I appreciate that Donald McGavern was intuitive enough to
notice that after 30 years of being in a missional context in India that things
were not right. The conversion rate
inside the mission station was not as high as outside in the community. He went against the norm and the western
influence and began to ask the tough questions.
For someone whose familial roots were western missions and someone who was being
considered for the next denominational leader, this was a big risk. Realizing the
cultural divide, he suggests not asking the community to come to the mission
station but rather they go out to the community and live with them. By asking
them to come to faith within the context of the mission station, they were asking
the Indian people to become western which was completely foreign to their
normal lives. The barrier was asking
people to become something they are not.
So they let him go and for the next 18 years McGavern lived among the
people and experienced some conversion but not what he thought was successful.
In fact, he thought those years were a failure. His theory of a people movement
was that movements happen through the people in the community, through others
they are in relationship with, not by a foreigner or paid staff. He returns to
the US and writes a book called “Bridges of God” about growing people
movements. He then started the Fuller School
of Mission. As I reflect on
McGavern’s life a few things strike me: 1. He had discernment that
the way things were being done currently were not working. 2. He
was courageous enough to say and do something about it even though it went
against everything he knew and at the risk of losing position or power in the
church. 3. He was willing to be uncomfortable and
sacrifice his own position or advancement in the church and his family. 4.
What appeared to be a failure was actually a catalyst for reforming the
western mission movement. It was also the birth of a graduate school that is
unequivocally missional. Many others and
I have been the beneficiary of McGavern’s wisdom, experience and
obedience. I am thankful for this class
but it is definitely stretching me. The
lecture and conversations thus far in this class have encouraged and challenged
me to understand and consider my ecclesiological beliefs. The way we have been doing church is simply
not working. As I listen to Dr. Bolger
and the other students, I ponder how do we “do” or “be” the church Jesus is
coming back for? Am I willing to speak up and say this is not working? How do
we love like Jesus and be in unity with other believers so that all the world
will know we are his? Am I willing to work together in unity even if we see
things differently? How do we share the love of Christ in a way that generations
that follow my generation will embrace his gift of salvation without asking
them to become who they are not? How do
we re-reach my generation with Christ’s love and be authentic and accept that
the “church” became irrelevant or anemic to them? Am I willing to live among the people – do life
together even though it is messy? How do
we as a church change without stopping and restarting completely? Would I see
this as failure like Mc Gavern did? Am I
willing to risk doing something different with the possibility that something
wonderful like the church reproducing and multiplying contextually in various cultures within our western culture? My prayer is that through this class I will
have the courage to change, the wisdom to know how and Holy Spirit’s leading. These are the things I ponder as I drove home
last night and even today as I went to my job at the church. Pondering………
No comments:
Post a Comment