Amptelike Nuusblad : NG
Kerk in Oos-Kaapland
OosKaap eNuus
Visie: Een, heilige, algemene Christelike kerk, die
gemeenskap van die heiliges
Jaargang 6 - Nommer 24 - 7 Augustus
2008 - www.ngkok.co.za/enuus
Help asb met NGK
Jaarboek se In Memoriam-berigte
Leadership
Qualities needed for the Missional Church
Mev
Lizzie Holane is een van daardie ware
entrepreneur-lidmate. Sy is lidmaat van die VGK en bedryf die Nomzamo Special Care Center
op Peddie, die dorpie in die voormalige Ciskei, tussen Grahamstad en King
William’s Town. Die Nomzamo-Sentrum gebruik die ou sendinghospitaal se geboue
met die grasie van die Departement van Openbare Werke. (Nomzamo is ‘n geregistreerde Organisasie Sonder Winsoogmerk.)
Lizzie was in die vorige reses lid van die VGK se Kommissie
vir Diakonale Dienste en het ook gedien op die Oos-Kaap se subkomitee.
Lizzie het ‘n besondere liefde
vir gestremdes en het opleiding as arbeidsterapeut assistent. Met daardie
kennis het sy begin uitreik na die gestremdes in die Oos-Kaap. Tans is daar
100+ gestremdes wat dienste ontvang, waarvan 70+ inwoon en die ander aangery word.
Hulle kom van sover as Port Alfred. Presies hoe sy alles bekostig is ‘n wonderwerk, want die sentrum sukkel om registrasie by
die Onderwysdepartement te ontvang.
Die sentrum verbou groente wat selfs aan die plaaslike Spar
gelewer word. Die groentetuin is ongeveer 2 rugbyvelde groot. Daar is ‘n houtwerk-projek wat baie goeie kwaliteit meubels
vervaardig, sonder enige elektriese gereedskap. Hulle het ook ‘n hoenderprojek wat sommer in een van die rondawels bedryf
word. Sy droom groot, want sy wil baie graag nog ‘n
leë gebou “oorneem” en inrig vir werk met kinders.
‘n Nieu Zeelandse
vrywilliger, ‘n onderwyseres met spesiale opleiding
vir gestremde-onderwys het pas hier begin met werk wat oor twee jaar sal sterk.
Lizzie het ook goeie verhoudinge met die Visrivier Sun wat
al baie gebruikte linne voorsien het.
Die totaal ontoereikende speelplek vir die kinders is ‘n baie groot behoefte by Nomzamo. Daarom dié boodskap en
versoek vir hulp. Daar is nie miskien ‘n gemeente of
individu wat sou kon help om ‘n doelmatige
klimraam/speelplek te ontwikkel nie?
Belangstellendes kan my skakel, dan voorsien ek julle van
die kontakbesonderhede.
teologie stellenbosch 150+
Hoogtepunte op
2009-jaarprogram
Die Fakulteit Teologie wil graag gedurende die hele 2009 ons 150-jarige
bestaan feestelik vier onder die tema Teologie Stellenbosch 150+. Onder hierdie
tema wil ons terugkyk na die opleiding van die afgelope 150 jaar, maar
terselfdertyd ook vorentoe kyk en probeer om die geleenthede te peil wat die
toekoms mag inhou.
Die feesvieringe in 2009 sal die volgende insluit:
Januarie 2009: Die verskyning van ’n gedenkboek, Teologie
Stellenbosch 150+
27–29 Januarie 2009:
’n Kongres vir Afrika-alumni van die Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst oor Conflict,
peace and sustainable development in Africa: The role of universities,
NGOs and churches/faith-based organisations
2 Februarie
2009: Teologiese Dag met die jaarlikse opening van die Fakulteit
18–20 Maart 2009: ’n Konferensie
oor die geskiedenis van die Fakulteit en Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
18-20 Mei 2009: ‘n Konferensie oor Missionêre kerk-wees in die
Handelinge-verhaal
22–26 Junie 2009:
Jaarvergaderings van Teologiese en Godsdienstige Werkgemeenskappe van Suid-Afrika
op Stellenbosch
30 Augustus – 2
September 2009: Internasionale Calvyn-gedenkkonferensie
2–4 September 2009:
Eregradeplegtigheid en Internasionale Teologiese Konferensie met vennote en
alumni
7–8 September 2009:
Konferensie met die Protestantse Kerk Nederland, die Molukse Kerk en International Reformed Theological Institute van die Vrije
Universiteit in Amsterdam
31 Oktober
2009: Boomplantgeleentheid en verjaarsdagdinee
1 November
2009: Erediensviering van Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
Februarie–November 2009: Musiekuitvoerings, kunsuitstallings en
’n blyspel ter viering van Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
Februarie–November 2009: Deurlopende reekse lesings deur die
onderskeie teologiese vakgebiede onder die tema Teologie Stellenbosch 150+
NB
Enigeen wat by een van die geleenthede ’n akademiese
voordrag sou wou lewer, kan skakel met prof Pieter Coertzen (pc@sun.ac.za).
Nadere besonderhede oor die onderskeie geleenthede sal
mettertyd bekend gemaak word.
Die JONK
LIVE Musiekfees vind plaas oor die naweek van 29-31 Augustus 2008 in IRENE,
Pretoria. Die Fees is ‘n NG Kerk Jeug inisiatief maar
neem hande saam met verskeie vennote en kerke. Jongmense, kinders en gesinne
word tydens die Feesnaweek op verskillende maniere
geakkommodeer.
Die doel
van die Fees is om ‘n platform te skep vir nuwe,
veral Afrikaanse lof- en aanbiddingsmusiek wat in die kerk gebruik kan word.
Nuwe
komponiste en groepe word ook betrek by die Fees vir hierdie rede. Die Fees het
ook ten doel om jongmense te mobiliseer om ‘n
positiewe boodskap van Hoop te leef in Suid Afrika. Jongmense in Suid Afrika
wat hulself assosieer met geloofsgebaseerde instansies verteenwoordig huidiglik
die grootste kontigent van jongmense in ons land. Die
potensiaal van jongmense in ‘n land soos Suid Afrika
met ‘n baie jong demografie, is oneindig. Christen
jongmense kan ‘n wesenlike bydrae lewer in die
huidige Suid Afrikaanse konteks.
Die Fees
bestaan uit ‘n aandfees en ‘n
dagfees. Die aandfees sal aan bekende kunstenaars ‘n
geleentheid bied om nuwe musiek op die verhoog te plaas. Kunstenaars soos Louis
Brittz, Retief Burger, Stass
en Vertikaal sal in die aandfees te siene wees. Die dagfees gee aan gemeente
musiekgroepe die geleentheid om hul talent ten toon te stel. Gemeentes van reg
oor die land neem aan die dagfees deel.
Stalletjies
en vermaak sal bydrae tot die feestelike atmosfeer. Dit is verseker ‘n gebeurtenis op die kalender wat nie gemis kan word nie.
Word deel van die Jonk Live Facebook
groep of stuur ‘n e-pos na jonk@ngkerk.org.za.
Alle
inligting oor die Fees is beskikbaar by www.live.jonk.co.za of 012 342
0092. Kaartjies vir die dagfees kan gekoop word aanlyn by www.itickets.co.za.
VINNIGE FEITE
DATUM EN TYE
• VRYDAG 29 Augustus 14:00 tot
SATERDAG 30 Augustus 22:30 vir dagbesoekers
• Naweekbesoekers kan bly tot
SONDAG 31 Augustus om 10:30
WAAR
• IRENE Volle Evangelie
Kampterrein Pretoria
• Kaart by www.live.jonk.co.za
KAARTJIES, PRYSE EN BESPREKINGS
Dagkaartjies
• Gee jou toegang vir VRYDAG of
SATERDAG
• R70 per persoon per dag
• Verkrygbaar by
www.itickets.co.za
Naweekkaartjies
• Gee jou toegang vir ALLES vir
die hele naweek. (Uitgesluit kos)
• Naweekbesoekers kan eie kos
bring (gasbraaiers ens)
Twee verblyf opsies:
A: HOUTHUISIES
*
R300 per persoon (alles ingesluit vir die naweek)
B: TENTE
*
Bring jou eie tent saam
*
Tentstaanplekke word bespreek vir 4-6 persone
*
R220 per persoon (alles ingesluit vir die naweek)
Bespreek
*
Bel die Pretoria kantoor 012 342 0092
KOS, STALLETJIES
*
Verskeie kos stalletjies van ligte etes en drinkgoed tot gebalanseerde
etes
(met groente!!)
*
Verskeie uitstallings
*
Verskeie vermaaklikhede en speletjies
*
Jonk Live Merchandise
te koop
BELANGRIKE INFO OM TE WEET
*
Geen alkohol
*
Daar is baie sekuriteit – so jy is veilig!
*
Bespreek vroeg (ons kan net 6000 mense per dag toelaat)
*
GESINNE, LAERSKOOL KINDERS, TIENERS EN STUDENTE WELKOM!
*
www.jonk.co.za (www.live.jonk.co.za)
KONTAKBESONDERHEDE
Global Careers presents a
Challenging Christians in all walks of life to integrate their work and
faith.
Saturday 6th
September ’08 at 09h00-16h30
Cost: R100.00 including material, coffee/tea and light lunch on
Saturday
e-mail : brenro@vodamail.co.za
Hier is uittreksels uit ds Danie Matthee,
wat die evangelie met kuns, teater en musiek uitdra, se jongste nuusbrief:
In Lukas 15
vertel Jesus vir ons die gelykenisse van die verlore skaap, die verlore
muntstuk en die verlore seun. In al drie verhale beskryf Jesus vir ons
dat wanneer 'n verlorene gevind word, God baie bly is daaroor. En dit is
per slot van sake waaroor ons lewens behoort te draai, om God te laat glimlag
en om Hom vreugde te gee. Daarom mag ons nooit moeg word om verlorenes te
soek en van ons Vader se liefde te vertel nie. Hierdie maand was vir my
net weer 'n bewys daarvan. Dit het begin met ons kinderproduksie by die Boardwalk waar ons vyf en twintig Afrikaans, Engels en
Xhosa Bybels kon weggee en afgesluit met die aangrypende storie van iemand wat
na baie afdwaal paaie, weer by die Here kon uitkom. Ek wens ek het fotos geneem van die kindergesiggies wat hul Bybels vashou
na ons optrede met 'Lord Digiteck se GROOT Avontuur',
maar ons was almal in karakter en so besig met die kiddies
dat dit net onmoontlik was. Aan Ds. Ben en die Bybelgenootskap baie
dankie dat julle ons gehelp het om sulke vreugde te kon beleef. Ons
beplan die derde week van Augustus nog nege optredes en hoop ons sal dan selfs
nog meer Bybels kan weggee vir kinders wat nie hulle eie Bybel besit nie.
Bid asseblief hiervoor.
Behalwe vir die optredes by die Boardwalk
kon ek die maand ook help by Hoërskool Framesby en Hoërskool Brandwag se
toneelgroepe. Baie sterkte met die shows wat
voorlê! Hulle neem o.a. in Augustus deel aan die ATKV se
tienertoneel. Dan was ek ook twee keer op Patterson, by Klema in Somerstrand en natuurlik ook die N.G. Gemeente
Kraggakamma waar ek nog tot die middel van Augustus uithelp. Aan Leon en
almal in die gemeente, dankie dat julle my so vinnig laat tuis voel het, dis
vir my 'n groot voorreg om by julle te kan bedien. Die afgelope maand het
ek die geleentheid gehad om 'n paar korter sketse op te voer en aan Natalie,
Marie en Emercia wat my daarmee gehelp het, baie
dankie, julle is sterre. Ek weet ons Here sal julle ryklik beloon vir
julle tyd en talente wat julle in sy diens stel. Natalie verwag haar
tweede kleinding vroeg in Augustus en sy was nog steeds bereid om te
help. Sterkte met die min slaap wat voorlê en ek bid dat die nuwe baba
sommer tonne vreugde vir jou en Hennie sal bring. Die einde Augustus sluit
die KKNK se inskrywings so bid asseblief dat die Here vir my sal wys watter
produksies om daarvoor in te skryf. Om net een inskrywing te voltooi is
'n tydrowende proses met regisseursnotas en teks, klank- en beligtingsontwerpe,
'n cast-lys met cv's,
musiek en dans DVD's, stelontwerp, reklamemateriaal en 'n motivering wat
ingesluit moet word. Die moontlik produksies wat ek kan inskryf wissel
van die komedie 'Kniediep in die warmwater', ons kinderproduksie 'Lord Digiteck se GROOT avontuur' die musiekblyspel 'Breek 'n
Been', my eenmanstuk 'Vry!' en 'n splinternuwe dansproduksie wat handel oor 'n
jong meisie se stryd met drank en dwelms en haar pad na God toe. Vra
asseblief die Here om vir my duidelikheid en vrede hieroor te gee.
Die verhoogproduksie van 'A Walk to Remember' wat ek Februarie
volgende jaar saam met die N.G. Gemeente Somerstrand wil opvoer is op koers en
die teks moet teen einde September klaar wees. Vra asseblief dat die Here
my die vermoë sal gee om reg te laat geskied aan hierdie ongelooflike mooi
verhaal.
In verledemaand se nuusbrief het
ek julle gevra om te bid vir 'n persoon wat Obed se bemarking kan help doen en
die Here was soos altyd getrou. Hy het Melloney Fourie vir ons gestuur en
sy sal op 'n deeltydse basis help met reklame, borge en die reël van
optredes. Melloney ek glo God het jou oor ons pad gestuur en dat jy vir
Obed tot groot seën gaan wees en ons ook so vir jou. Melloney is self 'n
begaafde danser en choreograaf en sal ook haar talente wat dit aanbetref by ons
kan uitleef.
Danie
Matthee
Sel: +27 82 876 9015E-pos: danie@obed.co.za
Help asb met NGK Jaarboek se In
Memoriam-berigte
Ons doen 'n ernstige beroep op leraars wat landwyd begrafnisse
van kollegas waarneem of daarvan weet, om asseblief die name en
kontakbesonderhede van familielede aan Gerdrie van
der Merwe te verskaf. Aangesien sinodale kantore nie meer alleen
verantwoordelik is vir die pensioenfondse nie, is ons nie altyd bewus daarvan
as leraars sterf nie. Gerdrie benodig die name
van leraars wat sedert Julie 2007 gesterf het. Hy is verantwoordelik vir die
skryf van In Memoriam-berigte vir die Kerkjaarboek. Stuur die inligting na gerdrie@telkomsa.net
Hy kan ook gekontak word by 051 763 0046 of selnommer 083 516 7600. Sy posadres
is: Dr GA van der Merwe, Posbus 46, Bethulie, 9992.
In die 1 Augustus-uitgawe van
Kerkbode:
Hoofberig: SA grondwet staan dalk voor grootste toets ooit met
Konsepwetgewing oor Onteiening
Kerkbode berig ook oor:
Diep verdeelde Anglikane vergader in Engeland
SA moet skroewe teen Zimbabwe vasdraai, vra kerkleiers
“Nuwe Hart”-projek wil
moraliteit bevorder
Aktuele artikels:
Dreigende morele ramp: wat doen die kerk? – Piet Strauss
Daar is baie slegte nuus vir en oor die kerk. Maar daar
is ook ’n ander storie – Schalk Pienaar
Is dit tyd om Power Point af te
skakel – Chris Jones
Sinvolle kategese aan die “whatever”-generasie
– Johan Avenant
Nuwe Publikasies:
...vir alle gemeentes(leiers)!
Christenleiers:
Jannie le Roux & Braam Hanekom (redakteurs) ...R139.95 (14 % BTW
ingesluit)
God se mense vir nuwe
werklikhede. Geestelike leierskap maak die verskil.
In Christenleiers word
nagenoeg twintig eienskappe van geestelike leierskap deur verskeie kenners
ontgin. Geestelike leiers is nie beter as ander mense nie, maar weet onwrikbaar
dat God in sy groot onverklaarbare genade sy hand op hulle skouers kom plaas
het. Vanuit hierdie unieke eienskap wat by geestelike leiers voorkom, word
gefokus op die sentrale temas wat vandag nodig is in die mondering van elke
geestelike leier.
Vrygewige Lewe van Brian Kluth teen
R54.50 (14 % BTW ingesluit)
40 Dae lange
geloofsreis na ’n meer vrygewige lewe
Deur 40 dagstukke,
geselekteerde gedeeltes uit die Bybel, artikels en praktiese werkblaaie, help
die skrywer gelowiges om hulle huishoudelike begroting só op te stel dat hulle
’n meer vrygewige lewe tot voordeel van God en sy werk kan hê.
40 Dae na ’n meer
vrygewige lewe sal ’n verdieping in jou geestelike lewe bring en jou
help om op God te vertrou om in jou behoeftes te voorsien.
In die September-uitgawe van LIG:
VOORBLAD: Daar is liefde in die
lug! Op die stoep voor die AH! Gastehuis van Arnold Hoon en Annelise Bosch (Villa
Rosa se “Ruette”), word ’n glasie geklink op die
geluk van Herman Hardick en Beatrix Erasmus -
oftewel Villa Rosa se “Ben” en “Jackie”.
LEES OOK:
Leer jou kind (flink) dink. Daar is talle maniere waarop jy hom kan help om flink te
dink - van soggens se opstaan-roetine tot 7de Laan.
6 dinge wat gelukkige kinders régtig
nodig het.
Pa, jy het ’n plek en ’n rol.
ATHS dalk die rede vir jou rustelose siel.
Inligting,
Navrae en Diensverskaffing:
Skakel 0860 26 33 42
* Of stuur jou bestelling per e-pos na: bestel@bmedia.co.za
* Of koop direk met jou kredietkaart op die
webtuiste: www.bybelmedia.co.za
Groete uit ’n winterskone Wellington.
Hans Steyn
Hoof: Bemarking en Fondswerwing
E-pos: hans@bmedia.co.za
Tel: (021) 864 8223
Leadership Qualities needed
for the Missional Church
Dave Dunbar skryf:
A recent article in the New York Times[1] suggests a starting
point for our discussion.
The focus of
the article is the transition at Eastman Kodak from film to digital
technology. That transition is now in full swing, but Kodak is late
getting into the digital game. It is ironic that they have only focused
the company in this direction over the last five years since the first digital
camera was invented in the 1970s by Steven J. Sasson,
a Kodak employee!
The technical
people at Kodak loved Sasson's prototype, but the leadership at Kodak was less than
enthusiastic. Sasson explains, ". . . it
was filmless photography, so management's reaction was, 'that's cute--but don't
tell anyone about it.'" Kodak was so deeply invested in the reigning
film technology that it was nearly impossible for the decision-makers to
imagine that physics would become more important to their world than
chemistry. In the words of Bill Lloyd, chief technology officer at Kodak,
"It seems Kodak had developed antibodies against anything that might
compete with film."
This is not an
uncommon story in our world of discontinuous change. Past success has a
downside--it can
inoculate individuals and organizations against the very adaptations that might
allow them to thrive in a new context.
The relevance
of this and similar stories for missional Christians
is obvious. The church in the West is deeply indebted to the models of
Christendom and the styles of leadership that grew up in the modern
period. But those models are struggling. Change is needed and it
will not be easy, nor will it be desired by many. However, the growing
crisis in our churches presents what may be a change-or-die scenario.
According to the Times article
it took a "near-death experience" to overcome Kodak's resistance to
the new technology. As some declining churches stare death in the face we
have to ask, "Is this God's 'severe mercy,' brought about to help us think
outside the box of Christendom?"
Re-imagining
leadership
A number of writers have issued
calls for re-imagining leadership roles within the church. Harvie Conn
identifies and critiques two dominant models in the Western concept of
ministry:
1. Pastor as pedagogue
2. Pastor as professional
Conn argues
that the minister-as-teacher model (pedagogue) is deeply indebted to Greek
philosophical currents that flowed into the church, especially through the
influence of the Alexandrian fathers Clement and Origen. While this
rationalizing tendency has been challenged over the centuries (particularly
during the early years of the Reformation), "cognitive abstractionalism"
remains a strong element in our current understanding of ministry.
Conn also
critiques the "professionalization" of ministry which values credentials over spiritual gifts and
accentuates the contrast between clergy and laity.[2] John Piper sounds a
similar note, but with greater passion: "We pastors are being killed
by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry. . . . Professionalism has
nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry. The
more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our
wake."[3]
Alan Roxburgh discusses the anxiety over marginalization that has led pastors in late
modernity to "the continual search for ways to reconfigure pastoral
identity." This has resulted in three common images, all of
which he argues, remain within the paradigm of modernity.
1. the therapeutic - pastor as counselor
2. the technical-rational - pastor as
CEO/manager/entrepreneur
3. the creator of community - pastor as
facilitator of body-life [4]
Less is more
These critiques highlight two
important issues that need to be addressed by leaders in the missional church. The first is the tendency toward
elitism in current models of leadership. The pastor as scholar/teacher
and as technician/professional reinforces a strong top-down understanding of
spiritual authority and ministry. The expectation is that ministry leaders
can (or should) know it all and do it all. This of course puts more pressure on
pastors to "prove" themselves in a culture of rising leadership
expectations. They must preach with excellence, manage budgets and staff
with efficiency, articulate a compelling vision of the future, develop a
strategic plan, and of course maintain a model family life.
Statistics on
pastoral burn-out confirm that most leaders cannot live up to these
expectations. Nor should they. The NT presents
the church as an organism comprised of many diverse spiritual gifts, all needed
for the healthy function of the body. For much of the history of the
church this picture of unity-in-diversity has been threatened by a clergy-laity
distinction which suggests a qualitative distinction between the ministerial
class and the "ministered-to" class. The modern turn toward
professionalism only serves to increase the distance between these
groups. Little
wonder many pastors report that they are lonely, isolated, and without close
friends.
The future
demands that pastors become less so that they can become more. They need
to become more the wise discerners and encouragers of the Spirit's work to
equip the congregation for "mission" -
and less the experts with all the answers. Tim Keel says that leaders must become environmentalists. "Good
environmentalists create settings of trust that allow diverse people with
varied experiences to come together in order to engage each other in nonterritorial ways that allow a community to apprehend all
of the different potentialities that emerge in such an environment of
engagement."[5]
Of course, to
see leadership changes of this order, pastoral job descriptions will need to be
re-written and the expectations of boards and congregations will need to change.
Church members who view the gospel primarily as a promise to meet their felt
needs will find it hard to conceive of pastors as less than professional
providers of spiritual goods and services.
From
church to kingdom
A second issue that needs to be
addressed is the tendency of church leaders to focus their energy too
exclusively on the inner workings of the church.. The
church in Christendom functioned near the center of cultural power and
influence. In that context it was easier to confuse the church with the
kingdom of God--God's saving action (the coming of the kingdom) was believed to
take place in the church. Mission was easily confused with ministry and
pastoral leadership became largely congregation and building centered.
In a
post-Christendom world we are taking a closer look at the church-kingdom
connection. The kingdom is the active reign of King Jesus, in whom God is
reconciling the entire world to himself. In this view the kingdom
includes the church but extends beyond it. The Spirit of God is already
at work in the world outside the congregation and invites the church to share
in the ministry of reconciliation.
Using this
perspective the church needs leaders called to lead God's people in engaging
with their surrounding context rather than focused solely on congregational
maintenance. Alan
Hirsch describes this kind of leadership as "apostolic
influence" that encourages congregations to look outside themselves, to
see opportunities and engage those opportunities with boldness. "It is
this more bottom-up, highly relational quality of leadership that characterizes
true apostolic influence. We have been so captivated by hierarchical,
top-down conceptions of leadership, be it that of bishops, superintendents,
pastors, and CEO-type leaders, that we have inadvertently blocked the power
latent in the people of God."[6]
Living Hope Community Church is a congregation seeking to make the missional
turn. Pastor Eugene
Miller is a graduate of Biblical Seminary and an illustration
of what Hirsch calls an apostolic leader. Under his leadership the church
has worked intentionally to connect with its surrounding communities.
Pastor Miller has modeled an incarnational life-style
by engaging his neighbors with hospitality, heading the committee of volunteers
for a local arts festival, and serving on the town planning council. This
kind of leadership-by-example has encouraged the entire congregation to see
itself as "the sent people of God" and has produced a number of missional outreaches in the surrounding communities
initiated by members of the congregation. The role of pastors and elders
in this context is not to staff or control the outreach, but to keep the focus
on the overall mission and encourage congregational creativity.
Of course, the
problems we face will not be solved merely by suggesting that pastors embrace a
new paradigm of leadership. Current leadership models are dictated in large
measure by the cultural expectations of Western churches and by the theological
training provided by seminaries and bible colleges. In both churches and
seminaries there are plenty of "antibodies" ready to suppress any
outbreak of the missional virus! Unless the climate changes, missionally-inclined
leaders will increasingly choose to work outside the system.
I believe this
is a good starting place for conceptualizing missional
leadership. Such leadership will be forward looking. It will
recognize that the models of the past are not adequate for the future. Missional leaders will be alert to the presence of
antibodies taking the form of resistance to change. And they will be
willing to question not only organizational dynamics but also their own
self-understanding as Christian leaders.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/technology/02kodak.html
[2] Eternal Word and Changing World (Zondervan,
1984), pp. 272-81.
[3] Brothers, We Are Not Professionals [Broadman
& Holman, 2002], p. 1. For both Piper and Conn,
"professionalization" means more than simply full-time financial
support in ministry.
[4] The Missionary Congregation, Leadership, & Liminality (Trinity Press International, 1997), pp. 18-22.
[5] Intuitive Leadership
(Baker, 2007), p. 206.
Dr
Graeme Codrington (www.futurechurch.co.za)
wys in hierdie bydrae daarop dat
die emergent church-gesprek dikwels
ongeregverdig gedemoniseer
word:
I am getting quite tired, bored and depressed
(probably in that order) by Christian pastors, authors and magazines responding
to the "emerging church". Fuelled by books by Carson and
MacArthur (which have been reviewed many times on
this blog) and by a few itinerant presenters, like Gary Gilley (also
reviewed at
this blog) and some pastors who have taken it upon themselves to make
opposition to the emerging church a personal crusade (Tim Cantrell of Honeyridge Baptist is a prime example - see a review of his
writings here),
South African Christians are being presented with a very one-sided view of the
emerging church. In fact, no, let me call it what it is - normal
church-going Christians who want to do what is right and Godly are being told
Lies about the Truth.
Now, we also have journalists joining the fray.
The July Joy
magazine for example has a cover story on the issue. This article on
the emerging church (EC) is so badly written, so incorrect in it's approach, so
lacking in journalistic integrity and so wrong, that I cannot believe that Joy
magazine have made it a cover story.
In his book, The
Truth Wars, MacArthur called for Christians to stand and fight for
the truth. Most people within the emerging church are wonderful saints of
God, trying desperately to understand what God is calling His people to do in
the world and trying to understand some of the cultural, gender and historical
bias that has for many years blinded us to the truth found in God's Word.
And most of them are trying to live out their faith specifically in the way
they respond to criticism and critique. The upside of this is that most
of the leaders of the emerging church around the world are more Christ-like
than any of the so-called Christian leaders who attack them. The downside
is that their silence or reticence to get into an old-style evangelical
theological wrestling match is taken for consent or defeat. This could
not be further from the truth. There is part of me that really agrees
with MacArthur - we need to fight for the Truth.
The Truth will indeed set us all free. And it is
becoming more and more obvious that the only way the opponents of the emerging
church can succeed in breaking down the emerging Christian approach is to tell
lies about it. Here are a few examples:
The approach is wearingly similar:
The first thing you do is take a few quotes out of
context. The favourite is Rob Bell's paragraph on the
Virgin Birth from Velvet Elvis. This
quote is so badly out of context that you can only assume one of two
things: (1) the person quoting it has not actually read the book, but has
rather just cut and paste the quote from someone else, without checking the
context at all; and/or (2) the person quoting it is deliberately trying to
malign Rob Bell and distort his original message in an untruthful attempt to
destroy his credibility. I am sorry, but I do not see any other
options. If you have the book, the quote is found on page 26 - halfway
down on the left hand facing page. On the very next page - at the top -
so you don't even have to turn over a page, you will find this statement:
"I affirm the historic Christian faith, which includes the virgin birth
and the Trinity and the inspiration of the Bible and much more. I'm part
of it, and I want to pass it on to the next generation." The point
Bell is trying to make is that seekers must come to God with all their
questions and concerns. Two page turns later in his book (page 31), he
explains the point of his virgin birth "what if" scenario, so often repeated
by emerging church critics: "Central to the Christian experience is
the art of questioning God. Not belligerent, arrogant questions that have
no respect for our maker, but naked, honest, vulnerable, raw questions, arising
out of an awe that comes from engaging the living God." This is the
"manifesto" statement that we should really be discussing, for I
think it is this issue of whether or not we are allowed to have questions that
actually is one of the key differentiators between traditional evangelical and
emerging evangelical Christians.
The second thing you do to try and discredit the
emerging church is claim
that they have abandoned the atonement. What did Christ
achieve on the cross, and how is His sacrifice "used" by God and
appropriated to humanity? This has become a modern day litmus test of
purity of doctrine. Here, the favourite person to quote is Steve Chalke.
Here, we find another approach, and that is to (mis)quote
some of the fringe authors or fringe books from mainstream authors, as if they
represented the whole movement, AND additionally to fail to
mention the wonderfully enriching debates and counter arguments often brought
against those authors and books from other emerging church leaders. I
think again that one of the differences between traditional and emerging
evangelicalism is this understanding of the role of discussion.
Traditional evangelicals are not used to their leaders having open discussions
and frank questions - they are used to prepackaged
and finalised end-product "truth" being spoon fed in bite sized
chunks to an unthinking audience. That may be a harsh overstatement, but
I think there is a genuine fear that by actually musing in public you could
lead people away from the truth. The bottom line for me is that if anyone
is going to critique the emerging church movement, they need to be honest
enough to not just quote the attention grabbing opening gambit of a fringe
thinker, but need to represent the full scope of debate within the movement on
particular issues. This does include atonement (where, just for the
record, no-one I know questions that the cross was a substitutionary
propitiation - there, I used and affirmed the magic words, even though no
seeker in the world would actually know what I am talking about - the issue is
whether it was MORE than that as well. I think, yes). It also
includes issues like the role of women, approaches to mission, understanding of
the Kingdom, social concern and how we should deal with homosexuality. On
this last issue, I think you'd battle to find an emerging chuch
thinker who would claim to come to final position on the issue - we are seeking
God's will and God's Word. That does not mean we will never come to a
conclusion - it just means we are taking our time to have full and proper
deliberations and come to God's Truth in a godly way. Why is that seen as
a bad thing? (After all, the church took nearly 400 years just to decide
which books made up the New Testament - part of ensuring you have Truth is to
take the time it takes to hear from everyone and include as many voices as
possible in the process - yes, even the fringe voices. Luther himself was
a fringe voice, as was CS Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, Augustine, Paul and Jesus
himself. And after hearing the voices we then come to a considered
conclusion when the time is right. This is the witness of church history,
and the way of the people of God from the beginning of time. It is the
process by which Truth is found).
Next, to discredit the emerging church, you need to
claim that they have
abandoned the Bible and are distorting God's Truth. This
could not be further from the Truth. Most EC thinkers are very, very
serious Bible scholars, who not only know the Scriptures but have a deep love
for them, too. This criticism is the one that most obviously shows the
true intent of the critic. The actual issue is that when EC thinkers have
gone back to the Bible, they have discovered that we have been wrong in some of
our interpretations. In the great tradition of all Christian theologians
and apologists, they have not been scared to deal with the consequences of
realigning some of their deeply held beliefs with a new understanding and
clarity of God's Word. But, where this new understanding differs from the
critic's entrenched views, the only response most critics have is to attack the
integrity and Christianity of the EC thinker. What most critics don't see
is that their arguments and protestations show much more about themselves than
they do about the person they are protesting against. To claim that
someone is a heretic, deliberately distorting God's Word, or abandoning God's
Truth, is one of the most serious charges that can be laid against a fellow
Christian, but it is nevertheless these charges that are being levelled against
EC thinkers, preachers and writers with no real proof except, "what you're
saying doesn't fit in with my interpretation of the Bible". If that were the charge (that our two
interpretations of Scripture differ), it would be easier to accept for it's truthfulness. But to claim that EC thinkers have
abandoned Biblical Truth is both a lie and an unacceptable slight of their
characters. It also displays extreme arrogance on behalf of the critic,
who is by implication claiming to be God and being infallible in their
discernment of truth and error.
You can also claim, as MacArthur has done, that all EC leaders are doomed to end up in
financial and sexual scandals. I suppose the proof of
this one is in the pudding, and time will tell. But the glee with which
MacArthur talks about this in his books and sermons makes my hair stand on end
- it's as if he is actually is willing them to fail in this way.
Finally, for my purposes here, to discredit the
emerging church, you
simply lump them in with postmodernists and claim that they are trying to
pander to culture. Firstly, this is a very patronising
and Western view of the world, which thinks that what is going on in America
(and all the white parts of the evangelical world that take their spiritual
lead from the Bible Belt) IS what culture IS
globally. A simple example will explain: the emerging church (in
general) believes that women have been incorrectly culturally excluded from
leadership and teaching positions within the church because of a misunderstanding
and incorrect interpretation of the Bible. It could be thought that in
allowing women "equal rights" within the church, EC is just following
culture. However, in Africa, women are still culturally very much
excluded, as they are in the Middle East, too. Emerging churches in
Africa are fully countercultural
in calling for women leaders and teachers. In some countries, they face
exclusion (I don't know of any examples of persecution, but, knowing Africa,
would think that could easily happen). The same would be true of
homosexuality, which is seen as a "white man's issue" by many African
church leaders. The emerging church is not trying to pander to culture,
nor is it postmodern in the sense that Carson uses that term. The Joy
magazine article I referred to above actually says, "the
church should never adapt to suit the culture." This is a HUGE point
of divergence between traditional and emerging evangelicals. (Actually,
it is impossible to "never adapt" unless you become Amish - does that
mean we cannot wear modern clothes to church, or have electricity in our
buildings - or meet at night - and should we only sing Gregorian chants?
This is just an insane comment). I wonder how we should then interpret
Paul in the second half of 1 Corinthians 10, or more importantly in 1 Cor 9:19-23? What EC
thinkers are doing is not trying to dumb down the Scriptures - rather, in the
light of what we now know, they are trying to look at the Bible and see where
we have misinterpreted it in the past, and made mistakes in our thinking and
application of God's eternal law. What is wrong with that? Unless,
of course, we believe that somehow in 2008 we have managed to escape the flow
of church history, and, now have arrived at the full and final version of the
Truth that cannot be improved upon, nor questioned.
As always, this is a longer response than I intended
to a simple article in a Christian magazine. But, I cannot help
myself. When Christians, in the name of helping other Christians to
understand and find the truth, must resort to distorting the truth, bad
journalism with no integrity (in the Joy magazine article, a good friend of
mine, David Lock, is quoted as a "leader of the emerging church" and
his photo used - he was never contacted for comment, nor was he asked
permission for the use of his image in the mag, and
he, in fact, is not and would not consider himself to be a leader in the
emerging church in South Africa - this is bad, bad journalism), and downright
lies, then my juices start to flow a bit.
The Truth shall set us free, and we shall be free
indeed.
If you are a Christian seeking truth, please, please
do not believe the half truths and distortions being pumped out of pulpits and
pages about the emerging church. Part of the journey to truth is to
actually do the seeking after truth yourself, not relying on pastors and
journalists who spoon feed you only the bits they want to for their own
purposes. God promises you that if you seek Him and His Truth, you will
find it. This seeking involves more than passively accepting what you
hear from the pulpit or read in books and magazines that deliberately distort
the truth. Go to the source. Seek, and you will find.
Drie oulike enetjies:
* Die buurt se bekende alkoholis steier huistoe en loop teen sy priester vas, wat toe navraag doen
oor die bult in sy baadjiesak. "O, dis heilige water, Vader," gee die
vabond ewe vroom sy verduideliking. Die leraar draai die prop af en ruik
daaraan. "Dis skoon brandewyn," sê hy. Roep die dronkie uit, "'n
wonderwerk!"
* "Ek
is baie jammer dat ek jou bek
vol konfyt moet smeer," sê klein Kosie
vir die kat. "Maar as ek dit nie
doen nie, sal Ma weet dis ek wat
konfyt gesteel nie."
* "Mamma, waar's ek gebore?" vra
Sannie. "In Bloemfontein, Skat." "En waar's Mamma gebore?"
"Op Potchefstroom." "En Pappa?" "In Kaapstad."
"Sjoe, ons kan bly
wees dat ons drietjies bymekaar uitgekom het, né!"
Sinodale Kommunikasie