Pitching Our Tents

~ by Ryan Bell who is the Senior Pastor of the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church and is currently completing his Doctor of Ministry in Missional Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. You can read his blog, Intersections at www.ryanjbell.net

Why should Christians participate in the Faith House Project? I believe that Jews, Muslims, atheist, and others will each generate solid reasons for their participation. Such reasons will be rooted in their story/worldview. For us Christians, it is the incarnation that can most powerfully and creatively shape our imagination towards an answer.

For generations missionaries from the West (the US, UK, Australia & New Zealand) have entered communities of people profoundly different from themselves. These missionaries were taught to enter these communities as learners. This learning encompassed everything from language to food to social norms. Our short hand for this is “culture.” In short, these missionaries knew they were entering a world of which they had almost no understanding. As they learned about the people to whom God had sent them they were engaging the profound theological practice of “paying attention” – paying attention to God’s Spirit, being attentive to their own hearts and souls, and watching for evidence of God’s initiatives in the community.

Naturally, missionary engagements almost never went that smoothly. The modern missionary movement has become known for its arrogance and colonialism. Nevertheless, missiologists and responsible missionaries the world over know that they must be, at some level, anthropologists as well as theologians.

We have assumed that a learning posture toward our own native culture is unnecessary. After all, this is our home. However, as the world has come to us (especially in the urban centers) and the social fabric of Western societies has worn thin and come apart, we find ourselves in a vastly different world than that of our parents and grandparents. The realities of this changed world have led some authors to declare, “The Sky Is Falling” (for a more extensive treatment see Alan Roxburgh’s book by that title on this website).

In the midst of the church’s confusion about its place in this unhinged world, we are (or should be) driven back to our core narratives. And, at the very outset of those narratives we find the story of God showing up in our world at the most unlikely time and the most unlikely place. Theologians call this the Incarnation – divine become human. St. John said this about this mystery: “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”

So, the primary mission question of our time is, can we live among the people of our neighborhoods? Can we “pitch our tent” in the pluralistic village as a neighbor and learner without coming with all the answers in our pocket? Can we open ourselves to the possibility of learning as much from our neighbors as they will learn from us? My contention is that much that has passed for evangelism and/or mission work in the US and elsewhere has been shaped more by a colonial than by an incarnational imagination. It’s high time we have our imaginations shaped by the story of God’s missionary encounter with us.

Why then should we participate in the Faith House project? First, to learn and to receive, and then perhaps to teach and to give.

Comments

[Trisha Famisaran]

This revival of the spirit of ecumenism and solidarity is absolutely refreshing. Amen.

[Johnny]

Great post guys!!
Just read it now. Very exciting stuff :)

Pastors like Samir and Ryan make us proud.
Well done!

[Alexander]

Here, here. Thanks for being willing to experiment with how faith works today.