I returned yesterday from an intensely meaningful 24 hours with the heads of ministry departments in the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Baptist Union of Wales, accompanied by my colleagues John Greenshields and Stephen Hibbard. It was a hugely creative time, when we reviewed trends and shared vision for future developments. Here are some of the reflections which I awoke with this morning, following on from that meaningful and satisfying meeting which was, to my mind, full of genuinely prophetic insight.
Knowing the Power of the Cross
The Philippian hymn (Philippians 2.5-11) is the defining paradigm of the Christian life. It is the place where the teaching of Paul and the Gospel awareness of Jesus most clearly converge, showing how Paul understands the Christian life in terms of conforming to Jesus Christ. This conforming comes through the point of convergence of our humanity with Christ, which is formatively found in the taking by Jesus of our sin to Himself on the Cross, simultaneously infusing us with His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5.21).
This is why an appreciation of what Jesus did on the Cross is so focal to Paul. It is an appreciation of what Jesus has done that brings us into a conformity to Christ that applies that righteousness to fruitfulness in our lives. It is in the action of self emptying, service, humbling ourselves and obedience that we enter into the path of conformity to Christ, in a manner that will lead to a witness issuing from our lives.
The Integrity of Mission and Ministry
Any distinction or disjunction between mission and ministry is a cultural one, not a Biblical one. In actual fact, in terms of the model that the Bible gives us in the Philippian hymn, to be a good minister you have to learn to be a missionary; and to be a good missionary, you need to be able to minister to people.
The underlying key is that in looking to form disciples of Jesus Christ, we cannot separate caring from conversion, nor pioneering from pastoring. Empathetic embrace and effective evangelism belong together. Leading people to Christ involves leading them to and through the Cross to be members of a confessing, caring community.
We must not confuse aggressive, rude, intrusive and abusive behaviour with mission and evangelism! Authentic mission and effective evangelism is clothed in sacrificial service, humility and obedient conformity to Jesus. For this very reason, evangelists must be tutored to show authentic care for people and be concerned for community, just as effective pastors must be produced, who practice proclamation and practice evangelism towards the lost who are strangers to Jesus Christ.
We are not all good at everything. As baptists, we believe in the priority of teamwork, not 'go it alone' soloists or superstars. We need multivoiced and Christ-minded mixtures of people to be effective in fellowship together.
Making Disciples
Making Christ-focussed disciples is our primary act of worship. Discipleship involves watch-care, walking and witnessing together. Any errant ecclesiology or theory of mission and conversion that seeks to separate pioneering from pastoral care is a betrayal of discipleship and the ministry that the church has been called to.
We have a wonderful Master and a witnessing ministry. Let's continue on the journey, focussed and faithful!
