Worldview and the Mission Worldview and the Mission of the Local Congregationof the Local Congregation

Michael W. Goheen

Catalyst West, 2010

Worldview and Academic SettingWorldview and Academic Setting

Term ‘worldview’ introduced into English speaking Christianity end of 19th/ beginning of 20th c.

Just after mid-20th c. term very popular

Primarily in academic circles Local congregation?

George Barna poll:

12% evangelicals knew what a worldview was

12% give adequate definition

4% said they needed to know anything about it!

More seriously . . .More seriously . . .

How many Christians understand the implications of the gospel for whole lives?

How many Christians understand religious beliefs shaping their culture?

How many Christians understand the complex interaction of gospel and culture in every part of lives?

Margaret Oldham’s pragmatismMargaret Oldham’s pragmatism

“I just sort of accept the way the world is and then don’t think about it a whole lot.”

Why it’s so important!Why it’s so important!

“ . . . the deep-seated and persistent failure of the churches to recognize that . . .

. . . the primary witness to the sovereignty of Christ must be given, and can only be given, in the ordinary secular work of lay men and women in business, in politics, in professional work, as farmers, factory workers and so on.”

People in Local Congregation?People in Local Congregation?

Businessman in business driven by profit motive

Ph.D. student in postmodern university

Worker in humanistic psych hospital

History teacher in public school Politician in liberal government

Living Faithfully in CultureLiving Faithfully in CultureThe problem of leading a Christian life in a non-Christian society is now very present to us. It is not merely the problem of a minority in a society of individuals holding an alien belief. It is the problem constituted by our implication in a network of institutions from which we cannot dissociate ourselves; institutions the operation of which appears no longer neutral, but non-Christian; and as for the Christian who is not conscious of his

dilemma—and he is in the majority—he is becoming

more and more de-Christianized by all sorts of unconscious pressures . . .

(T.S. Eliot,1946)

My storyMy story Taught worldview studies in

university for almost 20 years Journey began as pastor of

local congregation Theological deepening

Gospel of the kingdom Cultural mission of church Communal nature of idolatry Spiritual battle for all of human life

My storyMy story

How can I equip congregation for callings?

How can I equip congregation to live faithfully in world?

Adult education—resources? Two ‘toolboxes’ of resources:

worldview tradition (Kuyperian tradition) and missiology (Newbigin etc.)

Biblical starting pointsBiblical starting points

Gospel of the kingdom

Good News!Good News!

God’s intention to restore the whole creation and the full scope of human life to again live under his rule

Rich and comprehensive doctrine of creation

Scope and power of sin Restorative nature and

comprehensive scope of salvation

Present battle for entire creation

Narrowing of SalvationNarrowing of Salvation

The early Christian belief [i.e.,Scriptural belief] that the Fall and Redemption pertained not just to man, but to the entire cosmos, a doctrine already fading after the Reformation, now [under secularism of 19th c.] disappeared altogether: the process of

salvation, if it had any meaning at all, pertained solely to the personal relation between God and man (Tarnas).

Biblical starting pointsBiblical starting points

Gospel of the kingdom Comprehensive mission of

the church

The Spirit thrusts God’s people into worldwide mission.

He impels young and old, men and women,to go next door and far away

into science and art, media and marketplace

with the good news of God’s grace. . . . (CT, 32)

Following the apostles, the church is sent–

sent with the gospel of the kingdom . . .

In a world estranged from God,

where millions face confusing choices,

this mission is central to our being,

for we announce the one name that saves. (CT, 44)

The rule of Jesus Christ covers the whole world.

To follow this Lord is to serve him everywhere,

without fitting in,

as lights in the darkness,

as salt in a spoiling world.

(CT, 45)

Biblical starting pointsBiblical starting points

Gospel of the kingdom Comprehensive mission of

the church Narrowing of gospel

narrowing of mission Communal nature of idolatry

Incomparably the most urgent missionary task for the next few decades is the mission to ‘modernity’... It calls for the use of sharp intellectual tools, to probe behind the unquestioned assumptions of modernity and uncover the hidden

credo which supports them...

- Lesslie Newbigin

religiouscore

Culture: Common way of life rooted in shared core of religious beliefs

Biblical starting pointsBiblical starting points

Gospel of the kingdom Comprehensive mission of the

church Cultural idolatry

Individualising of sin Neutral public square

Spiritual battle for all creation

Clash of KingdomsClash of Kingdoms

Kingdomof God

Kingdom ofdarkness

Creation

Can worldview studies help to recover this biblical teaching?

Origins of worldview traditionOrigins of worldview tradition Important lectures by Abraham Kuyper and

James Orr Orr, Kerr Lectures, Scotland, 1891 Kuyper, Stone Lectures, Princeton, 1898

Deep sense of need to liberate and protect the Christian faith from a hostile cultural worldview

Cultural engagement: Positive and negative

Took hold of term from German philosophy: weltanschaaung which meant a set of comprehensive beliefs that underlie and shape all of action and thought

Made popular by a whole host of writers (e.g., Francis Schaeffer)

Common Commitments of Kuyper and OrrCommon Commitments of Kuyper and Orr Christianity has a comprehensive and

unified view of the world rooted in gospel Modern worldview threatening gospel:

Another comprehensive and unified view of the world

Fundamentally religious Embodied in forms of social and

cultural life To some degree antithetical to

Christianity Christianity’s only defence against the

power of modernism is to develop an equally comprehensive worldview.

‘If the battle is to be fought with honour and with a hope of victory, then principle must be arrayed against principle; then it must be felt that in Modernism the vast energy of an all-embracing life system assails us, then also it must be understood that we have to take our stand in a life system of equally

comprehensive and far- reaching power.’ (Abraham Kuyper, Stone Lecture 1).

Kuyper’s primary concern . . .Kuyper’s primary concern . . .

All of life be lived under Lordship of Jesus Christ

“There is not a square inch of the entire domain of human life of which Christ the Sovereign does not say ‘That is mine!’ ”

Kuyper’s vision of cosmic Lordship of Kuyper’s vision of cosmic Lordship of Christ challenges three assumptions:Christ challenges three assumptions:

Reality is segregated into two realms, sacred and secular, and gospel concerned only with the sacred

Sacred/Secular DualismSacred/Secular Dualism

SacredPrayerWorshipMinisterMissionaryChurchFamily

SecularSportsEntertainmentJournalistPoliticianUniversityBusiness

A c t iv it i e s

P ro fe ss io n s

R e a lm s

Kuyper’s vision of cosmic Lordship of Kuyper’s vision of cosmic Lordship of Christ challenges three assumptions:Christ challenges three assumptions:

Reality is segregated into two realms, sacred and secular, and gospel concerned only with the sacred

Gospel transforms only individuals but not society

Enlightenment notion that public life is religiously neutral

Importance of TensionImportance of Tension

The deeper the consciousness of the tension and the urge to take this yoke upon itself are felt, the healthier the Church is. The more oblivious of this tension the Church is, the more well established and at home in this

world it feels, the more it is in deadly danger of being the salt that has lost its savour

(Hendrik Kraemer).

Areas of worldview studies Areas of worldview studies

Biblical story and its most basic beliefs

Cultural story and its most basic beliefs

Tension of living at the crossroads between two stories

Living at the CrossroadsLiving at the Crossroads

Enriching and critiquing worldview Enriching and critiquing worldview tradition?tradition?

Pietistic tradition Missiology Three neglected themes:

Suffering Spirituality Community

Resources for local congregationResources for local congregation

To enable people to live whole of lives as witness to Lordship of Christ

To understand relation of gospel to various sectors of life

To understand the religious nature of culture

Need for . . .Need for . . .

Pastors and leaders who understand worldview issues

Pastors who understand worldview Pastors who understand worldview issuesissues

At the most sophisticated level we have to think of our task in a city like Madras to train our lay members who are playing key roles in the life of government, business, and the professions to become ministers of Christ in these secular situations. All of this is involved in our calling and ordination (Newbigin).

A True PastorA True PastorFor the Christian layman who is really out in the world, really seeking to be subject for the Lord’s sake to the human institutions about which we are speaking, the political order, the economic order and so forth, really seeking to face the desperate difficult decisions that this involves, seeking to bear on his heart the

obligation of his participation in these orders, to keep his conscience both sharp and clear, this man knows that he needs

one thing: he needs a true pastor.

Need for . . .Need for . . .

Pastors and leaders who understand worldview issues

Congregational structures and adult education to equip for callings

There is urgent need for the Church to give higher priority to the formation of groups of Christian men and women in particular sectors of public life. These would include education, industry, commerce, politics, drama, the arts, the natural and social sciences, and historical studies. The groups would explore ways in which a Christian

perspective can be developed in these areas, and ways in which this perspective can challenge and redirect contemporary practice (Newbigin).