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Introduction:
Not Of This World
Derek Poole
Comment:
Is You Is or Is You Ain't?
Joyce Greenaway
Truth
to Live
David Hewitt
Evangelicalism
at its Best
Patrick Mitchel
Not
of this World...A Personal Reflection
Glenn Jordan
Review
1: An Exercise in Self-Reflection
Derek Tidball
How
Often Should We Forgive?
Alan Wilson
Review
2: An Exercise in Propaganda
Wallace Thompson
Review
3: I am not an Evangelical...
Malachi O'Doherty
Faith
and Practice - Maurice Kinkead
Ruth Hutchinson
NOT
OF THIS WORLD . . . A PERSONAL REFLECTION
As evangelicals we are not given to much introspection. Our reactions,
our thoughts, our comments tend to be direct, reflecting a prior established
position on just about anything. That position once arrived at, sometimes
gets so firmly fixed it is resistant to change or alteration. I use ‘we’
for the first time in this book because I want to identify myself with
this diverse community. I am an evangelical. But like many of those who
have spoken to me in the course of this research I am uncomfortable taking
the name without some attempt to qualify it for myself. I know that there
are some evangelical readers who will turn to this chapter first, perhaps
rightly, in order to discern where I’m coming from and to gain clues as
to why I have said what I have said. My qualification of the term will
therefore be important not just for me but also for those who will agree
or disagree with my conclusions.
I have before me a long list of names. Many of them would be recognised by any evangelical who is even vaguely aware of the evangelical firmament outside of Northern Ireland. They are the brightest stars in our small patch of sky - the writers, scholars, preachers and celebrities that have contributed to the growth of evangelicalism in recent years. Most of the rest of the names would be recognised only by a few, in some cases only by those who mentioned the names to me in our interview. For these are the personal friends, peers or family members who have lived a consistent Christian life within the horizon of those of us feeling our way into the world of faith. Evangelical history is a thin crust resting over the laid down faith strata of two millennia, and the list of names reveals that our history is both overwhelmingly recent and intensely personal. There are some notable exceptions, of course. Some clergy felt obliged to mention certain icons of their particular denominational heritage, Calvin or Luther, for instance. Others were moved to mention missionary heroes of the nineteenth century who had fired their vision of faith in their younger years. But on the whole we offer little more than a backward glance to the places from which we have come. Like the prodigal son we have left the security of the family home. Caring little about exactly who has lived there over the years, we are enjoying life today on the wealth stored up by those now consigned to ancient history. I think it is time we came to our senses. In a world increasingly xenophobic about history and tradition there is a great temptation to believe that whatever success we may attain in connecting faith and contemporary culture, it is achieved solely with contemporary tools. But we would be fooling ourselves. We are suffering today from a contemporary disease and the cure may very well be found in two complementary remedies. Firstly, I think we need to revisit our history as evangelicals. Throughout the world today evangelicalism is on the rise. It is estimated that by 2010 the Pentecostal version will be the largest Christian expression of faith in Latin America, overtaking even Roman Catholicism1 . Recent figures in the UK reveal that in the 1990s, the decade of evangelism, as overall church attendance plummeted, evangelical churches were running against the trend. The Evangelical Alliance claims to speak for over one million evangelicals and can frequently claim the ear of the most powerful in the land. Here in Northern Ireland it is estimated that 33% of religiously active Protestants would consider themselves evangelical, approximately 12% of the entire population2. To that long list featuring New Church Evangelicals, Charismatic Evangelicals, Presbyterian Evangelicals, Anglican Evangelicals, Methodist Evangelicals, Baptist Evangelicals and so on we now add Roman Catholic Evangelicals, even though many would be confused by the latter phrase, or even see it as internally contradictory. We shall return to this issue later. Everywhere one looks there is growing evidence in support of Alister McGrath’s bold claim that ‘the Christian vision of the future now seems increasingly to belong to evangelicalism’3. Numerically, academically and in terms of access to political and social power evangelicalism is in a healthy state in many parts of the world. But we were here before. By getting in touch with the history of evangelicalism we may learn from both the successes and the failures of the past. In the early 1800s evangelicalism reached an influential peak. Yet by 1870 the decline of evangelical influence was unmistakable and Britain had reached what has been called the ‘Victorian Crisis of Faith’4. The movement was ill-prepared for the cold winds of modernity in the form of Darwinism, biblical criticism and the explicit assaults of Lecky and Huxley, among others. In such an unfavourable environment, many found shelter in the isolated cove of fundamentalism and they remained there till after the Second World War. Secondly, we need to recover the merit of Christian tradition. Evangelicalism has always been a populist movement and we have tended to avoid the mysteries of sign and symbol. Our churches reflect this in that they are generally plain and functional to ensure that nothing should distract us. But this flight from mystery has been elevated to a principle that is no longer useful. I think we need to recover the value of ritual, liturgy, sign and symbol that has come down to us through centuries of Christian practice. We need to root ourselves again. Otherwise our worship, for instance, will be shaped solely by what is current. Is it any wonder that critics of current worship movements within evangelicalism have pointed to the self-centredness and pseudo-romanticism of our new music, that seems to owe more to the therapy culture than to reflection on theology? Rooting ourselves in a wider and deeper Christian tradition may help us to develop a more robust spirituality capable of thriving in an era of cultural upheaval. It may also be necessary for our evangelism as we offer, with much else besides, a sense of rootedness to those in our society growing increasingly aware of a lack of connection to anything other than the immediate. We can be confident that ours is a history that stretches further back than John Stott or Billy Graham, further back than even Wesley or Edwards. In fact the so-called Magisterial Reformers themselves, like Luther and Calvin, were building on a tradition that stretched back to the earliest Christian centuries. As evangelicals we need to redeem that depth of spiritual heritage to ensure that what grows in our thin crust of history will have deep roots to serve our descendants well for the future. We need to constantly check our practice of the faith to ensure that we don’t popularise God and reduce our understanding of grace. The temptation for evangelicals is to see grace linked solely with atonement. But by doing that we risk losing the capacity for awe as we bottle up our imaginations in the straight-jacket of systematics and plain-walled churches. We need more colour in our faith, more creativity and more art. Eugene Peterson says it best when he says, ‘Right now, one of the essential Christian ministries in and to our ruined world is the recovery and exercise of the imagination.’5 To rightly serve our world we need first to recover imagination for ourselves. What encourages me is that among young evangelicals in particular there is evidence of just such a recovery. They are increasingly dissatisfied with what they are receiving from their leaders and those of us who are older need to encourage this dissatisfaction. They are more open to the exploration of sign and symbol as aids to understanding faith and we need to provide space for them to question our practice of the faith, and space also for them to try new things. We need to give thought to the Christian education and formation of our young people. By all means spend time in developing new forms of liturgy but our children and young people need help to understand, appreciate and experience the reality of the centuries old traditions and practices of the Christian church. Rather than sealing them in the vaults of history, we could give these traditions some fresh air, and maybe by so doing we will receive some fresh insights. Community
As a Christian movement we are sadly lacking in a sustaining theology of community. This is due, in no small part, to our insistence on the personal dimension of faith and relationship with God. In no way should this be undermined. It is of course essential that each individual engages with God, but we must be careful of confusing personal with individual. If we are to remain relevant as a movement we need to develop our thinking on and practice of community. Our congregations, parishes and assemblies must be more than Sunday morning preaching stations but must look also to the nurturing of community life. The growing presence of small groups in local churches, and even the phenomenon of the cell church, where the faithful meet almost exclusively in the context of small accountability groups, is testimony to the growing realisation of the need for community. Though many evangelicals are members of small Bible study groups there are many more who wouldn’t countenance such a thing. It must be said that many of the small groups that do exist lack real focus. There is a felt need for a support network but should they be Bible study groups, fellowship groups, discipleship or accountability groups? By lacking a clear purpose the groups often try to fulfil all of these needs and do none of them very well. We need a new theology of community in order to help our understanding of the Bible. Most of us have grown up within a tradition that stressed the necessity of reading and studying the Bible. Again this is important and a crucial element in growing to maturity in the faith. Many of us, however, have read these centuries old writings without any reference whatsoever to how these same writings have been understood and interpreted in the past. Our private reading and interpretation may also be a contributory factor to the fracturing of evangelicalism. With the rejection of the Pope of Rome has come the establishment of a myriad of individual popes each with the ability to speak ex cathedra. With a recovery of a theology and the experience of community will come a renewed sense of the Church as an interpretative community. It is noticeable, for instance, that in many evangelical groups the practice of biblical discipline by the leadership is virtually non-existent. Many clergy and leaders will express privately the concern that this is because their flock will not countenance such a thing. Giving such a role to the Church to execute effectively will require a new approach to the reading and interpretation of the Bible. Understanding Catholics
Most evangelicals gain their understanding of Catholic theology from other evangelicals. Rarely, if at all, do they learn about it from direct conversation and debate with Catholic people themselves. The focus of the learning is almost exclusively on the controversial issues. Insofar as the same is true of Catholic people in their understanding of evangelicals, the tendency is for both groups to be reinforced in their prejudice and strengthened in their ignorance. Elsewhere in the world there appears to be a warming of relationships as both communities battle a common secular foe. It is probably too much to hope for such a development on a wide scale in Northern Ireland, though it is happening in a small way. Perhaps if political developments contribute to the overall sense of confidence and security more space will be provided for dialogue. In the meantime it would be helpful, and less condescending, if evangelicals resolved to hear about Catholicism from the adherents themselves rather than from the implacable foes of Rome. The difficulty here is that with such a strong conviction of truth, evangelicals are not always the most gracious when faced by someone with whom we differ. Nor are we all that attuned to nuances, preferring our truths in the meat and two veg variety—plain and simple with no fancy stuff! Catholic people may take a crumb of comfort perhaps in the realisation that our difficult relationships with you are not confined to you. We also have difficulty with ecumenists and liberal Christians. We even fall out among ourselves. The challenge to grow viable and sustainable relationships with those who differ from us will remain a significant challenge for evangelicals. Conclusion
A comment from Des has stayed with me. He was pessimistic about the future prospects of evangelicalism, fearing it was becoming too insular and self-absorbed. He commented that in his experience it was churches outside the evangelical mainstream that were actually asking the profound questions about the church in society. Evangelicals often call these churches the liberal wing of Christianity yet, following a period in the doldrums, they appear to be re-emerging now and taking the territory that was once in the possession of evangelicals. Is it perhaps true that mainstream evangelicalism is retreating from the real task of relating faith to life? On the surface it would appear that this is not the case. On the surface church attendance at the prominent evangelical churches is still healthy, but are we growing as a movement? I’m not sure. So much growth in the ‘successful’ churches is through the poaching of disaffected members of other churches. The crying need for evangelicalism in Northern Ireland is to look outside. Just as the internationalising of the political issues here helped move the community towards some form of resolution, we need to start looking at the struggles and challenges faced by evangelicalism overseas. I am not quite so pessimistic as Des, though I wouldn’t be complacent either for there is undoubtedly much pain ahead for the evangelical family. Those who learn to adapt the profession of the Gospel to the demands of a new day will thrive, the others will be marginalized, and eventually fade. Whether we like it or not we are in the world, left here by our Lord for a purpose. We may wistfully dream about our eternal destiny but we cannot be excused from involvement in the here and now. The shape of that involvement must be determined by each succeeding generation as it works out the implications of the truth for that time. What is certain therefore is that the evangelicalism of the future will be as unlike the evangelicalism of our day as our day is unlike that of Wesley or Luther. The confession will not change, but the working out of it will, and for that I’m glad. 1 Quoted in ‘Defining Evangelicalism’ 2 A Future with Hope (ECONI 1998) p.9 3 Alister McGrath, Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1994) p. 1 4 cf. David Bebbington, ‘Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, A History from the 1730s to the 1980s’ p 114ff 5 Eugene Peterson, Subversive Spirituality, Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Co. (1997, Grand Rapids) pg 133 Glenn Jordan is Director of the East Belfast Mission.
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