Gospel ministry in post-Christian culture the Challenge for the local church

Steve Hollinghurst Sep 11

Gospel ministry in post-Christian culture

the Challenge for the local church

Listening to the context


Double listening

Two ears one mouthUse accordingly in

mission

Failure to enter the other persons world leaves us like the tourists who keep speaking louder in their own language

To the Mission Context

To the essence of the Christian Inheritance


Globalisation and ‘Glocalism’

• Globalisation– Increasingly diverse cultures across the globe are subject

to common global issues and culture– Consumerism and commodifcation, subjectivism, new

communication, a reaction against these, Keppel ‘the revenge of God’.

• Glocalism– These are not expressed the same in each locality but are

present in most so one must both ‘think global but act local’ but also listen to the local expression of the global

– One size does not fit all, there are no off the shelf solutions.


Post-community?

In which community In which community

should church exist?should church exist?


Post-modernity? Modernity to Postmodernity

I tell my story

I choose my beliefs

I buy my identity

The logic of consumerism


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Age in 2005

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

under 15

monthly

Post-Christendom?

9% monthly

26% De Churched

65% Non Churched

76% of New Christians Come from 26% De-Churched

finding faith today 1992

This section of the population is older and decreasing over time

Church attendance 2005


Post-Christendom?

Not just about church attendance– Grace Davie,

- Believing without belonging and vicarious faith• But changing belief• Fading of occasional office• Decline in Christian identity

– Stages in the decline of Christendom not a new way for it to persist


Belief in God

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1947 1981 1990 2000

life force

personalGod


Infant Baptism C of E 2007

0102030405060708090

100

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

percentage of births by year


Church Weddings 2007

0102030405060708090

100

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

percentage of marriages by year


Christian Affiliation UK

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

date

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on


Christian Affiliation 2001

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Age in 2001

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on


Christian Affiliation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1981 1999

15-29

30-49

50 +


Builders (born 20s+30s) in 2005

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +

christianaffiliation

raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Boomers (born 40s+50s) in 2005

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +


raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Gen-Xers (born 60s+70s) in 2005

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +


raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Gen-Yers (born 80s+90s) in 2015?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +


raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Post- Secularism?• Post-modernity - multi-faith in a post-secular age

– Post-modern move from truth as fact to truth as experience - From universal truth to true for me may be different to true for you.

– Rejection of objectivity for subjectivity– Personal belief re-enters the public square– Any and every belief …. All are equally unprovable– And so …– All of this much to the annoyance of Richard

Dawkins…….and Christians?

– Religion once more on the agenda but any religion with no way back to Christendom …..indeed is Christianity disadvantaged compared to the alternatives?


‘Spiritual’ experience in 2000 Vs 1987

55% saw a patterning of events – up 90%

38% felt God’s presence – up 41%

37% had answered prayer – up 48%

29% felt sacred in nature – up 81%

25% the presence of the dead – up 39%

But what are they But what are they experiencing?experiencing?

25% the presence of evil – up 108%

1987 48% report a spiritual experience - 2000 risen to 76%


The ‘excluded middle’

• Paul Heibert– Many traditional religions have a sacred

dimension about the Gods and secular dimension to do with the non-spiritual but also a middle ground of the superstitious and everyday spiritual. He saw this as missing from Christianity,

– This area very much addressed by new spiritualities


Believe in the soul

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Believe in an afterlife

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Believe in restless spirits

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Believe in Karma

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Experience of fortune telling, Tarot, astrology, psychics, palmists

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Australian Gen Y – like Britain?

Floating 46 %

‘new spiritual’ 23%

Religious 17%

Non believing

14%

Rationalist humanist

Includes neo pagans and followers or frequent participants in the esoteric/occult

Moral relativism, pick ‘n’ mix, truth in all religions but not just one, something ‘out there’ occult and paranormal experienced

BUT open rather than committed or seeing as important


Japan Britain

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

religiousattendance

reigiousaffilitaion

belief inGod

religiousattendance

religiousaffiliation

belief inGod

percentage population 2000

annual

festivals

monthly


Consumer Christianity?


Consumer Christianity?

• God the cosmic therapist?• Cruise liner – or Battleship?

John Wimber

• Church shopping?– Looking for what I get out of it– Looking for the one that does things my way

• Buying religious product?– Baptisms & weddings– Rosaries– Retreats– Christmas Carols


Network theory and small churches• Culture formed through relationships

– Those around us raise us with views like theirs– We tend to follow these unless we also form relationships with those of

different views– In a multi-cultural setting this can lead to loss of challenging relationships– But minority opinions are kept out and taboos that make such views

embarrassing or offensive are employed– Reversing the Christendom picture?...

• In some cultures very hard now for Christians to enter other networks unless they keep faith quiet.

• Danger Christians create a protective ghetto that may protect Christians but kills mission

• Ghetto tends to reinforce negativity to the church• But also danger that those in the world lose their faith• We need confident supported Christians who can enter other networks

for effective mission


Gospel ministry in post-Christian culturethe Challenge for the local church

Listening to God in the history of mission


Jesus, mission and other faiths• The Vision of the kingdom of God (cf Luke 5-8)

– Radical values of inclusion leading to transformation and reversals of status – the sinful, the unclean, women, the non-Jew ( in spite of Jesus claim to only be sent to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’)

– The use of parables • Making disciples who will make disciples

– The parable of the sower (Luke 8) followed by sending of The 12 (Luke 9) and 72 (Luke 10) as Jesus has been sent (John 17) (apostolic church). To make disciples in all cultures (Matt 28)

• Weakness and vulnerability the marks of the missionary– Sent to be the guests of those they are to witness amongst– Becoming as servants and children (Mark 9)– The small things leading to great change – mustard seed

and yeast in dough


Crossing culture - The Early Church

• In Jerusalem– The Pentecost Sermon to Jews Acts 2– The Jerusalem church Acts 4– The Hellenists – fresh insight & Persecution

• In Judea and Samaria– The dispersal of the Hellenists– Philip – the Samaritans & Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8

• To the ends of the earth– Peter and Cornelius Acts 10– The Church in Antioch Acts 11– The Gentile mission from Antioch


Paul does ‘double-listening’

• Acts 14 – Lystra– After healing a crippled man the crowd think Paul and

Barnabas are Hermes and Zeus.– Paul reasons from nature not scripture to explain his

faith….and struggles to communicate

• Acts 17 – Athens– Paul goes round the temples learning about Greek belief

– we see the results in his address to the Areopagus.– He debates with the philosophers in the market

place….and struggles to communicate – they call him a ‘spermalgos’ – someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about!


Paul’s two sermons

• Jesus is the expected messiah who will fulfil the prophets and law

• He was killed as a sacrifice but rose

• He has been appointed judge and we must now change the directions of our lives

• We are all searchers after God

• The God of the universe doesn’t live in temples

• That God has set a day to judge the nations so we must now change the directions of our lives

• The judge will be Jesus who was raised from the dead

Mission in Christendom is like Jewish Mission

Jews …….and…….Greeks?


Mission: shift to Christendom

• Early Church incarnate in local culture– Greek Church - Paul uses poetry to Zeus– Roman Church - Jesus as Orpheus– Coptic Church - the image of Isis becomes Mary– Celtic Church - Jesus the Druid (Columba)– Germanic Church - the Heliand

• Christendom one faith one empire– The Saxon Church and the war band– Synod of Whitby - the date of Easter; monks hair– Mission ends within empire, – becomes conquest beyond it

• Modernity evangelism recovered in Christendom– Individuals called to belief in a Christian country– Aimed at intellectual conviction and crisis conversion


Gospel ministry in post-Christian culturethe Challenge for the local church

Embodying God in today’s world


A new Reformation?

400 BC

600 AD

1500 AD

2000 AD

Judaism

Early Chur

ch

Christendom

Reformation

?

Eternal Gospel

Changing expression – David Bosch ‘Transforming Mission’


Mission in Christendom

• Mission (abroad)

– Cultural export Vs Inhabiting local culture

• Evangelism (at home)

– Calling people back to ‘the national faith’


Learning from foreign mission

• “Do not call people back to where they were (they never were there)

• Do not call people to where you are, as beautiful as it may seem to you

• But travel with them to a place neither of you have been before”

Vincent Donovan – ‘Christianity re-discovered’


Changing Mission?

• From: sharing the Gospel in “come to us” mode

• To: Exploring Church in “go to them” mode

Church Missions

Courses

‘Seeker’ Services

To boldly go where no church has gone

before


From individuals to all creation

Restoring the whole story of salvation

sin salvation

creation

New creation

Individuals savedIndividuals saved

All creation savedAll creation saved


God’s Mission & God’s Kingdom

• The transformation of people linked to the transformation of creation – Romans 8, 2 Cor 5– Reconciliation as a reversal of the fall– Humanity restored to God’s image as missionary to

creation

• Social transformation linked to evangelism – Any Gospel that does not proclaim and seek to bring

about God’s Kingdom fails to understand Jesus and God’s mission

– Any Gospel that does not set people free from sin will never achieve social transformation


Three levels of mission community


Who are on the way?

Bounded set ? Or..


Who are on the way?

Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?


Who are on the way?

Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?


Lessons for sharing faith• People increasingly come to faith through experience rather

than changing thinking• Many people want to grow spiritually and will take support in

this seriously• Sharing faith is welcomed. Telling others what they share is

wrong simply closes the conversation• Most people aren’t interested if Christianity is true but if it is

inspiring and life changing• In the internet age everything is public be consistent• We need to know how we will handle issues of gender, the

environment, evil, other-faiths• Avoid Christian language like sin, salvation, redemption etc

people don’t understand it or misunderstand it – but we still need to talk about them but with different words

• We need to live as if what we say really does work• Remember God transforms people not Christians


Resources


Evangelism is…..

• Not getting people to Church ………………..….……..

but getting people to be Church• Not taking God to people …………………………………

but seeing what he is already doing in their lives• Not first about getting people into heaven ……………

but getting heaven into people• Not saving people from the world ..…………………..

but allowing God to transform them

as part of a plan to transform the world also

Your Kingdom come your will be done Your Kingdom come your will be done

on earth as it is in heavenon earth as it is in heaven

Documents

Gospel ministry in post-Christian culture the Challenge for the local church