[DOWNLOAD] "Being Church Today: Living God's Mission Where We Are (Essay)" by Currents in Theology and Mission # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Being Church Today: Living God's Mission Where We Are (Essay)
- Author : Currents in Theology and Mission
- Release Date : January 01, 2010
- Genre: Politics & Current Events,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 255 KB
Description
Frontier living, old and new Wilhelm Loehe, founder of the institution Lit which we gather this afternoon, was apt to say, "Mission is nothing but the one church of God in motion," (2) a phrase which in capsule reflected a missional ecclesiology that served Loehe and his missionally minded cohorts well in their particular frontier context (mid-1800s in these United States). Now, in this new, emerging frontier context in which the churches of North America find themselves, a missional ecclesiology must emerge in practice that is more deeply Trinitarian and eschatological; more organic and fluid as it lives, The question that will drive such an emergence is, "What does it mean to be the church as we live?" Not as we think or remember or long for, but as we live as the people of God. Mission in this new frontier context is the way a people sent by a sending God live every day, "on mission," as they risk living for the reign of God and bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ "24/7" as many are apt to say. What God has done in Jesus Christ for the sake of the creation and all of its people cannot be undone; it is pro nobis, for us. It is this central proclamation of the Christian faith to which the Holy Spirit continually points us, and, in turn, to which we are called continually to point others. What matters first and perhaps most is who we are--a people created, chosen, cleansed, claimed, and called by God in Christ--and we are who we are, for better or for worse, all of the time, not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings. On the new wilderness roads emerging all around us, being "on mission" looks, I believe, strikingly similar to what happened on that much older wilderness road in the Acts of the Apostles (8:26-40). Someone is sent (and goes) to an unexpected place along the way, is encountered in a deeply mutual and relational way by an other, and in their midst the Spirit works mutual transformation. I want to suggest that we have at least two fundamental foci in our DNA as Lutheran Christians in these United States--a people sent to and living in particular places that are historically conditioned. There is a strong missionary impulse to bear witness to the Christian gospel "Lutheranly," remaining faithful to the primary accents of our Lutheran heritage: the doctrine of justification by grace through faith and the centrality of a theology of the cross; a deep commitment to the efficacy of the word of God as both law and promise; an understanding of the human as simul justus et peccator (at the same time justified and sinful); a profound sensibility about the priesthood of all believers and a clear understanding of vocatio (calling) as the primary means of the ministry of the baptized. This missional impulse with its theological scaffolding is coupled with a built-in sensibility about learning to navigate the realities of frontier living. It's one of the mantras we recite (and believe) here at Wartburg Seminary: attending to context. Many of our Lutheran fore-bears knew well how to migrate their faith into a new place. They became bilingual, both literally and figuratively, learning a new language as well as the customs and motes of new people. They learned not only how to survive in but also how to adapt to a new environment, all the while holding onto those threads indispensable to their beliefs and way of life. Perhaps many of our forebears were culturally savvy before adapting to a new place was considered savvy. Regardless, we must affirm, celebrate, and build on these dual commitments--the strong missional impulse and the knack for navigating new frontiers. However, we must also "fess up" to another reality: the landscape has changed.