Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The Shaping Of Things To Come: Part One

This week I begin reading The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church, written by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. The authors, in the beginning pages, call for a revolutionary approach to the way that church is being done in the Western world. The authors present a mode for church that “exists not because of human goals or desires, but as a result of God’s creating and saving work in the world” (p.7). The mode presented is a missional church mode that embraces culture and context, while presenting the unchanging power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Two key elements that I have identified and resonate within me are the notion of an Incarnational approach and the contextual church.

First, the Incarnational approach suggested by the authors is characterized by entering into the different cultures and subcultures and being Christ in that context. Readers are encouraged to respond as God did through his Son:
a) by entering into the given context—God entering the world through Jesus
b) identifying with the people—Jesus identifying and becoming part of humanity.
Luke Bretherton, in Beyond Emerging Church, addresses the issue of church spaces and places. He argues that: “Many of these non-church places are antithetical to the faithful practice of Christianity: for example, to be in a café is not to be a neutral space but to be in a site of consumer capitalism. Hence to claim one is forming church in such a place is deeply problematic” (p.38). To this, Frost and Hirsch would claim that it is necessary to become a part of the culture group that meets at the café. Although Frost and Hirsch do not stand in contrast to the institutional church at large (neither does Bretherton), they advocate an approach which highlights sending people (Christians) into a place/space, and helping those inside that culture group (not yet Christians) experience Christ from within their known context.

Secondly, the authors speak of a contextual element and its relationship to the message of the Gospel. The issue of contextualization expands upon the idea of Incarnation, and is most effective when the church has researched the host community and understands the patterns and practices that are present. I am reminded of John Honan’s comment (at the Face-to-Face meeting) in which he described his church’s celebration of the various cultures in the community. Honan commented that there was an aspect of this feast which embraced, welcomed and appreciated the various ethnic groups and there was such an atmosphere of love present. I believe this engagement demonstrated the love of Christ and echoes the authors’ statement that: “The creation of humankind in God’s image means that there is no culture that lacks virtuous elements in terms of which the gospel can be expressed” (p.87).

As I continue to read, it is my desire to continue to embrace these elements within my ministry context and really start to identity ways in which we can become more missional and incarnational. Stay tuned for more….

8 comments:

BT said...

Jason--

Thanks for your thorough synopsis! Sounds like a really great book (I'm going to have the longest reading list ever!)

I was particularly drawn to your quote from Bretherton (even though he wasn't the main thrust of your post), as it related so much to the interview I completed for our three interviews assignment. I was conducting the interview in a cafe, and the guy I was interviewing was talking about how the cafe could be a church. I guess Bretherton would disagree, huh?

Anyway, your post really provided a solid connection between the reading and the interview portion for me...Thanks for that.

Blessings.

petey*crowder said...

Awesome tie in with Honan's conversation at F2F. Brilliant!

How do you deal with that contrast between Bretherton and this book? When I was reading Bretherton, this book was the first thing that popped in my head. I think Jason Clark even spoke about this at the face to face time, but we didn't really flesh it out too much.

I think I agree more with Frost and Hirsch than with Bretherton. We do have to be careful about the medium being the message (meeting in the cafe showing that we value consumerism), but on the other hand I think the idea of shared spaces connects more with the apostolic tradition (shared homes).

Kathy Rice said...

Hi Jason,

Awesome post and blog!

I, too, was interested in the difference between Bretherton's perspective of not having 'church' in non-neutral, consumerist spaces, and Frost and Hirsch's view of the necessity of doing just that.

In one of my readings, The Present Future by Reggie McNeal, he talks about the importance of the church going to where people are instead of expecting them to come to traditional spaces. McDonald's does that - so does Subway. They're in malls, schools, theaters, Walmart etc. So, why not the church?

I lean towards believing that you can "do church" in both places.

Great stuff to ponder...thanks.

dwvw67 said...

To put in my 2 cents...is there such a place as a neutral setting? For us the church may be neutral, but not for someone else. For others a coffee shop or bar may be neutral. If we are to be contextual and incarnational we are to go to the non-neutral places, the ones that are not neutral for us. The ones that make us squirm a bit. I remember something like, "Jesus who being very nature God..." Incarnational means to go to those squirmy places. So I would be with Petey, but who wouldn't want to be with Petey!

Josh Heilman said...

Jason, nice post. very concise - I could learn something. I appreciate how you contrast Bretherton with this. On a slightly different note, what do you think about the authors' view of evolving vs. revolutionary church. Neither believes that an existing institutional church can evolve into a missional one. What do you think?

Jason Davila said...

Josh:
In regard to evolution and revolution, I would say that it depends on the church. I know that is a vague answer, but I feel that one can not rule out all 'attractional' churches from becoming more missionally minded. I would say that it begins slowly. However, I will add that the authors seem to be writing to those heavily considering planting a church. As a result of my reading, I believe that as individuals we can begin to exemplify missional characteristics in our ministry efforts and people will begin to notice something different.

Josh Heilman said...

Jason, good point that the book is written towards church planters. That gives much reason why they focus so strongly on new missional churches - and avoiding planting another 'attractional' church. I know they're saying "please, whatever you do, don't plant another copy of the church you're in", but what do you think they have to say to those inside the attractional model? I know what you would say, and what I would say, but can you infer their thinking on it?

Carol McLaughlin said...

Hi Jason...
We're walking through this book at the same time. You have captured well the early chapters in the book focusing on the incarnational and explaining contextualization --- reminding us of John H's community conversation provides us with an important visualization. Although Frost and Hirsch encourage us to use whatever means available to us I think it's important and where they and Bretherton would agree is that to just gather together does not make church. I started to take note of several things in my reading. They bring out several elements in their understanding of what comprises church on p. 77 -- mutual commitments, shared long-term calling, accountability toward one another and a common purpose for gathering.
I look forward to hearing more as you journey forward. Again great job on your synopsis... it pushed my learning forward.