Speaking with a leader from the south eastern part of the European Baptist Federation, I realised that the assumption with most ‘1st world’ Christian leaders is that the models or motifs that we discern to be present in what we observe are somehow patterns or paradigms that could and even should be transferable to other situations and circumstances.
It was pointed out to me that, in this person’s environment, the cultural tradition was to describe what could be observe without going on to shape it as prescriptive. Let alone transferable, to others. I was challenged by this. It strikes me that people like me (and probably you!) tend to look for patterns that will yield transferable principles or patterns to be emulated. Not so for this colleague. Their approach was more humble. It sought to describe and to understand. To respect the narrative that can be related, but not necessarily to distil. Rather, to accept and even accommodate other models and approaches that, on the face of it, may seem incongruous. But are yeilded out of engagement with the story of Christ met with in Scripture.
Lots of conflict arises from the desire to make our observations or experiences prescriptive for others. Power games. It doesn’t have to be that way. There is power in the story of Jesus and there it should stay. Just tell it as it is. Describe what you have touched and seen. And let’s see what happens when glory and grace come through.
