Pastoral e-Note Feb 13

Dear Friends in Christ, I mentioned in my message last week Dr. E. Stanley Jones. Dr. Jones (1884-1973) was a Methodist missionary to India. He spent much time with Gandhi and the Nehru family. Gandhi challenged Jones and other Christian missionaries to be deeply respectful of the Dr. Davis Chappell mindset and strengths of the Indian character.

Dr. Jones wrote a book called "The Christ of the Indian Road." It sold more than a million copies worldwide after its publication (in 1925). The book details his effort to contextualize Christianity to India. I was privileged to meet Dr. Jones when I was 11 years old.

I find myself these days re-reading some of his works, and others like Lesslie Newbigin ("The Gospel in a Pluralist Society").

Reclaiming the mission of the Gospel demands the difficult work of contextualization.

I had the privilege of teaching a seminar on "Missional Preaching" last week at Scarritt-Bennett for a group of clergy from the Memphis and Tennessee Conferences.

As we began, I reminded them that preaching does not begin with our mouths, but with our ears. Before we speak, we must listen.

Listen to the Scriptures. Listen to God's Spirit. And listen to the communal context. It's important for disciples to be theologians, but it is also necessary to be cultural anthropologists; to be students of culture. The church is a counter-cultural movement, but it isn't anti-cultural. That's why it's important to go to the Frist Center, to

the Bluebird CafĂŠ, to the movies, to the Chamber of Commerce, to the PTO meeting, to Humphrey's Street, to 61st Avenue, to A.A. Remember when Paul went to the Areopagus in Athens? He was a student of the culture. As he grew in understanding the culture, he found bridges by which he could connect the Gospel to the hurts and hopes of a Hellenistic world. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, contextualizing the Gospel.

In my doctoral project at SMU, I wrote about the pastor as missionary. The pastor and people are not called to be managers of the church, CEO's, trustees, or chaplains of the culture. We are called to be witnesses, missionaries of the kingdom of God. Ours is a missional context. We are missionaries. Resident aliens! We are called to be in the world, but not of the world!

One theologian described it in this way: "One cannot be a missionary church and continue insisting that the world must come to the church on the church's terms. It must become a 'go' structure.

And it can do that only when its concerns are directed outside itself toward the culture, particularly to the needs of the lonely, the least, last, lost and forgotten. The church must recapture its identity as the only organization in the world that exists for the sake of its nonmembers."

I look forward to seeing you this weekend at the place where we come, to be empowered to GO. It's a blessing to be in mission with you!

The peace of Christ be with you!

Finally, it was good to welcome new members Rebekah Scott, Liam Wingerd, Tyler, Alli, Tanner and Audrey Golden, Shane Konves, Olivia Womack, and Cooper Davis. Welcome to our church community.

Davis

P.S. I hope you'll make plans to attend the Share the Spirit Celebration on Sunday, March 2. The dinner and live auction are at 5 pm (tickets required) and at 7 pm, there's our Youth-led worship service (no tickets required). This important night enables us to support our youth mission trips and Jubilation and Sonshine Choirs tours this summer. Don't miss out! Tickets are available for purchase this weekend in the breezeways. Click here for more information.