only we’d pray more and more intensely, transformation would occur. I fully agree with you. If we’d pray more, God would act more. However, despite their fervent prayers, the church in Korea (which is undoubtedly one of the best examples of a church that prays fervently) is facing the crisis of secularization and is loosing many younger people who see the church no longer as relevant to their lives. Something else must be happening here. Some others of you may say that the reason we’re not seeing transformation is because the church is disunited and divided. Again, I fully agree with you. If churches were to unite and work together more for the expansion of God’s Kingdom, God would act more. Yet again, if these united churches didn’t fully understand God’s mission and vision for this world, the results they would achieve would remain partial and thus not transform their city or nation. Having said that, let’s begin by looking more in depth at each of these three answers:
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lecture: we have not adopted a biblical worldview
7 minutes
We have not adopted a Biblical worldview, but have simply exchanged one religion for another, without changing our worldview. Because of that we have often read our Bibles with blinders. Let’s begin to flesh out this answer by first defining what we mean by “worldview”. Ask students to define the word ‘worldview’ and explain what they think it means. Give room for different students to answer without jumping in and then complement their answers with anything left unsaid from below. Picture goes here - person in glasses. e way we understand and interpret the world in which we live is something anthropologists call our worldview. Our worldview is like a pair of glasses or contact lenses through which we see and make sense out of our world (See corresponding PowerPoint). Unlike glasses, however, our worldview also includes our assumptions about how the world works.2 Our worldviews are literally part of who we are. ey are deeply implanted in our minds and hearts. In many cases, we are not aware of their existence or influence on our lives until they are challenged by alternative ways of seeing the world. As lenses or eye glasses that we use every day, we put them in the morning and forget them until we remove in the evening. ey give shape and color to everything that we see. In addition, they focus our attention on certain issues, while in turn filtering others out.3 at is, a worldview should provide the right recipe to find meaning in this world, the same way that using the correct prescription for your eyes makes things clearer. And, in both examples, an incorrect recipe can be dangerous, even life-threatening. People who are struggling with questions regarding their worldview tend to be desperate and may even have suicidal tendencies. erefore, it is important that we give attention to the way we see the world – or as some may say – the framing story we live our lives by. Worldviews or framing stories are such an intrinsic part of our lives and color everything we see or hear, whether we recognize it or not. For example, films, television, music, magazines, newspapers, government, education, science, art and all other aspects of culture are affected by our worldviews of framing stories. If we ignore their importance, we do so at our own expense.4 Indeed, a major reason why the church in Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea, United States, Nigeria, Haiti, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Philippines, and Mexico too, etc. has missed their mission, has a lot to do with their underlying worldview.
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group activity: determining your underlying worldview5 To make this point become more obvious, I’d like us to do a little exercise that may help us determine more clearly what our underlying worldview is. 25 minutes
Project a list of words that include exclusively animals and names of car makes on PowerPoint. Ask students to list the words on the PowerPoint into their respective categories and give them 1-2 minutes to do so. Compare findings, which should list the words in two overriding categories: 1. Cars and 2. Animals. Now explain the exercise that will help students find their underlying worldview: Have each student sort the following words according to what they think would correspond to a Biblical worldview: In other words, list the words under somewhere between two to four overarching categories that would make sense from a Biblical worldview perspective. ose who wish can work in pairs. (See corresponding PowerPoint.) God, rice, earth, economy, sex, recreational park, man, ocean, demon, garden, cow, angel, woman, bread, heaven, boy, grass, spirit, sky, blood, girl, tree, water, house, farm, mountain, land, street Have a participant write the various solutions that other class participants may offer on the white board. Do not comment on results until at least 2-4 solutions are listed on whiteboard. Most lists will resemble columns in Table 1, which will be projected shortly: Column A and B illustrate the categories of the majority of believers influenced in some way or another by Western Christianity. is arrangement of the elements of creation makes a clear distinction between the spiritual and physical elements of creation, exposing its Gnostic influence by creating a dichotomy between nonmaterial and material elements and dissociating God and other spiritual entities from the creation. Column B extends this dichotomy by separating people who are saved from those who are not saved; those who are spiritual from those who are not spiritual.6 Picture goes here - what? Reveal most correct answer by projecting Table 1 under the two overarching categories Creator/creation on PowerPoint. e most correct answer is: Creator/creation. Discuss the findings. Doesn’t the Bible say that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” (Gen. 1:1). ere is just Creator and creation, like in this picture. (see PowerPoint). God created the universe, both animate and inanimate, spiritual and physical, separate from Himself, but not independent from himself. God is both transcendent (outside of his creation) and immanent (present within it). He is everywhere present and involved, immanent in history. e universe is not a closed system; it is
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open to God’s purpose and intervention.7 And there is a relationship between the Creator and his creation. Communication and interaction are possible. Interestingly, though this would be the biblical view to express the relationship between God and creation, we often put God in the same category as “demons, angels, and spirits”. How come?
lecture: the great divorce - separating the spiritual and physical realms 20 minutes
(Accompany and illustrate lecture with graphs and major points on PowerPoint. is lecture is a basic review of the article “How People View the World”, touching on the most important points that the article seeks to make). For several hundred years now people from around the world have bought into a worldview that separates the physical and spiritual realms as distinct from one another. is worldview was promoted by some of the ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato, who argued that the soul is separate from the body, as is the spiritual from the physical. Plato argued that our souls are captive in the prison of our bodies and look forward to the time when they will be released from this prison through death. At that point the soul would enter into the spiritual world, which Plato considered the real world. For numerous philosophers over the centuries this worldview came to be seen as follows: On the one hand, there is the spiritual or supernatural world where God lives and acts, along with other cosmic Gods like Allah. is is the world of religion. On the other hand, there is the real world: the material world where we hear, see, feel, touch, and smell. is is the world of science. While this view was initially just held by people from the Western world, sadly, this is not just a problem for Western folk anymore. Wherever the school curriculum of a country is based on Western educational models, most people have imbibed this worldview as an unspoken part of their lives. is dichotomy, or absolute separation, between the spiritual and the physical is a central tenet of what some call modernity.8 e most extreme form of this worldview is materialism or secularism. It doesn’t acknowledge that God plays any role in our world. It simply relegates him to the realm of the
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unknown, superstitious or irrelevant. In the case of atheism, it is said that God is inexistent. So the world today is divided into secular and sacred; into physical and spiritual; into scientific and religious. is framework that separates areas of life is also deeply embedded in the Western part of the Christian church and most churches that emerged through the effort of the Western missionary movement of the last 200-300 years. It’s embedded in its theology, and in the daily life of its people.9 Unfortunately, Christians too have fallen into the ancient Greek dichotomy dividing the universe into the spiritual realm, which is considered sacred, and the physical, viewed as profane. Particularly under the famous North African church father Augustine, neo-platonic dualism was introduced into the church’s doctrine, and since it has come to full fruition. Indeed, millions of believers operate from this worldview, which can call “evangelical Gnosticism”. Gnosticism was a philosophy that already infiltrated the early church. John – in his three letters – for instance, strongly condemned this philosophy which spiritualized many concepts of Christianity and only saw the spiritual as important. “ E v a n ge l i c a l G n o s t i c i s m” i s a descendant of that ancient heresy and much more connected to the ancient Greek worldview than the Hebrew Biblical Worldview. Faith, theology, ethics, missions, the devotional life, and evangelism are placed in the spiritual realm and considered of first importance. Reason, science, business, politics, art, music, sex, and meeting people’s needs occupy the physical realm.10 On Sunday morning or during our devotional or prayer life, we operate in the spiritual realm. e rest of the week, and in our professional lives, we operate in the physical realm and, hence, unwittingly act like functional atheists.11 Many Christians consider the greatest callings that of the pastor or missionary. In doing so, they often betray their dualistic/gnostic worldview – since they declare that the pastor or missionary are in “full-time ministry”, implying that all other Christians engaged in “secular pursuits” are “part-time Christians”. us many Christians today suffer from “split personalities”. eir lives are divided into compartments: the “religious”, what they do when attending church or a Bible study; and the “secular”, their jobs, recreation and education.12 e dichotomy is particularly manifest in the discussion regarding the relationship between evangelism and development (social action). “Should development follow evangelism or prepare for evangelism? Is it valid to do development work without explicitly
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evangelizing? Is living according to kingdom-values already evangelism?”13 ese questions make apparent the captivity to the dualistic/Gnostic worldview. Doesn’t the Bible say that “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2. Cor. 11:14) and “at he is out to deceive the nations”. (Rev. 20:3, 8) (Project verses on PowerPoint). Western and Western-influenced Christianity has been deceived by Satan. ey have been intrinsically influenced by a dualistic Greek/Gnostic worldview, rather than a Biblical worldview. Because much Christian mission endeavors and development work has been launched from Western countries, the dualistic worldview of those countries has accompanied the Christian workers into the whole world, including Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea, Nigeria, Kenya, Philippines, Nicaragua, Haiti, as well as Mexico. Let’s look at Rwanda in particular to see how this dualistic or evangelical Gnostic worldview contributed to or at least failed to hinder the genocide in 1994. A number of studies have been conducted to explain the Rwanda case. eir major findings are as follows: (Provide only a general summary of the following.) • It seems as if the revival had a marked effect on personal and spiritual relations only: most Hutu Christians fellowshipped warmly with Tutsi brothers and sisters. But – and that was the real problem – they were afraid of the Tutsis as people. On the other hand, it seems as if most Tutsi Christians shared the basic premise of the rebel cause: Hutus were not as capable as Tutsis to govern the country. e Christians in the last instance remained divided on ethnic lines into “us” versus “them.”14 Racial identities remained more important than one’s identity as members of the God’s Kingdom. Beneath the surface of seemingly multi-ethnic churches, then, ethnic resentment festered on. Hutus could not forgive years of unjust subordination under the Tutsi during the Belgian and French colonial rules. Tutsi could not forgive the persecution they had experienced from Hutus since independence in the 1960s. In a country with so many professing Christians this must indicate a failure to teach the full implications of the believer’s new identity in Christ.15 • Rwandan spiritual development rarely progressed much past the initial point of conversion. e saved were called to be saved Sunday after Sunday. e emphasis was on conversion. e repentance that was called for was often limited to the pattern of “no alcohol, no adultery and pay your tithe!” Testimonies received more emphasis than solid biblical teaching. en there was the lack of relevance for everyday life. It was partly the result of the theological background of the missionaries, who tended to emphasize evangelism to the exclusion of any engagement with the public life of the nation, or a critique of the socio-political
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context. In fact, missionaries preached a pietism that encouraged both the withdrawal from the public life of the nation into a spiritual ghetto and a naïve an uncritical support of whoever was in power, citing Romans 13. ey spoke about “the deeper life” and worked and prayed for revival. e revival consequently didn't put its stamp on public life. e “converts” were not readied for the rigors of life “out there.” ough there was much repentance from personal sins such as lying, adultery or not paying a tithe, little attention was paid to the societal evils of political corruption, economic exploitation, and ethnic discrimination. As long as the individual had their ‘ticket to heaven’, society could in a sense go to hell.16 Not surprisingly, Christians in Rwanda were shaken to their foundations by the bloody events.17 A spiritual revival alone is not enough to transform society, it follows. It must work its way through to the daily life of the people. And it should be carried into every sphere of life. I propose that nothing but adopting a Biblical worldview will do, if we endeavor to reach the world with God’s love and justice and see real transformation happen. Nothing but adopting a Biblical worldview will do, if we hope that the revival that has been prophesied over Mexico will do more than just fill our churches and make people change from the Catholic to the evangelical religion. e worldview of the kingdom of God is the only worldview that provides the foundation for free, fair and compassionate societies. Christians are called to be “salt and light.” We are called to bring this majestic worldview or framing story to our neighborhoods, communities, cities and nations.18 In order to get there, however, we need to take off our blinders first, to gain a truly holistic understanding of the biblical story and of the whole gospel message.
group activity and homework review19
15 minutes
In your application exercise for this week I asked you to read an article on how people view the world and respond to and reflect on some of the questions asked at the end of the article. At this point I’d like you to go into the same groups you were in last week (4-5 people) and share with those in your group your responses to the article. I’d like you to discuss particularly the third question and comment with one another what numbers you circled on the graph. (See corresponding PowerPoint.) • Divide students into the same groups from last week of four to five and have them select a leader for each group. If the class is small, do not divide. • Ask students to summarize their answers and reflections to the article they were to read, as well as the lecture — two minutes each.
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• Do not make comments until all students’ experiences have been shared. • Walk around and listen to groups. Select one or two student to report to the entire class.
lecture: we are no longer telling and living the whole story
20 minutes
We have not understood the whole of God’s mission and vision and thus are no longer telling and living the whole transforming story as revealed in the Bible. Instead, our preaching and actions have just been based on portions of the Bible that though important, don’t tell us the complete story. e Bible was not written by Westerners, it was written by Middle Eastern People and carries a very Asian perspective that we often miss if we read it through Western (Greek) eyes. e ancient Hebrews had an integral view of faith and world that we need to recover.20 ere are two areas in particular where we need to recover the worldview of the biblical writers, if we want to read and understand the Bible for all its worth: e Writers of the Bible had a Communitarian Versus and Individualistic Worldview e biblical writers had much more of a communitarian worldview. While individuals were acknowledged, it was the community that was at the center of attention. Because we tend to read the Bible much more through individualistic and dualistic eyes – a Greek heritage – we miss much of its richness. If we want to read the Bible for all its worth, we need to read it with corporatist and holistic eyes. Let’s do a short exercise to show you what I mean by this. Indeed, this short exercise will show to you that many Christians are not reading the Bible through the worldview glasses of a Biblical worldview, but rather an individualistic Greekinfluenced worldview: Read Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Out Loud (Project verses on PowerPoint.) ese verses constitute a prayer called the Shema, because the opening word, “Hear”, is Shema in Hebrew. All Jews recite these verses every time they meet for worship in their synagogues. What do we often hear when we read these verses? When you’ve heard a sermon or preached yourself on these verses, what was the central message? Allow students time to respond. Isn’t the central message mostly: “You xxxx (put in first name of facilitator or any seminar participant) – love the Lord your God with all
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your heart and all your strength etc…” But what does the text actually say? Allow students time to respond. It says: “You Israel – love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength etc…” e addressee is the nation of Israel. Not an individual. Now, there is no doubt that we can apply the verse to individuals as well. But, the text as such is addressed to a nation. It is like saying: “You Mexico – love the Lord your God….” “You Brazil – love the Lord your God….” “You Switzerland – love the Lord your God….” “You United States – love the Lord your God….” etc. Why do we often miss this? Because we read the Bible with individualistic/Gnostic rather than Biblical worldview glasses. In fact, as these verses in Deuteronomy show (as well as in many other parts of the Bible) God is not concerned solely with individuals, but also with families, peoples, and nations. He is not solely concerned to meet our personal needs and problems, but also interested in meeting the needs of entire nations. is is why he wants to engage the political, economic, social, educational, health, environmental realities of nations, as we shall see in a more in-depth study of Deuteronomy. e Writers of the Bible thought in Stories much more than in Propositions or Doctrines (Accompany lecture with graphs and illustrations on PowerPoint.) Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristoteles, Plotinus and others thought in principles and unchangeable truths. ey built elaborate philosophical systems of thought to explain the world. Some of the later church fathers like Augustine, but later also the great medieval theologian omas of Aquinas, then the Reformers like Martin Luther and even more so John Calvin, all of whom were deeply influenced by Greek philosophy and worldview, began to build elaborate theological systems of thought that were erected upon the earlier philosophical systems of Plato and Aristoteles. en came the German theologians in the 19th and early 20th century who wrote sophisticated ‘systematic theologies’ that presented the information of the Bible in a systematic fashion. I.e. they wrote about a doctrine of God, a doctrine of sin, a doctrine of grace, a doctrine of the church, a doctrine of the Holy Spirit etc… Shortly thereafter they were copied by English and American theologians whose influence eventually reached into farthest corners of the world. (See corresponding PowerPoint.) e consequence: Most churches today think of the Bible primarily as a book that contains God-inspired truths, propositions, rules and doctrines. If we follow these truths, propositions, rules and doctrines, then we will do fine. Be honest… If you ask a random non-church-going person in the street what they
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think about the church, they will tell you that the church is a place where people are no longer allowed to do many things! In thinking about and reading the Bible in this way, however, we once again betray the fact that we’re more influenced by Greek philosophy and worldview, than by the worldview of the biblical writers. Now please don’t get me wrong. I do believe wholeheartedly that the Bible indeed contains truths, propositions, rules and doctrines. However, the Bible is much more than that. e writers of the Bible thought much more in stories than in principles and unchangeable truths. To them, God revealed himself primarily in stories and most of all through history. In that sense we should think of the Bible much more as a grand story of inestimable scope and depth,21 than as a book containing God-inspired truths, propositions, rules and doctrines. If we adopt the worldview of the biblical writers, we should think of the Bible as the book telling us about the overarching story we’ve fallen into: A story of beauty and intimacy and adventure, but also of danger and loss and heroism and betrayal!22 A Story filled with messages of hope and comfort, but also of pain, difficulties, mistakes! A collection of stories, poetry, philosophical essays, songs, parables, sermons and prayers that are offensive and challenging as well as life-giving and inspiring, but that all fit together in a whole. A Story that ultimately will lead to the victory of justice, love, well-being and wholesome health! Picture goes here - what? e opening line of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” establishes the story line of the biblical narrative. e Bible’s narrative begins with creation and ends as Christ returns for His church. It begins in a garden (the Garden of Eden) and ends in a city (the City of God). It begins with the first couple (Adam and Eve) and ends with the marriage of Christ and His bride (the church).23 e Gospel— the life, death, and resurrection of Christ—is the focal point of the biblical narrative and of all human history, but it is not the whole story. In a nutshell, the Bible tells us how things started, lost their way, can be redirected, and how the human story comes out in the end. We are told the beginning, the middle and the final chapter of the story. e piece between Jesus and the final chapter is still being written. God’s story, thus, is not just about what God has done, but also about what God is doing now. God is still writing the story, and incredibly, God has invited us to participate in that writing.24 Unfortunately, this story of the Bible is often not told with much clarity. A lot of the Story has been left out, or it has been told in such a way that people – including many Christians – get a warped or very limited understanding of the Story. We are no longer telling the whole transforming story. Today’s churches often use only the New Testament,
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or only the Gospels, or only Paul or only certain liturgical sections of the Old Testament. While many Christians believe that the whole Bible is the Word of God, they treat certain parts as more valuable or useful than others – in effect creating a canon within the canon or a Bible within the Bible. e biblical narrative has the ability to transform individuals, to lift communities out of poverty, and to build nations that are free, just, and compassionate. It has the ability to disciple nations by giving instructions, principles, and wisdom to heal the world’s brokenness. But why is transformation not happening more often today? Perhaps it is because we have not been telling the whole story. As a result, because the church is not telling and living the whole story and most likely doesn’t even know the whole story, the church is not discipling the nations. e nations are discipling the church instead!25 I cannot explain the case of Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea and the United States otherwise. erefore, if you really want to see transformation happen, I ask you to begin by taking off your glasses. Your glasses that were influenced by a Greek rather than a Biblical Worldview! And I ask you to begin putting on Biblical worldview glasses!
group activity: how much do I understand of god’s story?
20 minutes
As we have seen just now; many evangelical Christians have an awareness of the Bible that is limited to the New Testament and a few sections of the Old Testament. For some, it is limited to the Gospels and some letters of Paul. In the following group work, I’d like you to react to what you’ve heard about how we need to rid ourselves of a dualistic and Greek worldview as we read the Bible and why that is important. Begin by doing the following exercise: Divide students into the same groups of four to six and select a leader for each group. If the class is small, do not divide. Ask students to begin group time by each doing the following exercise first: “Circle the number that you think most closely reflects the scope and depth of understanding of God’s Story as revealed in the Bible — first, in your own life and, second, in your church.26” Picture goes here - what? Have students then discuss the following question in their group: “What do your answers reveal to you about yourself and your church?”27 Finally, have students read the following quote and discuss it among themselves: “Do you agree/disagree with Bob Moffitt’s assessment?” “We are no longer telling the whole transforming story. Today’s
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churches often use only the New Testament or only the Gospels. e biblical narrative has the ability to transform individuals; to lift communities out of poverty; and to build nations that are free, just, and compassionate. It has the ability to disciple the nations. But if the church is not discipling the nations, the nations are discipling the church! Why is transformation not happening more today? Perhaps it is because we have not been telling the whole story.” Bob Moffitt, Executive Director of ‘e Harvest Foundation’ Walk around and listen to groups. Select two or three student to report their findings to the entire class. (Affirm students' efforts. Point out strengths. Provide gentle correction if needed.)
lecture: we have not been clear about our own mission, calling, and purpose and thus have not truly discipled our cities and nations 10 minutes
Jesus, a few moments before he ascended to heaven, gave his disciples a job description that many have come to call “the Great Commission”. Read Matthew 28:18-20. (See PowerPoint.) So what did Christ mean when he told us to “disciple all nations”?28 Allow students time to respond and have a short plenary discussion. What did Christ mean when he told us to teach the nations and its people to obey ALL that he had commanded? What does ALL include? Allow students time to respond and have a short plenary discussion. How would you know when a nation has been discipled… rather than evangelized? Allow students time to respond and have a short plenary discussion. Today, many Christians feel that the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be carried to the whole world, “until the end of the earth.” However, many have forgotten that the worldview of God’s Kingdom must also penetrate and transform cultures. When Jesus commanded his disciples to “make disciples of all nations,” also meant that his disciples should live according to the worldview or faming story of God’s Kingdom in their own lives and then carry this worldview to the streets and the public spheres of society. Only by doing so will it be possible to change our neighborhood, communities, social institutions, and eventually the laws and structures. Discipling nations, then, means “laying” kingdom principles and a biblical worldview as the founding order of a people. is is God’s will, and it
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does not end with evangelism. We are to bring the life and wisdom of God to bear in all of life, not just in a privatized “religious” sphere. Based on this definition and understanding it seems to me that many missionaries, pastors and Christians in general in Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea, and the United States etc. haven’t discipled their nation. Instead, the nation discipled the church. Rwanda is an extreme example of this principle. Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea and the United States are not far behind.
summary and conclusion
5 minutes
If we truly want to be part of transforming communities, cities and nations, we need to begin by doing three things (See PowerPoint): 1. We need to take off our worldview glasses that were influenced by a dualistic/Gnostic worldview and seek to grow into adopting a Biblical worldview. How do we do that? We do this by doing the second task! 2. We need to grow in our understanding of the biblical Story – of God’s Story with his World. is is the purpose of the next eight sessions of our time together. 3. We need to accept the commandment that God has called us to disciple our nations; not just individuals… and that faith needs to impact all spheres of life – economic, political, marital, business, arts, entertainment – not just the spiritual aspects. And that we are to practice and model God’s commandments so that others can begin to obey them too. is is the purpose of our final sessions and the trainings that follow after that for those who are interested.
homework and application: community survey29
15 minutes
Assign participants homework first: Read the page with “Quotes” from men and women of God from around the world and then answer the questions on the back of the page. Be prepared to share your answers next week. In addition, do at least six interviews with random people you do not know; people you assume are not Christians and/or whose responses you cannot predict. (Do not ask people if they are believers). You can begin by saying, “I’m doing a survey for a class I’m taking – would you be willing to answer one question for me? e question is . . .”: “What two things first come to your mind when you think of evangelicals here in our city/town?30
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Once they have answered the question, thank them and then take some time to reflect on the following questions. Write your observations in your Application Journal. • Were the observations of the community people insightful? What did you learn from their responses? • Do you think it would be helpful for Christians to listen more to their neighbors in order to witness more effectively in word and deed? Why or why not? • What activities do you think community people see when they look at evangelicals? • What motives do you think community people see when they look at evangelicals?
closing prayer Ask a participant to close in prayer. 5 minutes
total time: 170 minutes
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personal notes
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endnotes 1
Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, vi Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 3 Food for the Hungry International, Cosmovisión Bíblica del Reino de Dios “A worldview is a way of seeing. It’s not just what we see, but how we see everything else. It’s the lens through which we see – a lens of assumptions, beliefs, images, metaphors, values, and ideas that we inherit and construct from our family, our teachers, our peers, our community, and our culture. As we go through life, many of us find it next to impossible even to want to question our inherited worldview, while others do exactly that: we rethink, we imagine other ways of seeing things, and we sometimes experience radical conversions out of one worldview and into another.” (Brian McLaren, e Secret Message of Jesus, 51) 4 Jerry Solomon, Cosmovisiones, online available at http://ministeriosprobe.org/docs/ cosmovisiones.html 5 Exercise adapted from Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 104-105 6 Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 104-105 7 Darrow Miller, Discipling Nations, 44 8 Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 9 Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 10 Darrow Miller, Discipling Nations, 46 11 Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 12 Darrow Miller, Discipling Nations, 46 13 Even the questions that are often asked still seem to be saturated by the philosophical underpinnings of aforementioned dichotomy: “Should development follow evangelism or prepare for evangelism? Is it valid to do development work without explicitly evangelizing? Is living according to kingdom-values already evangelism?” Many missionaries, pastors and development workers have genuinely struggled to connect the spiritual and physical aspects of their work into a meaningful whole. Often, however, the result has been to simply combine evangelism with relief and development (social action), and to call that holistic ministry. is, however, still makes apparent the captivity to the dualistic/Gnostic worldview. 14 J.J. (Dons) Kritzinger, THE RWANDAN TRAGEDY AS PUBLIC INDICTMENT AGAINST CHRISTIAN MISSION, online available at http://www.geocities.com/ missionalia/rwanda1.htm 15 Dewi Hughes, God of the Poor, 232 16 Dewi Hughes, God of the Poor, 232 17 J.J. (Dons) Kritzinger, THE RWANDAN TRAGEDY AS PUBLIC INDICTMENT AGAINST CHRISTIAN MISSION, online available at http://www.geocities.com/ missionalia/rwanda1.htm 18 Food for the Hungry International, Cosmovisión Bíblica del Reino de Dios 19 Adapted from e Harvest Foundation, Leadership Development Training Program, Level I, 19 20 Raymond Bakke, A eology as Big as the City, 34 21 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 51 22 John Eldridge, Epic, 2 23 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 51 24 Bryant L. Myers, Walking With e Poor, 23 25 Miller & Moffit, On Earth as it is in Heaven 26 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 56 § e scope of Scripture reveals the flow of biblical history. It began at Creation, continued through the Fall and Redemption, and will end at Consummation. 2
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§ e depth of Scripture answers questions about the nature of God; the nature of creation; the nature of man; and the nature of truth, goodness, and beauty. is is the metaphysical story of Scripture. 27 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 56 28 Some scholars contend that the meaning of “all nations” in this passage refers to making individual disciples within all segments of the human family. ey assert that Jesus could hardly have been referring to nations as collective entities in themselves, for then there would not have been the shift to the masculine ‘them’ when referring to baptism and instruction because the word for ‘nation’ is neuter. While the debate is ongoing as to the exact meaning of Jesus’ words, it is safe to assume that Jesus did mean to make individual disciples within all segments of the human family, but didn’t limit his command this only. As we study God’s story of transforming the world, and Jesus role in this story in particular, it will become clear that Jesus also meant that his disciples are called to “lay” kingdom principles and a biblical worldview as the founding order of a people. is is God’s will, and it does not end with evangelism. We are to bring the life and wisdom of God to bear in all of life, not just in a privatized “religious” sphere. 29 Adapted from Adapted from e Harvest Foundation, Leadership Development Training Program, Level II, 8-1; 8-8 30 Instead of ‘evangelical’ you can also insert another category of Christians represented by students—-such as Pentecostals, other denominations, etc.)
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Session 2
worship and prayer
10 minutes
• Sing 2-3 Worship Songs (Project songs on PowerPoint.) • Pray out loud for the course and for God to reveal himself through it and have each student pray for his or her neighbor at the same time that God may reveal himself and his purposes in a deeper way, give vision and renewed passion for his work on earth to be done.
review of previous session Ask students to summarize the most important points of the last session. 5 minutes
13 minutes
introduction: why has the growth of the church not transformed cities and nations? As we looked at the different case studies from around the world during our last session, we asked ourselves the following questions: Why has the fantastic church growth in nation after nation not led to the transformation of society? If we are seeing the highest level of new converts and church plants in world history, especially in the evangelical/Pentecostal/charismatic wing of the church, why do nation after nation where this growth is happening, remain so very broken?1 Give room for participants to respond to this question before continuing with the plenary introduction. Do not comment in specific on their answers. I think there are three major answers to this question. We’ll touch on all three answers today and then in the course of the next weeks, we’ll flesh out the answers. To find answers to these questions is a very important task, for if we don’t understand the answers to these questions, we will continue in the same way as the churches in these other nations have… and the result will not be transformation but simply more of the same. Maybe we will have more and fuller churches, but God is very clear throughout his word that church growth should never be an end in itself. e goal of God’s mission, as we shall see in subsequent sessions as we’ll delve into Scriptures, is the advancement of his Kingdom, the restoration of his creation. God didn’t die in Jesus Christ just to save our souls and carry them away to heaven, but to reconcile all of creation to himself, as Paul says so pointedly in Colossians 1:20 (See corresponding PowerPoint). e church is God’s means to accomplish this vision. Having said this, let
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me now outline the three major answers to our question (See corresponding PowerPoint): • We have not adopted a Biblical worldview, but have simply exchanged one religion for another, without changing our worldview. Because of that we have often read our Bibles with blinders. e consequence: • We have not understood the whole of God’s mission and vision and thus are no longer telling and living the whole transforming story as revealed in the Bible. Instead, our preaching and actions have just been based on portions of the Bible that though important, don’t tell us the complete story. e consequence: • We have not been clear about our own mission, calling and purpose and have not truly discipled our cities and nations, because we have not been teaching nor modeling to them to practically obey everything that Jesus commanded us to do (Matthew 28:20). Instead, we have let our cities and nations disciple us! We have thus not heeded Paul’s appeal that we not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Project Romans 12:2a on PowerPoint). e consequence: We have grown churches but have not transformed our cities and nations! No doubt, there are other answers to our main question… however, I believe that these other answers are more based on our lack of understanding God’s vision and mission and our purpose in it, and thus included in the major three answers that I just outlined. For instance, some of you may say that the reason we haven’t seen transformation is because the church has not been praying fervently enough. If only we’d pray more and more intensely, transformation would occur. I fully agree with you. If we’d pray more, God would act more. However, despite their fervent prayers, the church in Korea (which is undoubtedly one of the best examples of a church that prays fervently) is facing the crisis of secularization and is loosing many younger people who see the church no longer as relevant to their lives. Something else must be happening here. Some others of you may say that the reason we’re not seeing transformation is because the church is disunited and divided. Again, I fully agree with you. If churches were to unite and work together more for the expansion of God’s Kingdom, God would act more. Yet again, if these united churches didn’t fully understand God’s mission and vision for this world, the results they would achieve would remain partial and thus not transform their city or nation. Having said that, let’s begin by looking more in depth at each of these three answers:
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lecture: we have not adopted a biblical worldview
7 minutes
We have not adopted a Biblical worldview, but have simply exchanged one religion for another, without changing our worldview. Because of that we have often read our Bibles with blinders. Let’s begin to flesh out this answer by first defining what we mean by “worldview”. Ask students to define the word ‘worldview’ and explain what they think it means. Give room for different students to answer without jumping in and then complement their answers with anything left unsaid from below. Picture goes here - person in glasses. e way we understand and interpret the world in which we live is something anthropologists call our worldview. Our worldview is like a pair of glasses or contact lenses through which we see and make sense out of our world (See corresponding PowerPoint). Unlike glasses, however, our worldview also includes our assumptions about how the world works.2 Our worldviews are literally part of who we are. ey are deeply implanted in our minds and hearts. In many cases, we are not aware of their existence or influence on our lives until they are challenged by alternative ways of seeing the world. As lenses or eye glasses that we use every day, we put them in the morning and forget them until we remove in the evening. ey give shape and color to everything that we see. In addition, they focus our attention on certain issues, while in turn filtering others out.3 at is, a worldview should provide the right recipe to find meaning in this world, the same way that using the correct prescription for your eyes makes things clearer. And, in both examples, an incorrect recipe can be dangerous, even life-threatening. People who are struggling with questions regarding their worldview tend to be desperate and may even have suicidal tendencies. erefore, it is important that we give attention to the way we see the world – or as some may say – the framing story we live our lives by. Worldviews or framing stories are such an intrinsic part of our lives and color everything we see or hear, whether we recognize it or not. For example, films, television, music, magazines, newspapers, government, education, science, art and all other aspects of culture are affected by our worldviews of framing stories. If we ignore their importance, we do so at our own expense.4 Indeed, a major reason why the church in Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea, United States, Nigeria, Haiti, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Philippines, and Mexico too, etc. has missed their mission, has a lot to do with their underlying worldview.
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group activity: determining your underlying worldview5 To make this point become more obvious, I’d like us to do a little exercise that may help us determine more clearly what our underlying worldview is. 25 minutes
Project a list of words that include exclusively animals and names of car makes on PowerPoint. Ask students to list the words on the PowerPoint into their respective categories and give them 1-2 minutes to do so. Compare findings, which should list the words in two overriding categories: 1. Cars and 2. Animals. Now explain the exercise that will help students find their underlying worldview: Have each student sort the following words according to what they think would correspond to a Biblical worldview: In other words, list the words under somewhere between two to four overarching categories that would make sense from a Biblical worldview perspective. ose who wish can work in pairs. (See corresponding PowerPoint.) God, rice, earth, economy, sex, recreational park, man, ocean, demon, garden, cow, angel, woman, bread, heaven, boy, grass, spirit, sky, blood, girl, tree, water, house, farm, mountain, land, street Have a participant write the various solutions that other class participants may offer on the white board. Do not comment on results until at least 2-4 solutions are listed on whiteboard. Most lists will resemble columns in Table 1, which will be projected shortly: Column A and B illustrate the categories of the majority of believers influenced in some way or another by Western Christianity. is arrangement of the elements of creation makes a clear distinction between the spiritual and physical elements of creation, exposing its Gnostic influence by creating a dichotomy between nonmaterial and material elements and dissociating God and other spiritual entities from the creation. Column B extends this dichotomy by separating people who are saved from those who are not saved; those who are spiritual from those who are not spiritual.6 Picture goes here - what? Reveal most correct answer by projecting Table 1 under the two overarching categories Creator/creation on PowerPoint. e most correct answer is: Creator/creation. Discuss the findings. Doesn’t the Bible say that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” (Gen. 1:1). ere is just Creator and creation, like in this picture. (see PowerPoint). God created the universe, both animate and inanimate, spiritual and physical, separate from Himself, but not independent from himself. God is both transcendent (outside of his creation) and immanent (present within it). He is everywhere present and involved, immanent in history. e universe is not a closed system; it is
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open to God’s purpose and intervention.7 And there is a relationship between the Creator and his creation. Communication and interaction are possible. Interestingly, though this would be the biblical view to express the relationship between God and creation, we often put God in the same category as “demons, angels, and spirits”. How come?
lecture: the great divorce - separating the spiritual and physical realms 20 minutes
(Accompany and illustrate lecture with graphs and major points on PowerPoint. is lecture is a basic review of the article “How People View the World”, touching on the most important points that the article seeks to make). For several hundred years now people from around the world have bought into a worldview that separates the physical and spiritual realms as distinct from one another. is worldview was promoted by some of the ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato, who argued that the soul is separate from the body, as is the spiritual from the physical. Plato argued that our souls are captive in the prison of our bodies and look forward to the time when they will be released from this prison through death. At that point the soul would enter into the spiritual world, which Plato considered the real world. For numerous philosophers over the centuries this worldview came to be seen as follows: On the one hand, there is the spiritual or supernatural world where God lives and acts, along with other cosmic Gods like Allah. is is the world of religion. On the other hand, there is the real world: the material world where we hear, see, feel, touch, and smell. is is the world of science. While this view was initially just held by people from the Western world, sadly, this is not just a problem for Western folk anymore. Wherever the school curriculum of a country is based on Western educational models, most people have imbibed this worldview as an unspoken part of their lives. is dichotomy, or absolute separation, between the spiritual and the physical is a central tenet of what some call modernity.8 e most extreme form of this worldview is materialism or secularism. It doesn’t acknowledge that God plays any role in our world. It simply relegates him to the realm of the
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unknown, superstitious or irrelevant. In the case of atheism, it is said that God is inexistent. So the world today is divided into secular and sacred; into physical and spiritual; into scientific and religious. is framework that separates areas of life is also deeply embedded in the Western part of the Christian church and most churches that emerged through the effort of the Western missionary movement of the last 200-300 years. It’s embedded in its theology, and in the daily life of its people.9 Unfortunately, Christians too have fallen into the ancient Greek dichotomy dividing the universe into the spiritual realm, which is considered sacred, and the physical, viewed as profane. Particularly under the famous North African church father Augustine, neo-platonic dualism was introduced into the church’s doctrine, and since it has come to full fruition. Indeed, millions of believers operate from this worldview, which can call “evangelical Gnosticism”. Gnosticism was a philosophy that already infiltrated the early church. John – in his three letters – for instance, strongly condemned this philosophy which spiritualized many concepts of Christianity and only saw the spiritual as important. “ E v a n ge l i c a l G n o s t i c i s m” i s a descendant of that ancient heresy and much more connected to the ancient Greek worldview than the Hebrew Biblical Worldview. Faith, theology, ethics, missions, the devotional life, and evangelism are placed in the spiritual realm and considered of first importance. Reason, science, business, politics, art, music, sex, and meeting people’s needs occupy the physical realm.10 On Sunday morning or during our devotional or prayer life, we operate in the spiritual realm. e rest of the week, and in our professional lives, we operate in the physical realm and, hence, unwittingly act like functional atheists.11 Many Christians consider the greatest callings that of the pastor or missionary. In doing so, they often betray their dualistic/gnostic worldview – since they declare that the pastor or missionary are in “full-time ministry”, implying that all other Christians engaged in “secular pursuits” are “part-time Christians”. us many Christians today suffer from “split personalities”. eir lives are divided into compartments: the “religious”, what they do when attending church or a Bible study; and the “secular”, their jobs, recreation and education.12 e dichotomy is particularly manifest in the discussion regarding the relationship between evangelism and development (social action). “Should development follow evangelism or prepare for evangelism? Is it valid to do development work without explicitly
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evangelizing? Is living according to kingdom-values already evangelism?”13 ese questions make apparent the captivity to the dualistic/Gnostic worldview. Doesn’t the Bible say that “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2. Cor. 11:14) and “at he is out to deceive the nations”. (Rev. 20:3, 8) (Project verses on PowerPoint). Western and Western-influenced Christianity has been deceived by Satan. ey have been intrinsically influenced by a dualistic Greek/Gnostic worldview, rather than a Biblical worldview. Because much Christian mission endeavors and development work has been launched from Western countries, the dualistic worldview of those countries has accompanied the Christian workers into the whole world, including Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea, Nigeria, Kenya, Philippines, Nicaragua, Haiti, as well as Mexico. Let’s look at Rwanda in particular to see how this dualistic or evangelical Gnostic worldview contributed to or at least failed to hinder the genocide in 1994. A number of studies have been conducted to explain the Rwanda case. eir major findings are as follows: (Provide only a general summary of the following.) • It seems as if the revival had a marked effect on personal and spiritual relations only: most Hutu Christians fellowshipped warmly with Tutsi brothers and sisters. But – and that was the real problem – they were afraid of the Tutsis as people. On the other hand, it seems as if most Tutsi Christians shared the basic premise of the rebel cause: Hutus were not as capable as Tutsis to govern the country. e Christians in the last instance remained divided on ethnic lines into “us” versus “them.”14 Racial identities remained more important than one’s identity as members of the God’s Kingdom. Beneath the surface of seemingly multi-ethnic churches, then, ethnic resentment festered on. Hutus could not forgive years of unjust subordination under the Tutsi during the Belgian and French colonial rules. Tutsi could not forgive the persecution they had experienced from Hutus since independence in the 1960s. In a country with so many professing Christians this must indicate a failure to teach the full implications of the believer’s new identity in Christ.15 • Rwandan spiritual development rarely progressed much past the initial point of conversion. e saved were called to be saved Sunday after Sunday. e emphasis was on conversion. e repentance that was called for was often limited to the pattern of “no alcohol, no adultery and pay your tithe!” Testimonies received more emphasis than solid biblical teaching. en there was the lack of relevance for everyday life. It was partly the result of the theological background of the missionaries, who tended to emphasize evangelism to the exclusion of any engagement with the public life of the nation, or a critique of the socio-political
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context. In fact, missionaries preached a pietism that encouraged both the withdrawal from the public life of the nation into a spiritual ghetto and a naïve an uncritical support of whoever was in power, citing Romans 13. ey spoke about “the deeper life” and worked and prayed for revival. e revival consequently didn't put its stamp on public life. e “converts” were not readied for the rigors of life “out there.” ough there was much repentance from personal sins such as lying, adultery or not paying a tithe, little attention was paid to the societal evils of political corruption, economic exploitation, and ethnic discrimination. As long as the individual had their ‘ticket to heaven’, society could in a sense go to hell.16 Not surprisingly, Christians in Rwanda were shaken to their foundations by the bloody events.17 A spiritual revival alone is not enough to transform society, it follows. It must work its way through to the daily life of the people. And it should be carried into every sphere of life. I propose that nothing but adopting a Biblical worldview will do, if we endeavor to reach the world with God’s love and justice and see real transformation happen. Nothing but adopting a Biblical worldview will do, if we hope that the revival that has been prophesied over Mexico will do more than just fill our churches and make people change from the Catholic to the evangelical religion. e worldview of the kingdom of God is the only worldview that provides the foundation for free, fair and compassionate societies. Christians are called to be “salt and light.” We are called to bring this majestic worldview or framing story to our neighborhoods, communities, cities and nations.18 In order to get there, however, we need to take off our blinders first, to gain a truly holistic understanding of the biblical story and of the whole gospel message.
group activity and homework review19
15 minutes
In your application exercise for this week I asked you to read an article on how people view the world and respond to and reflect on some of the questions asked at the end of the article. At this point I’d like you to go into the same groups you were in last week (4-5 people) and share with those in your group your responses to the article. I’d like you to discuss particularly the third question and comment with one another what numbers you circled on the graph. (See corresponding PowerPoint.) • Divide students into the same groups from last week of four to five and have them select a leader for each group. If the class is small, do not divide. • Ask students to summarize their answers and reflections to the article they were to read, as well as the lecture — two minutes each.
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• Do not make comments until all students’ experiences have been shared. • Walk around and listen to groups. Select one or two student to report to the entire class.
lecture: we are no longer telling and living the whole story
20 minutes
We have not understood the whole of God’s mission and vision and thus are no longer telling and living the whole transforming story as revealed in the Bible. Instead, our preaching and actions have just been based on portions of the Bible that though important, don’t tell us the complete story. e Bible was not written by Westerners, it was written by Middle Eastern People and carries a very Asian perspective that we often miss if we read it through Western (Greek) eyes. e ancient Hebrews had an integral view of faith and world that we need to recover.20 ere are two areas in particular where we need to recover the worldview of the biblical writers, if we want to read and understand the Bible for all its worth: e Writers of the Bible had a Communitarian Versus and Individualistic Worldview e biblical writers had much more of a communitarian worldview. While individuals were acknowledged, it was the community that was at the center of attention. Because we tend to read the Bible much more through individualistic and dualistic eyes – a Greek heritage – we miss much of its richness. If we want to read the Bible for all its worth, we need to read it with corporatist and holistic eyes. Let’s do a short exercise to show you what I mean by this. Indeed, this short exercise will show to you that many Christians are not reading the Bible through the worldview glasses of a Biblical worldview, but rather an individualistic Greekinfluenced worldview: Read Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Out Loud (Project verses on PowerPoint.) ese verses constitute a prayer called the Shema, because the opening word, “Hear”, is Shema in Hebrew. All Jews recite these verses every time they meet for worship in their synagogues. What do we often hear when we read these verses? When you’ve heard a sermon or preached yourself on these verses, what was the central message? Allow students time to respond. Isn’t the central message mostly: “You xxxx (put in first name of facilitator or any seminar participant) – love the Lord your God with all
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your heart and all your strength etc…” But what does the text actually say? Allow students time to respond. It says: “You Israel – love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength etc…” e addressee is the nation of Israel. Not an individual. Now, there is no doubt that we can apply the verse to individuals as well. But, the text as such is addressed to a nation. It is like saying: “You Mexico – love the Lord your God….” “You Brazil – love the Lord your God….” “You Switzerland – love the Lord your God….” “You United States – love the Lord your God….” etc. Why do we often miss this? Because we read the Bible with individualistic/Gnostic rather than Biblical worldview glasses. In fact, as these verses in Deuteronomy show (as well as in many other parts of the Bible) God is not concerned solely with individuals, but also with families, peoples, and nations. He is not solely concerned to meet our personal needs and problems, but also interested in meeting the needs of entire nations. is is why he wants to engage the political, economic, social, educational, health, environmental realities of nations, as we shall see in a more in-depth study of Deuteronomy. e Writers of the Bible thought in Stories much more than in Propositions or Doctrines (Accompany lecture with graphs and illustrations on PowerPoint.) Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristoteles, Plotinus and others thought in principles and unchangeable truths. ey built elaborate philosophical systems of thought to explain the world. Some of the later church fathers like Augustine, but later also the great medieval theologian omas of Aquinas, then the Reformers like Martin Luther and even more so John Calvin, all of whom were deeply influenced by Greek philosophy and worldview, began to build elaborate theological systems of thought that were erected upon the earlier philosophical systems of Plato and Aristoteles. en came the German theologians in the 19th and early 20th century who wrote sophisticated ‘systematic theologies’ that presented the information of the Bible in a systematic fashion. I.e. they wrote about a doctrine of God, a doctrine of sin, a doctrine of grace, a doctrine of the church, a doctrine of the Holy Spirit etc… Shortly thereafter they were copied by English and American theologians whose influence eventually reached into farthest corners of the world. (See corresponding PowerPoint.) e consequence: Most churches today think of the Bible primarily as a book that contains God-inspired truths, propositions, rules and doctrines. If we follow these truths, propositions, rules and doctrines, then we will do fine. Be honest… If you ask a random non-church-going person in the street what they
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think about the church, they will tell you that the church is a place where people are no longer allowed to do many things! In thinking about and reading the Bible in this way, however, we once again betray the fact that we’re more influenced by Greek philosophy and worldview, than by the worldview of the biblical writers. Now please don’t get me wrong. I do believe wholeheartedly that the Bible indeed contains truths, propositions, rules and doctrines. However, the Bible is much more than that. e writers of the Bible thought much more in stories than in principles and unchangeable truths. To them, God revealed himself primarily in stories and most of all through history. In that sense we should think of the Bible much more as a grand story of inestimable scope and depth,21 than as a book containing God-inspired truths, propositions, rules and doctrines. If we adopt the worldview of the biblical writers, we should think of the Bible as the book telling us about the overarching story we’ve fallen into: A story of beauty and intimacy and adventure, but also of danger and loss and heroism and betrayal!22 A Story filled with messages of hope and comfort, but also of pain, difficulties, mistakes! A collection of stories, poetry, philosophical essays, songs, parables, sermons and prayers that are offensive and challenging as well as life-giving and inspiring, but that all fit together in a whole. A Story that ultimately will lead to the victory of justice, love, well-being and wholesome health! Picture goes here - what? e opening line of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” establishes the story line of the biblical narrative. e Bible’s narrative begins with creation and ends as Christ returns for His church. It begins in a garden (the Garden of Eden) and ends in a city (the City of God). It begins with the first couple (Adam and Eve) and ends with the marriage of Christ and His bride (the church).23 e Gospel— the life, death, and resurrection of Christ—is the focal point of the biblical narrative and of all human history, but it is not the whole story. In a nutshell, the Bible tells us how things started, lost their way, can be redirected, and how the human story comes out in the end. We are told the beginning, the middle and the final chapter of the story. e piece between Jesus and the final chapter is still being written. God’s story, thus, is not just about what God has done, but also about what God is doing now. God is still writing the story, and incredibly, God has invited us to participate in that writing.24 Unfortunately, this story of the Bible is often not told with much clarity. A lot of the Story has been left out, or it has been told in such a way that people – including many Christians – get a warped or very limited understanding of the Story. We are no longer telling the whole transforming story. Today’s churches often use only the New Testament,
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or only the Gospels, or only Paul or only certain liturgical sections of the Old Testament. While many Christians believe that the whole Bible is the Word of God, they treat certain parts as more valuable or useful than others – in effect creating a canon within the canon or a Bible within the Bible. e biblical narrative has the ability to transform individuals, to lift communities out of poverty, and to build nations that are free, just, and compassionate. It has the ability to disciple nations by giving instructions, principles, and wisdom to heal the world’s brokenness. But why is transformation not happening more often today? Perhaps it is because we have not been telling the whole story. As a result, because the church is not telling and living the whole story and most likely doesn’t even know the whole story, the church is not discipling the nations. e nations are discipling the church instead!25 I cannot explain the case of Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea and the United States otherwise. erefore, if you really want to see transformation happen, I ask you to begin by taking off your glasses. Your glasses that were influenced by a Greek rather than a Biblical Worldview! And I ask you to begin putting on Biblical worldview glasses!
group activity: how much do I understand of god’s story?
20 minutes
As we have seen just now; many evangelical Christians have an awareness of the Bible that is limited to the New Testament and a few sections of the Old Testament. For some, it is limited to the Gospels and some letters of Paul. In the following group work, I’d like you to react to what you’ve heard about how we need to rid ourselves of a dualistic and Greek worldview as we read the Bible and why that is important. Begin by doing the following exercise: Divide students into the same groups of four to six and select a leader for each group. If the class is small, do not divide. Ask students to begin group time by each doing the following exercise first: “Circle the number that you think most closely reflects the scope and depth of understanding of God’s Story as revealed in the Bible — first, in your own life and, second, in your church.26” Picture goes here - what? Have students then discuss the following question in their group: “What do your answers reveal to you about yourself and your church?”27 Finally, have students read the following quote and discuss it among themselves: “Do you agree/disagree with Bob Moffitt’s assessment?” “We are no longer telling the whole transforming story. Today’s
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churches often use only the New Testament or only the Gospels. e biblical narrative has the ability to transform individuals; to lift communities out of poverty; and to build nations that are free, just, and compassionate. It has the ability to disciple the nations. But if the church is not discipling the nations, the nations are discipling the church! Why is transformation not happening more today? Perhaps it is because we have not been telling the whole story.” Bob Moffitt, Executive Director of ‘e Harvest Foundation’ Walk around and listen to groups. Select two or three student to report their findings to the entire class. (Affirm students' efforts. Point out strengths. Provide gentle correction if needed.)
lecture: we have not been clear about our own mission, calling, and purpose and thus have not truly discipled our cities and nations 10 minutes
Jesus, a few moments before he ascended to heaven, gave his disciples a job description that many have come to call “the Great Commission”. Read Matthew 28:18-20. (See PowerPoint.) So what did Christ mean when he told us to “disciple all nations”?28 Allow students time to respond and have a short plenary discussion. What did Christ mean when he told us to teach the nations and its people to obey ALL that he had commanded? What does ALL include? Allow students time to respond and have a short plenary discussion. How would you know when a nation has been discipled… rather than evangelized? Allow students time to respond and have a short plenary discussion. Today, many Christians feel that the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be carried to the whole world, “until the end of the earth.” However, many have forgotten that the worldview of God’s Kingdom must also penetrate and transform cultures. When Jesus commanded his disciples to “make disciples of all nations,” also meant that his disciples should live according to the worldview or faming story of God’s Kingdom in their own lives and then carry this worldview to the streets and the public spheres of society. Only by doing so will it be possible to change our neighborhood, communities, social institutions, and eventually the laws and structures. Discipling nations, then, means “laying” kingdom principles and a biblical worldview as the founding order of a people. is is God’s will, and it
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does not end with evangelism. We are to bring the life and wisdom of God to bear in all of life, not just in a privatized “religious” sphere. Based on this definition and understanding it seems to me that many missionaries, pastors and Christians in general in Rwanda, Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea, and the United States etc. haven’t discipled their nation. Instead, the nation discipled the church. Rwanda is an extreme example of this principle. Guatemala, Zambia, Brazil, Korea and the United States are not far behind.
summary and conclusion
5 minutes
If we truly want to be part of transforming communities, cities and nations, we need to begin by doing three things (See PowerPoint): 1. We need to take off our worldview glasses that were influenced by a dualistic/Gnostic worldview and seek to grow into adopting a Biblical worldview. How do we do that? We do this by doing the second task! 2. We need to grow in our understanding of the biblical Story – of God’s Story with his World. is is the purpose of the next eight sessions of our time together. 3. We need to accept the commandment that God has called us to disciple our nations; not just individuals… and that faith needs to impact all spheres of life – economic, political, marital, business, arts, entertainment – not just the spiritual aspects. And that we are to practice and model God’s commandments so that others can begin to obey them too. is is the purpose of our final sessions and the trainings that follow after that for those who are interested.
homework and application: community survey29
15 minutes
Assign participants homework first: Read the page with “Quotes” from men and women of God from around the world and then answer the questions on the back of the page. Be prepared to share your answers next week. In addition, do at least six interviews with random people you do not know; people you assume are not Christians and/or whose responses you cannot predict. (Do not ask people if they are believers). You can begin by saying, “I’m doing a survey for a class I’m taking – would you be willing to answer one question for me? e question is . . .”: “What two things first come to your mind when you think of evangelicals here in our city/town?30
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Once they have answered the question, thank them and then take some time to reflect on the following questions. Write your observations in your Application Journal. • Were the observations of the community people insightful? What did you learn from their responses? • Do you think it would be helpful for Christians to listen more to their neighbors in order to witness more effectively in word and deed? Why or why not? • What activities do you think community people see when they look at evangelicals? • What motives do you think community people see when they look at evangelicals?
closing prayer Ask a participant to close in prayer. 5 minutes
total time: 170 minutes
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personal notes
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endnotes 1
Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, vi Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 3 Food for the Hungry International, Cosmovisión Bíblica del Reino de Dios “A worldview is a way of seeing. It’s not just what we see, but how we see everything else. It’s the lens through which we see – a lens of assumptions, beliefs, images, metaphors, values, and ideas that we inherit and construct from our family, our teachers, our peers, our community, and our culture. As we go through life, many of us find it next to impossible even to want to question our inherited worldview, while others do exactly that: we rethink, we imagine other ways of seeing things, and we sometimes experience radical conversions out of one worldview and into another.” (Brian McLaren, e Secret Message of Jesus, 51) 4 Jerry Solomon, Cosmovisiones, online available at http://ministeriosprobe.org/docs/ cosmovisiones.html 5 Exercise adapted from Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 104-105 6 Bruce Bradshaw, Change Across Cultures, 104-105 7 Darrow Miller, Discipling Nations, 44 8 Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 9 Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 10 Darrow Miller, Discipling Nations, 46 11 Bryant Myers, Walking With e Poor, 5 12 Darrow Miller, Discipling Nations, 46 13 Even the questions that are often asked still seem to be saturated by the philosophical underpinnings of aforementioned dichotomy: “Should development follow evangelism or prepare for evangelism? Is it valid to do development work without explicitly evangelizing? Is living according to kingdom-values already evangelism?” Many missionaries, pastors and development workers have genuinely struggled to connect the spiritual and physical aspects of their work into a meaningful whole. Often, however, the result has been to simply combine evangelism with relief and development (social action), and to call that holistic ministry. is, however, still makes apparent the captivity to the dualistic/Gnostic worldview. 14 J.J. (Dons) Kritzinger, THE RWANDAN TRAGEDY AS PUBLIC INDICTMENT AGAINST CHRISTIAN MISSION, online available at http://www.geocities.com/ missionalia/rwanda1.htm 15 Dewi Hughes, God of the Poor, 232 16 Dewi Hughes, God of the Poor, 232 17 J.J. (Dons) Kritzinger, THE RWANDAN TRAGEDY AS PUBLIC INDICTMENT AGAINST CHRISTIAN MISSION, online available at http://www.geocities.com/ missionalia/rwanda1.htm 18 Food for the Hungry International, Cosmovisión Bíblica del Reino de Dios 19 Adapted from e Harvest Foundation, Leadership Development Training Program, Level I, 19 20 Raymond Bakke, A eology as Big as the City, 34 21 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 51 22 John Eldridge, Epic, 2 23 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 51 24 Bryant L. Myers, Walking With e Poor, 23 25 Miller & Moffit, On Earth as it is in Heaven 26 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 56 § e scope of Scripture reveals the flow of biblical history. It began at Creation, continued through the Fall and Redemption, and will end at Consummation. 2
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§ e depth of Scripture answers questions about the nature of God; the nature of creation; the nature of man; and the nature of truth, goodness, and beauty. is is the metaphysical story of Scripture. 27 Darrow Miller & Bob Moffitt, On Earth as it is in Heaven, 56 28 Some scholars contend that the meaning of “all nations” in this passage refers to making individual disciples within all segments of the human family. ey assert that Jesus could hardly have been referring to nations as collective entities in themselves, for then there would not have been the shift to the masculine ‘them’ when referring to baptism and instruction because the word for ‘nation’ is neuter. While the debate is ongoing as to the exact meaning of Jesus’ words, it is safe to assume that Jesus did mean to make individual disciples within all segments of the human family, but didn’t limit his command this only. As we study God’s story of transforming the world, and Jesus role in this story in particular, it will become clear that Jesus also meant that his disciples are called to “lay” kingdom principles and a biblical worldview as the founding order of a people. is is God’s will, and it does not end with evangelism. We are to bring the life and wisdom of God to bear in all of life, not just in a privatized “religious” sphere. 29 Adapted from Adapted from e Harvest Foundation, Leadership Development Training Program, Level II, 8-1; 8-8 30 Instead of ‘evangelical’ you can also insert another category of Christians represented by students—-such as Pentecostals, other denominations, etc.)
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