Not looking back

Darrell Guder, in the Rian lectures delivered at Princeton Theological Seminary, acknowledges the challenges confronting missional leadership.  "Christendom gave us wealth, legal protection, political power, and cultural hegemony.  It is unsettling that [these are] ending."

If you are not unsettled, then you are not awake.  As we live into the reality that Christendom is over, we find ourselves not knowing how to "be church."  As Reggie McNeal said in our Atlanta gathering, we know how to "do church."  But in the new reality of a post-modern, post-Christendom world, how do we  "be church"? 

This question is the reason Presbyterian Global Fellowship came to be and invites you to join the conversation.  Because it is a question and we are all in this journey together.  This is not a tall steeple movement, it is not a rich church movement, it is not a "theologically right" movement.  PGF is a gathering of individuals and congregations who are Reformed and discerning how to be Reformed in a post-modern world.  PGF is a gathering of individuals and congregations who seek wisdom and leadership from our global brothers and sisters who have been effective witnesses for Christ in places in which Christianity did not enjoy wealth, legal protection, political power or cultural hegemony.  Because they have a lot to teach us!  PGF is a gathering of individuals and congregations who seek to support one another during this difficult transition.  

Guder goes on to say, "But the end is an opportunity to discover new lenses that obscure our view of the gospel."  There are no glasses for looking back.  No matter how hard we try to forge them out of polity or fond memories of how it used to be.  

New lenses are good.  Guder says, "we can experience what it means to be under Jesus' lordship when his lordship is mysterious and not publicly acknowledged."  If you are up for an adventure, then PGF is the movement for you. 

Kelly Kannwischer

Comments

[Toby Brown]

I must be misunderstanding Dr. Guder in the last quote of your article. Is he saying that it is possible to be under the Lordship of Christ in a way that is not visible to those around you? How would one reconcile this view (if indeed he holds it) with the teachings of Jesus in John 17? In other words, is there any such thing as an "anonymous Christian", whom the world cannot identify as being in any way distinct from the prevailing culture?

Surely this is not what he is teaching.

[Matt Ferguson]

You stated in the article, "it is not a "theologically right" movement". I think I know what you are trying to say but let me ask, "Is PGF a theological orthodox movement?"
God's blessings to you,
Matt Ferguson, pastor
Hillsboro, IL

[Kelly Kannwischer]

Yes, PGF is theologically orthodox. You may view our covenant, mission & values, and theological vision on our website. It is under the Who Are We? Tab at www.presbyterianglobalfellowship.org.

Invite your feedback to those professions after you take a look.

[Kelly Kannwischer]

Based on listening to Dr. Guder's lectures ( you can order them for yourself from Princeton Seminary if you are interested) I do NOT think he is saying that you can be under the Lordship of Jesus without it being visible. My interpretation of his comment is that he is saying that we must be Christians even when we are not blessed by those around us or publicly extolled for being Christians. In other words, we must rely completely on God because we no longer live in a "Christian" society.

This reminds me how difficult it is to quote people, especially great thinkers like Dr. Guder, without the risk of distorting his intentions. My apologies.

[Toby Brown]

Not a problem! I can see how the quote would go that way, but I wanted to make sure. Some parts of the missional movement are so concerned about contextualization of the gospel that, in my view, they lose the distinctiveness of the gospel from the world. I'm glad that Dr. Guder is not an advocate of this.

I also agree that we are to find our comfort not in a society that claims to honor our faith but rather in the God who calls us out of death and into life in Jesus Christ. The very fact that we are, as Peter says, 'a chosen race and a royal priesthood' means that we are a distinct body from the rest of the world.

I would be interested to read an article from one of the contributors here on the reality of God's sovereignty in election and how this might shape the missional movement among the Reformed. Any takers?

[Matt Ferguson]

Kelly,

I just read the items you suggested (2008 Covenant, Theological Vision, Mission and Values). I am glad to see PGF has greater theological clarity than what it had the first two years. I would recommend watching out for how often PGF uses the title Christ instead of the name Jesus. (see 2008 Covenant) In places it seems like PGF is working hard to avoid naming Jesus. Overall, though, I was pleased to see the theological statements are filling out more. I basically gave up on PGF after two years because of the weakness in this area.

[Scott Keeble]

Hey Kelly,
Do you ever feel like you can't win for trying? Just want you to know I am incredibly encouraged and strengthened by my affiliation and interaction with PGF.

One of the deepest lessons I've learned in my forays into the missional paradigm is that the thoughtful Christian can find beauty and truth and wisdom and most significantly, hints of the activity of God in all kinds of places. Even in places that also have ugliness and incompleteness and messiness and brokenness. It's actually quite easy to see the incompleteness or the ugliness or simply the things we don't agree with. Anyone can see those things. And it's easy to give up on those things because we immediately see the things we don't like.

But the MISSIONAL conversation has spurred me to slow down and look more deeply to see if there might just be a hint of God doing something in the midst of the incompleteness and brokenness. And when I catch that hint of the Spirit, and I give myself permission to not have to correct every last bit of the messiness, then maybe I also discover that I've stumbled right into the middle of God's MISSION.

Thanks for trying to help us find our way into that!