 |
|
Opening dialogue in a church
I have been reading your ‘reading of Romans’ available on the Emergent UK resources section. This is very helpful in terms of trying to focus on what the gospel is AND isn’t. Have you had much of a response from different theologians? Is there a wider conversation going on about the nature of the gospel across different church traditions? Is any of this dialogue public? To be aware of the conversation might take away some of the fear away from those who have been brought up with ‘the gospel that uses Jesus.’I guess where I’m coming from is that the very fact that I’m asking some of these questions (as a pastor) is very hard for the elders and other teachers in my church to stomach. If they were aware of the emerging conversation, and that it is about more than how we do church, and that the conversation was being entered into from different streams, maybe, there would be more openness? If there is a question here it is : is there a pastoral way to open up a dialogue about the nature of the gospel?
Great question. First, I should say that websites like this one, emergent, faithmaps, gocn.org, theooze.com, and many others are trying to make this conversation as public as possible. As well, so many excellent books are being published. The problem is that many Christians in America (not sure where you are?) are so shielded by what I call “radio-orthodoxy,” the orthodoxy promoted by religious broadcasting. Anything that doesn’t come through that channel doesn’t seem legitimate. This is a fascinating problem. I try to address this problem in a few chapters in my newest book, A Generous Orthodoxy.
As for opening up dialogue about the nature of the gospel, here’s what I think needs to be said by pastors to elders: “Brothers and sisters, I want you to know there is an important conversation going on about the nature of the gospel. This is much deeper than debate about methodology and pragmatics. It’s very profound and very important. I think it eventually will touch us, and so as leaders, I hope we can engage constructively and prayerfully with this dialogue. There are many important and respected Christian leaders and scholars raising these questions, and many books and websites and conferences are also involved. As in any difficult new conversation, sometimes there is more heat than light, but I think in the midst of the heat there is some light, and I hope we can engage these issues together.”