Currently Reading The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference By Malcolm Gladwell see related

The art of spiritual study v.I

originally published @ http://thecaleb.voxtropolis.com

Art and History

Before you can even begin to understand a verse of the Bible, you first must grasp the full story of the Bible. It is the whole story of humanity, the story we find ourselves in. This Story is God's story, one that He is slowly, purposefully telling Himself. He invites us to participate not only in the telling, but also in the doing and the acting. We are the actors of the story and He is the star. Let's look at the Story as it is summarized in chapters 1-5 of Romans.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power, and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…" (Romans 1:20-21 NIV). We have a God who is there and who is reachable, but we, the race of humanity, have chosen to ignore Him. We do not worship Him, we do not seek Him. The problem is not that He is hard to find. God reveals Himself to those who search for Him, no matter how far away they may be. The wise men were astrologers from Asia, yet when they searched for God, He led them to Himself; He led them right to His doorstep. But humanity as a whole did not take this route. With the knowledge of God before us, we chose ignorance. So He gave us over to it. To whatever path we desired, no matter how destructive, He allowed us to enslave ourselves and to shame His image. We offended the original relationship with our Creator.

Scripture portrays this relationship through the lens of a covenant. "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.' So Abram left…" (Genesis 12:1-4). Later Abram doubted whether God would stay true to His promise. So "He took him outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:5-6)

A covenant was not merely a contract; it was a relationship, a friendship between two parties. Genesis 15:9-20 records the cultural ritual of covenant. In this ritual, the two parties kill and halve animals and walk between the carcasses to confirm the covenant. This action declared, "If I fail to keep my terms of our covenant, then do to me what has been done to these animals, and if you fail to keep your terms of our covenant, then I will do to you what has been done to these animals." More than a business venture, a covenant required intense faith and commitment to another person. Righteousness, therefore, refers to someone who keeps their terms of a covenant. Someone who is faithful and true to the relationship is righteous.

The Genesis account contains a very peculiar order. While God accepts what is required of Him (15:13-16, 18-19), God does not mention any requirements for Abram. In fact, the terms Abram is required to keep are not revealed for at least thirteen years (Genesis 17). The amazing thing is that God declares Abram righteous (an act called justification) before any terms are discussed. Abram's righteousness is based on his faith in God's righteousness. Simply because Abram trusts God to keep His terms of the relationship, God declares Abram to have already kept his terms, even though he won't know what they are for thirteen years!

Confused? Give me a moment.

Fast forward a few centuries to Exodus. The nation of Israel (Abram's descendents) has just been freed from Egypt and are headed into the land God promised Abram. God says to them, "You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation…" (Exodus 19:4-6). Note the order. The rescue from Egypt came first, and then the commands. The Law, which is given in the next chapter, was given in order to teach those who had been freed how to live free. Or, to use the language of the covenant, the Law was intended to teach those who were already righteous (by God's declaration) how to be righteous.

We have an original relationship with God. Even if we do not belong to the literal bloodline of Abram, Genesis 1-2 reveals that humanity has a special relationship with God the Creator. But, as Romans 1-2 state, we have offended the relationship and therefore we have become "unrighteous." God never broke His side of the relationship - He kept His terms - so He has the right to bring wrath and judgment against us. All of us. "There is no one righteous, not even one…" (Romans 3:10). We failed the terms, broke the trust, betrayed the relationship. All looks bleak.

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law… — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith…" (Romans 3:21 ESV). Propitiation refers to Jesus taking the wrath God had towards us and placing it on himself. What we deserved, he bore. And the One who had been offended, the only One who could credit us righteous in His sight, does so as we put faith in Christ. He doesn't give us loads of terms, only one: trust. Not a contract, not even a formula. A friendship. "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."

This is not merely a mental belief, although that is involved. Remember how the verse emerged? Abram was in doubt and fear. When he put his trust in God, God recognized him as a faithful friend, even before Abram knew what the friendship required. And the Israelites? God brought them through the Red Sea before the Ten Commandments were ever uttered. They trusted Him to protect them from the waters crashing down. It's one thing to believe that God is sovereign and good as a result of mental inspection. It is quite another thing to believe that God is sovereign and good as a result of trusting your very life to His sovereignty and goodness as you walk between two walls of water.

The situation was so dark for us. We exchanged the truth of God for a lie. We were given over to a depraved mind. We were filled with every kind of wickedness. We were not righteous, we did not understand, we did not seek God. Ruin and misery marked our ways.

But God, in His grace, came to our rescue. He found us in our offensive unrighteousness, brought us to Himself, and gave us peace and freedom. Instead of wrath in our relationship, we have been restored to a state of "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand" (Romans 5:1-2 NIV). This is what it means to be reconciled, to be redeemed. For the first time, we understand God's love. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

I used to think that God saved me because of me. I used to think that the Story went 1. Creation, 2. Fall, 3. Redemption. But then I found that I was missing the last chapter: Restoration. Jesus, when he began to preach this grand Story, called the Restoration the "kingdom of God" or the "kingdom in heaven." The good news he introduced was that God was becoming king. Slavery is ending, offenses are forgiven, prisoners are freed (Luke 4:14-30). All of humanity is invited to join in this global movement of declaring Jesus king. The kingdom of God is coming. It's breaking in today as our lives and our world are transformed by the rescue He has accomplished.

This is the great Masterpiece. This is the great History. This is His Story. The Story is not about my redemption, although that's a part of it. The Story is "God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6-7). I was rescued because it gives God glory. I was rescued because it causes the name of Jesus to shine with grace and majesty.

Abram was given a son in order to shout the greatness of God.

Israel was rescued in order to shout the greatness of God.

Jesus was crucified and resurrected in order to shout the greatness of God.

So I, too, "have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

We must understand that the all of everything is about Jesus. "The full meaning of everything, from shoestrings to space shuttles, is the way they relate to God" (John Piper, A Godward Life, 62). The one person who is at the forefront of God's mind is God. He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. Pick up Louie Giglio's book "I am not but I know I AM" and you'll understand more. God is God. He is in control, He is calling the shots, He is the star, He is the champion, He is greatest and I am not. I am not. I am not and I don't have to try to be.

The Bible, in the same sense, is all about Jesus. Jesus, after his resurrection, shows some of his disciples that all the Scriptures are about him (Luke 24:25-27). You have to get that. The Bible is not intended to teach me how to be a better citizen, how to be more happy and fulfilled, how to find purpose, how to cope with suffering. No. The Bible is intended to make the name and fame of Jesus huge. The Bible is meant to magnify Him. Ultimately, the Bible is not for me; it's for Him.

So why do we have the Bible? Why do we study it? Return to the Story. We were made to glorify Jesus. We were made to bear the image of God for all the earth to see His greatness. The Bible shows us the greatness of God so that we might bear that image. We study the Bible so that we might glimpse His majesty, His wonder, His holiness, His righteousness, His grace, His love. God's Spirit reveals these things through the Bible so that we might reveal them to the world. Why? So that others "may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). It all goes back to Him and giving Him glory.

Before I go into the nuts and bolts of the art of spiritual study, you must first step back and view the huge Masterpiece our heavenly Artist is painting. A portrait of creation, of brokenness, of death, of life, of rescue, of restoration. A portrait of Jesus. We are His paints. Our lives are meant to harmonize with His design. Oh, may we embrace the Bible as the portrait of Jesus that we are meant to imitate!

God is still painting, even now.

Are you ready to learn your place on His canvas?

Currently Reading The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference By Malcolm Gladwell see related

The art of spiritual study

originally published @ http://thecaleb.voxtropolis.com

Welcome to the Journey

I'm here to invite you into a movement. A lot of time has passed since I wrote my last blog; to blame is my wild work schedule, but also I've had a quiet conviction that I should be doing something rather than writing about doing something. I write now because I believe it will do something, at least this is what I pray. I desire to see a blazing passion for Christ ignited in your soul. Here I invite you, not to a series of steps or formulas, but to a person and to a journey. A journey to join Him in what He is doing.

Over the past few months, Jesus has brought across my path many incredible men and women who desire to escape the mediocre and live in a Story greater than their own. Ironically, almost every one of them find this to be a big obstacle: the Bible. Whatever the details may be, the core issue seems to be confusion and difficulty in finding Christ shining through the Scriptures in his brilliance. Rather, the Bible is viewed as a behavioral checklist, an encyclopedia of facts, or simply a book for the better-educated. Along their journey to reckless passion, motivation seems to subside as the Bible grows more and more challenging.

If you sit on the sidelines exhausted from the challenge, it's okay - we've all been there. I don't claim to have already escaped it. All I can tell you is that my life was radically changed in high school when I seriously studied this ancient book, and since that experience the Bible has never ceased to overwhelm me with its portrait of Jesus Christ. Yes, it has been challenging. Yes, I have often given up. But I have not been unaware of how to properly study, interpret, and apply this book. This Scripture is precious to me, and I hope to walk beside you and show you the path I have taken. Perhaps you too will come to enjoy the art of spiritual study.

May God be huge in your heart,

Caleb

Currently Reading The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is By N. T. Wright see related

where are the tears?

originally published @ http://thecaleb.voxtropolis.com

Hold on to your saddles; this is going to be a trek.

Since returning from school, I've settled back into suburban life and found that I don’t fit like I used to. I realize that sounds silly, seeing how North Greenville is hidden in the foothills of upstate South Carolina. But even though I live on campus, my heart stretches into downtown Greenville, just as the hearts of friends on my impact team. The bus station, the soup kitchen, the salty alleyways - all reaching inside and dragging my soul into the grime. I feel myself still leaning into the darkness. I feel myself wanting to escape Suburbia. I feel a warm yearning for something other.

I've been studying the letter to the church of Rome the past week or so. It's a terrible letter to tell you the truth. I mean, I wouldn't say the kind of things Paul says if I were writing it. The church in Rome was comprised mostly of lower class immigrants and slaves, some with Jewish and others with pagan religious heritages. Paul, a Jewish aristocrat who abandoned everything to follow the way of Jesus, writes to the church community to explain the good news he is spreading to prepare them for his upcoming visit. He pens a grand introduction, discussing his love and concern for the church and presenting the main subject of the letter. In the eighteenth verse he starts his discourse, and I expect to hear something along the lines of "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life…" but that is not what I find.

"the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men…"

"their foolish hearts were darkened…"

"they exchanged the truth of God for a lie…"

"and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion…"

"they have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity…"

.

.

Is this really the beginning of good news? If Paul is looking for followers, this is a terrible way to start his pitch. And if I were to go into more detail, some of the things he says might make you downright angry. It upsets me. He attacks everything we hold onto as good and normal and acceptable. But in reality I don't think Paul really cares what we think. He seems to be concerned with what is true and real in the world, and he's not afraid of shoving it in our faces.

Paul takes me to a friend in Greenville. Pat grew up as a recluse, rarely stepping outside of her house except for the most necessary tasks. She and her mother were very close, spending most of each day together - cooking, cleaning, telling stories. Pat's mother no doubt was aware of Pat's special needs and I imagine she spilled all of her time and energy into Pat. But Pat's mother became deathly ill. With no other family to turn to, Pat sought religion for comfort. She tried all sorts of prayers and rituals, even traveling to Jerusalem to visit holy places. God promised Pat four million dollars, she tells me.

Her mother died.

I don't know what happened next. I can only imagine Pat hiding in shadowed curtains as her house fell into to disrepair. The house was condemned and Pat kicked out on the streets. Today she still wanders the streets of Greenville, waiting for the four million dollars and resisting any assistance, thinking someone is out to take her house and her money.

Is this the beginning of good news?

Paul takes me to a girl who refused to eat or drink anything. Her parents could do nothing to persuade her to eat; they were forced to put her in a special hospital for eating disorders. In a role-play situation, the girl told her doll, "No more food for you. It's time for you to die."

She is four years old.

Is this the beginning of good news?

Paul takes me to the edge of ground zero and I read the words of a police officer etched into the barricade wall: "Hate is what took these buildings down, with love is how we'll remember those no longer around."

Is this the beginning of good news?

The beginning of good news is quite ugly. Paul paints a picture for the Romans of the utter decay of the human spirit. He paints with broad strokes of brokenness and deceit, colors of murder and strife, human nature red in tooth and claw. A hateful portrait emerges. A portrait absent of the First Cause. A portrait opposed to its own Artist. And Paul reveals how God has given them over to their own devices. We can do what we want, no matter how ugly, arrogant, or disgusting. No matter how violent. This is you. This is me.

But I fear those of us who live in Suburbia never see this darkness. We have created worlds of comfort where inconvenience is removed, service is demanded, and pampering is expected. Suburbia is a lifeboat with too few seats. We are all trying to prove ourselves, to prove why we deserve that last spot on the lifeboat and why the other guy should be thrown out. We are begging a jury of our peers to affirm us in our currency, whatever it may be. We put stock in our neighborhoods, our paychecks, our looks, our clothes, our occupations, our schools, our wallet, our lovers. Just listen to the way we talk about relationships: "I like to spend time with that person," "I've invested a lot of time with that person," "I am indebted to your for your help," "I'm going to pay my respect to this loved one…" We discuss our relationships using financial terms. In Suburbia, life is a negotiation for validation. We desire affirmation from the community. We want to prove that we deserve a spot on the lifeboat.

There is no reward for associating with the ugly and disgusting. There is no reward for associating with the poor. We may make altruistic gestures, but we are not really interested in establishing meaningful relationships. It could cost us social points to be associated with the marginalized. Donald Miller describes one of these "inconvenient" situations:

"While standing in line at the checkout counter, the lady in front of me pulled out food stamps to pay for her groceries. I had never seen food stamps before. They were more colorful than I imagined and looked more like money than stamps. It was obvious as she unfolded the currency that she, I, and the checkout girl were quite uncomfortable with the interaction. I wished there was something I could do. I wished I could pay for her groceries myself, but to do so would have been to cause a greater scene. The checkout girl quickly performed her job, signing and verifying a few documents, then filed the lady through the line. The woman never lifted her head as she organized her bags of groceries and set them into her cart… On the drive over the mountain that afternoon, I realized that it was not the woman who should be pitied, it was me. Somehow I had come to believe that because a person is in need, they are candidates for sympathy, not just charity. It was not that I wanted to buy her groceries, the government was already doing that. I wanted to buy her dignity. And yet, by judging her, I was the one taking her dignity away."

The ugly face of good news makes me upset and angry because I realize that I am a member of this decaying race. There is no lifeboat. We are all sinking, dying. We abandoned hope of rescue long ago and instead seek the validation of our peers to affirm our pudgy lifestyles. As John Piper said at Passion07, we coast around in SUVs dropping nickels in the dreams of kids with cancer or African orphans while leaving a fat inheritance to affirm our children in their worldliness. We are not real or true - we just want validation; I think of U2 who sang, "I've seen enough of romantic love/ I'd give it up, I'd give it up/ For a miracle, a miracle drug."

Do we see why Paul begins with "their foolish hearts were darkened?" I am not trying to indict the suburbs as more sick and ungodly, and I am definitely not trying to present the city as a window for enlightenment. Rather, I want to destroy the imaginary wall between the two. There is not a different type of people "in there" or "out here." Nothing about being a well-adjusted, middle-class suburbanite makes us better than anyone else. I'm sure we would all nod at that statement. What we might have more difficulty swallowing is the statement that we suburbanites are just as flawed as the homeless bum standing on the side of Wendover Ave.

There is a mind shift which occurs when you enter a downtown district and come face to face with the "unpleasantness" of society. For myself, I view Sunday morning worship differently when I have to step over a drunk passed out on the sidewalk. I cannot condemn the man as someone more deserving of derision than me. In fact, all I can do is identify with the man, realizing that I am just like him, sinking quickly in a broken vessel. Paul writes, "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things."

However, I am beginning to learn that suburban religion does not care to do business with the ugly face of the good news. Christians would rather build little castles with overflow rooms filled with high-def televisions crafted to capitulate to the preferences of the masses than get their hands dirty in the world of sin. At least that is what I am perceiving. I hope I am wrong. But my experience this past year sharing the good news on the streets of Greenville has transformed my understanding of the mission of Jesus, and I can't help but suspect that the suburban church is missing it.

Paul writes later in Romans that where sin increased, grace increased even more. He is not saying that evil should increase so that good looks even better. But what he is saying is that when darkness increases, light appears even brighter. I am no pastor or theologian, but I have been to some dark places and I have seen the ugly face of the good news. But I have also seen the beauty of the good news. I have witnessed its power to bring life to dead hearts and freedom to captive souls. Yet I fear that the suburban church is missing it. I don't believe it has a clear grasp of the gospel - the good news I have been speaking of.

Jesus rescues, but where are the tears of the saints for the captives? Where are the cries for mercy?

Jesus redeems, but where is the passion for His fame? Why is He only a sideshow?

Does anyone really care?

Does anyone want change?

there are many prodigal sons

on our city streets they run

searching for shelter

there are homes broken down

people’s hopes have fallen to the ground

from failures

this is an emergency

there are tears from the saints

for the lost and unsaved

we’re crying for them come back home

we’re crying for them come back home

and all Your children will stretch out their hands

and pick up the crippled man

Father, we will lead them home

Father, we will lead them home

there are schools full of hatred

even churches have forsaken

love and mercy

may we see this generation

in it’s state of desperation

for Your glory

this is an emergency

sinner, reach out your hands

children, in Christ you stand

sinner, reach out your hands

children, in Christ you stand

and all Your children will stretch out their hands

and pick up the crippled man

Father, we will lead them home

Father, we will lead them home

(leeland, "tears of the saints")

What do you think of my PTRW Paper? ASAP!

The persistent decline of the church(1) in the postmodern West stirs debate. As the changing culture shoves the church to the margins of society, new methods and theologies emerge to bridge the gap between church and country. Many emerging movements tend to neglect either biblical soundness or cultural relevancy, and thus remain ineffective at evangelizing the new populace. The situation requires a missionary. The following essay attempts to describe how Hudson Taylor, one of the founders of the modern missionary movement, served as a precursor for the budding missional church movement. Hudson Taylor unknowingly planted the seed of the modern missional church in China, and though separated by thousands of miles and hundreds of years, Taylor’s actions may supply the greatest hope for the despairing Western church.

Mission characterized Hudson Taylor’s life. Taylor’s provocative missionary tactics originated from his mission-oriented upbringing. Understanding Taylor’s childhood and entrance into the mission field offers the reader a fuller understanding of his unique practices.

Life of Hudson Taylor

Born in 1832,(2) Taylor matured during the tumultuous environment of the rise of evangelicalism and romanticism in England.(3) Taylor accepted Christ at age seventeen(4) as a fourth-generation Methodist,(5) but he, along with his father, left the Methodist church later that year in opposition to the church’s emphasis on professional clergy.(6) Immediately upon his conversion, Taylor experienced a definitive call to missions work in China which, unbeknownst to Taylor, answered his father’s prayers.(7)

In London, Taylor dedicated his time to preparing for Chinese life. He emptied his house of modern comforts,(8) relied on God to provide for living expenses,(9) and volunteered work among the poor and sick.(10) Taylor’s actions stemmed from a belief that if he couldn’t survive a bitter lifestyle in London, he would never be able to survive the lifestyle of China.(11) The preparations proved wise, because the Chinese Evangelization Society hurriedly whisked Taylor to China before he turned twenty-two years old.(12)

Innovative Practices

Taylor’s first experiences in Shanghai highly influenced his future mission enterprises. As a resident of the European-controlled International Settlement,(13) Taylor quickly developed distaste towards the Settlement’s missionaries for they "openly disdained and criticized their Chinese flock."(14) Taylor viewed the missionaries as lazy, self-indulgent aristocrats, and he noticed that the Chinese paid little attention to them.(15)

Taylor, unsatisfied with living among other missionaries, decided to travel to China’s interior.(16) Millions of interior Chinese remained untouched by the gospel while all of China’s Protestant missionaries huddled in a few coastal cities.(17) Taylor refused to settle on China’s fringes. Despite legal restrictions(18) and public opposition,(19) Taylor made ten evangelistic trips to inland China within his first two years.(20)

Difficulties in the interior forced Taylor to make adaptations. Recognizing that the people were more interested in Taylor’s foreign clothing than his message, Taylor adopted the native dress(21) and immediately found more freedom to travel among the people.(22) Other missionaries criticized Taylor for his tactics,(23) and Taylor responded: "... to settle among the people, obtaining free and familiar communication with them, conciliating their prejudices, winning their esteem and confidence, and so living as to be an example to them of what Chinese Christians should be, requires the adoption not merely of their costume but of their habits also to a very considerable extent... I have never heard of any one, after a bona fide attempt to become Chinese to the Chinese that he might gain the Chinese, who either regretted the course taken or wished to abandon it."(24)

Taylor mastered the context of interior China. Recognizing the need for an indigenous Chinese Christianity, Taylor entered far into Chinese culture in order to "gain the Chinese." Years later, Taylor mandated his radical tactics for all missionaries serving on his mission board, the China Inland Mission (CIM), and through the board, the Chinese Church grew to over 125,000 Christians at the time of Taylor’s death.(25)

In order to understand Taylor’s connection with the missional church movement, one must grasp the context from which the movement has emerged. Just as Taylor broke away from "Westernized" missionary tactics, the missional movement broke away from traditional tactics huddled on the fringes of Western culture. The culture of the new millennium prompted the missional movement’s actions; therefore, the following section attempts to explain the context of those actions.

Emerging Western Culture

The emerging twenty-first century culture adores multiculturalism and religious pluralism. Theologian and missionary Lesslie Newbigin claims that the West has never been in such a state of religious pluralism as today.(26) Communication and travel technologies allow for the merging of world religions and cultures,(27) creating one global society.(28) "Christian" and "non-Christian" nations no longer exist(29) because, according to missiologist Ed Stetzer, "Christendom is dead..."(30)

Emerging culture shoved the church to the fringes of society. The West’s former dependence on the church for a metanarrative placed the church in a privileged position,(31) but as the postmodern West abandoned the metanarrative,(32) the church lost its cultural influence.(33) A Christian perspective transformed from an asset to a liability.(34)

Failure to Engage the Emerging Western Culture

The traditional Western church failed to master the new context. Under the influence of Constantianism, a process which privatized faith and merged the church with the state,(35) culturally indigenous mission work halted.(36) An "ecclesiocentric" understanding of mission(37) prompted the church to isolate itself from emerging culture(38) and focus on maintaining its societal position,(39) which the traditional church continues to do today. Consequently, "[t]he Christian faith is either explicitly repudiated or passively ignored by the majority of the people..."(40) The emerging culture ignores the tactics of the traditional church, and the traditional church ignores the demands of the emerging culture; both view one another as irrelevant.

The emerging context of the Western church necessitated a new paradigm of ecclesiology. Newbigin observes, "The [church] structure which we have inherited appears to be neither relevant to the life of a secularized society, nor true to the biblical picture of the Church as a missionary community."(41) The modern missionary movement, founded by Hudson Taylor and others,(42) established the foundation for change. The following investigates Taylor’s contributions to four key traits of the missional church within the new paradigm.

Taylor revived the understanding of missio Dei.(43) He writes, "In language, in appearance, in everything not sinful He [Jesus] made Himself one with those He sought to benefit."(44) Taylor justifies his missionary tactics by pointing to Christ’s scandalous missionary tactics.(45) Missional theology further developed missio Dei by claiming that the Church is a missionary and must act as one.(46)

The missionary nature of the Church demands an outward-focused church organization. Taylor’s mission board exemplified an outward focus.(47) The CIM successfully infiltrated the untouched interior regions, and at least one missionary reached Tibet.(48) Likewise, missional churches move out from their Christian subculture and reach into the culture they are serving.(49)

Missional churches contextualize the gospel in order to reach new cultures. Taylor adopted Chinese customs out of respect for Chinese culture(50) and out of desire to see the gospel planted in Chinese culture.(51) A self-supporting, fully Chinese church filled the vision of the CIM.(52) In the same way, a missional church attempts to embed itself within culture. Stetzer states, "...a truly indigenous church seeks to become incarnate within the culture in which it finds itself."(53) Taylor introduced the necessity of contextualization for the spread of the gospel.

The fluidity of mission prevails over the establishment of institutions in the missional church. Taylor received much criticism for his negligence to establish a national body of churches.(54) Taylor’s critics failed to see that Taylor was never interested in building his own organization.(55) Upon studying the Bible, Taylor states, "I saw that the apostolic plan was not to raise ways and means, but to go and do the work..."(56) Missional church leaders embrace Taylor’s assertion and emphasize the movement of the church rather than the institution of the church.(57) Newbigin describes the missional church "as a thing sent out into the world, an expedition rather than an institution, the visible form of the action of God the Holy Spirit in sending his people out to draw all men to Christ."(58)

The pressing demands of the emerging Western culture continue to strain the conventional church. Unless a missionary arrives, the Western church will die. According to the missional church movement, Jesus Christ sends the Church as the missionary. This paper shows how the life and missionary tactics of Hudson Taylor instruct the burgeoning missional church movement. Though the cultural landscape appears bleak, the gospel has advanced in hostile cultures for thousands of years. Hudson Taylor introduced a new approach to missions that continues today through the missional church movement. Neither Taylor nor the missional church can take credit for the strategy, because the essential nature of the new paradigm of mission finds root in Christ’s missional commands. If the Western church remains faithful to Christ and his mission, the church will rediscover its role as an unstoppable force of global transformation.

______________________________________

Currently Listening United We Stand By Hillsong United see related

Alive and Kickin'

so i have survived the most stressful and challenging week of my education career (so far!). i can’t say that i soared through it victoriously - it was an intense struggle. it is relieving to know that it’s all behind me now. Jesus was very gracious to me this week, picking me up when i fell and urging me to tackle each day with passion and resolve. it’s no coincidence that this week i started reading the book of joshua; the words “be strong and courageous, do not be terrified or discouraged” have been echoing in my bones every day. it thrilled me to see His miraculous hand working, but more thrilling than anything else was sensing His Spirit enabling me to walk on waves, run on clouds, and contribute to the great, everlasting story to which i have been called. friendships have deepened, new ones started, and others distanced through the demands of the greater story. above all, a deep, abiding satisfaction flows through me as i feel my life merging with Christ’s. i would have things no other way. though life has been incredibly tough and even discouraging at times, i have had opportunity after opportunity to make my life count for the One who gave His all for me. my soul spills over with ecstatic fulfillment. i’m leaning into His story. bring it on.

 you bought my life

with the blood that you shed on the cross

when you died

for the sins of men

and you let out a cry

crucified, now alive in me.

these hands are Yours

teach them to serve as you please

and i’ll reach out

desperate to see

all the greatness of God

may my soul rest assured in You.

i’ll never be the same. no, i’ll never be the same.

’cause i know that You’re alive.

You came to fix my broken life.

and i’ll sing to glorify

Your holy name, Jesus Christ.