I've been doing
some thinking about how we got the Christianity we have today and came up with
this graphic (start at the top and go clockwise).
Miracles: The good news of the Kingdom
of God often broke out in the miraculous. Whether it was Jesus’ prophetic
re-framing of Israel’s salvation story through the seven signs reported in the
first twelve chapters of the Gospel of John, or the various exorcisms,
healings, raising the dead and supernatural happenings, we find in all the
Gospels and Acts of the Apostles. All these and ultimately the greatest miracle
of all, Jesus’ resurrection, convinced many of the validity of Jesus’ Way.
Meals: Jesus ate with sinners, and they
were transformed by his love, he gathered his disciples around a simple meal of
bread and wine and it became a new covenant. In Acts 2:46-47 ‘They broke bread in their homes and
ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour
of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were
being saved.’ The generous and loving hospitality offered in home after home
spread the gospel across neighbourhoods and nations.
Martyrs: The death of Stephen in Acts 6
set a precedent of persecution for the fledgling faith, but instead of killing
it off it sent it out further, wider and with greater conviction. Remember, all
but one apostle was martyred for their faith in Jesus, however this didn't stop
it spreading.
Missionaries: Jesus the sent one, sends
the Apostles, sends Paul to the Gentiles, who sends others and the gospel
spreads around the known world. It’s strategic, Spirit-led, and sacrificial, it
costs them much, but contextualizes the gospel in non-Jewish cultures and sets
a methodology of Church planting.
Mystics: After the great persecutions
of Christians in the third century
AD some Christians escaped and became hermits, ascetics, and cenobites, living
in seclusion in the Egyptian desert. These people became known as the Desert
Fathers and Mothers. The most well-known
was Anthony the Great, by the time he died thousands of monks and nuns had been
drawn to living in the desert following his example. The solitude, austerity,
and sacrifice of the desert was seen by Anthony as an alternative to martyrdom,
which was formerly seen by many Christians as the highest form of sacrifice. Anthony
also viewed desert solitude as a way to focus one's attention on refining and
purifying the spirit which birthed the mystical tradition of interior silence
and continual prayer. The writings and practices of the desert became a major
influence on the development and spread of Christianity.
Monastics: Anthony the Great became
known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism, St. Benedict and all
of the monastic revivals of the Middle-Ages looked to the desert for
inspiration and guidance. The blossoming of the religious way of life as a vocation
for God, through devotion to spiritual practices, and the creation of centres
of learning, prayer and hospitality, allowed Christianity to embed in the
landscape. Some orders were inward looking; others became missionaries and set
up new monasteries.
Monarchs: The Christianising of the
Roman empire by Constantine normalised and ratified the faith. The of
conversion to Christianity by emperors, kings, tribal leaders and family heads
meant that wholesale adoption by a people group could be readily be achieved.
Whether the subjects of such leaders would consider themselves as disciples of
Jesus is debatable, but the nominal acceptance of a cultural Christianity let
is spread.
Media: Through the stability of empires
and kingdoms ideas easily spread through writings, arts, oratory, music, plays,
architecture, language etc... Christianity became the air-we-breathe, the meta-narrative,
and the norm.
Questions:
- How do these eight modes of practice relate to our post-modern, post-Christendom, individualistic consumerist western context.
- Are there any modes missing?
- In what ways are they relevant/irrelevant to God’s mission today?
- How can they be reinterpreted by the Church for today?
No comments:
Post a Comment