Lesslie Newbigin wrote,
“…the missionary is assailed by three temptations: the first is to bury himself in the affairs of the church and to evade real meeting with the non-Christian culture. The second is to engage in a flurry of welfare activities of the kind most likely to be popular at the moment with the powers that be. The third is to align himself with the most sympathetic leaders of the other religions in the profession of loyalty to ‘truth’ the implication being that ‘truth’ is something which transcends and includes both his message and theirs.”
I have often said that the tension filled challenge for the Christian in Western culture is how to genuinely interact with culture.
Oftentimes, in an attempt to maintain a form of purity, we are moved toward a separatist posture. In lieu of the illusive primary virtue of “safety” and “security” many have arrived at the place where staying separate (and holy) is the best pathway.
The other side of the challenge is syncretism. Some would call it accommodation. There is almost a prevailing embarrassment by some of their Christian brothers and sisters. Understandable to a certain degree because of some of the “nutty” stuff Christians do. Nonetheless, to move so far into culture that there is little accept or reject is far from a justified alternative.
Newbigin concludes his ideas by writing,
“If Christianity is true, then it is the center – not merely in theory but in concrete visible community – for the reconciliation of mankind. If it is not that center, then it is untrue in central affirmations and ought to be abandoned.”
Strong words, indeed. They remind me of the Apostles words in Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel…” In Christ there is a truly cosmic (and, I know people don't like this, exclusivistic) message that cannot be truncated or diminished. Somewhere along the line, words must be used.
This is one aspect of Christianity that I am still struggling to wrap my mind around. How do we move outward with a missional impulse, building meaningful relationships and accommodating to a cultural setting while maintaining the integrity of the gospel. The gospel can be so offensive to someone who grow up in a pluralist society but obviously I couldn’t affirm them in their pluralist ideology. This is a tough issue, great thoughts Rob.
I think you’re right. I think that we avoid the words because we are afraid of what will happen to us if people identify ourselves with the “nutty” Christians. The challenge is, and for me probably always will be, not wanting to have my words discount my actions. I mean, I’ve known people who think I’m great until they find out that I’m Christian. It’s a difficult line to walk. As you well know.