The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Autor: Cody C. Lorance
Fecha: 02.10.2010
Category: Capacitación en Evangelismo, El Evangelio de la Prosperidad, Integridad y Anti Corrupción
Question #1- How do we effectively challenge deficient definitions/explanations of the Gospel which are often so deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of individual Christians and even built into the infrastructures of denominations and mission agencies?
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1. Regarding the "Whole Gospel"
For me, this first section of this paper was the most helpful (out of three extremely helpful sections), because it did the difficult work of providing a broad Biblical answer to the question, "What is the Gospel?" The insight that the term "gospel" (Gk. εὐαγγέλιον) often means at least slightly different things at different times in Scripture is invaluable. If we are to give a full answer to the question, "What is the Gospel?", we must pay attention to and adequately represent all of these nuances. When the Bible as a whole is enabled to answer this question, we find the following (which I’ve reworded from the LTWG paper):
While it is true that these six answers are quite overlapping, they nevertheless each highlight an important dimension of the gospel which much not be neglected. Oh that God would permit that this broader and more Biblical definition of the Gospel overwhelm the Church and overtake the all-too-popular and dangerously narrow simplifications of the good news!
Question #1- How do we effectively challenge deficient definitions/explanations of the Gospel which are often so deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of individual Christians and even built into the infrastructures of denominations and mission agencies? (for example - "word of faith" or "prosperity" gospels, or the overemphasis on making converts at the expense of true discipleship)
Palabras clave: evangelism, theology
Opiniones: 5901
Comentarios: 5
Recomendaciones: 1
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Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
Thanks for raising this great question. We need more people considering things like this that are often overlooked. I think my best idea to solve this sounds almost like a non-answer. It seems clear to me that when a deficient understanding is in play, better education is necessary, though Im certainly not suggesting formal education for everybody. I am convinced, though, that we’ve often made the mistake of going into areas or groups who have what we consider deficient definitions or explanations of the Gospel and trying to set aside their structure and build a new one. It seems to me that a more effective method is to work within the deficiencies and try to redefine and rebuild from what is already in place. Not only will we be less alienating for those we encounter, but it’s a road of less resistance for our purposes as well. As for what the exact step-by-step approach is, I don’t know. I suppose we must be contextually sensitive for that. But my overall feeling is that we should begin our work within the framework that others already have in place, no matter how deficient it seems.
04.04.2011
Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
@ als828:
Well, you won’t find me arguing against contextualization. Thanks for your comments. Perhaps a bit vague, but I think I agree with what you are saying. Absolutely the role of education my be reemphasized again and again.
11.04.2011
Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
Cody, I pray that there is an answer to this. Unfortunately, the modern, especially western, church bases it’s success on attendance and conversions/salvations/rededications. The prosperity message plays into this because everyone wants the quick fix which they feel God could and should offer. Although there are many truths in the prosperity message, it is emphasised for the quantitative results associated with it. I also agree with TriEak in the respect that discipleship should be our focus and then allow salvation/conversion to become the bi-product. Otherwise, we inundate our society with imature Chirstians who can actually stagnate and contaminate education coming from the church. The message becomes biased based on what drew that person to God rather than a balanced understanding.
Considering that all denominations have a heirarchy of leadership, I would love to see far more intercommunication. More education on the aspects which lead to a well rounded understanding or wholeness among major denominations would go a long way to reaching this goal. Unfortunately again, it would appear that we as Christians, can’t seem to agree on what is important and some of the differences are so extreme, that they are insurmountable.
Qualitative success is an enigma. I have been trying to find a way of quantitizing qualitative results for a long time now and it is quite elusive. It seems to sound better to say "we have 20 new salvations today, now move them out of the way so that we can get some more" than "we have 10 completely transformed lives". Seems wrong to me, but I have few solutions.
02.10.2010
Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
@ Mojoe:
Thank you, Mojoe. I appreciate your reflections on this topic. And, I am quite interested to hear some details as to the ideas you have about solutions. I see a battle on two levels. First is that of hearts and minds. That is, there must be a change of thinking on this issue. Followers of Christ must become convinced of a depth and breadth of the gospel that they haven’t conceived of before. But then there is the critical level of translating thought to action. Of course, by interacting with leaders in my own denomination, you would think that no one believes that in a reductionist, overly conversion-centric view of the gospel. But practically, it must be that someone does. Otherwise we’d have very different structures, reporting mechanisms, etc. Maybe part of the problem is that those who are convinced by a broader view of the gospel simply don’t know how to translate that into action, structures, accountability, strategy, etc.
So if you have some ideas for moving from the heart conviction to practical outworking in specific ways (for example: support raising or reporting), please share. I really want to know more.
03.10.2010
Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
Perhaps a key is to persevere in our message. Our situation is one in which many Christians challenge our rather fuller approach to sharing the gospel. As a matter of fact, when it comes to working with Hindus, the emphasis on conversionism is often antithetical to the goal of making disciples. Surely it will take a long time to bring this fuller gospel understanding to the whole church, but it is a challenge we must take up. We hope we will take it up.
02.10.2010
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