How Will They Know?
By Robert Newton Those of you who either read my little column or have been subjected to one of my
presentations know that I am stuck on the notion of "paradigm
shifts." Paradigms are big deals; they serve as our cultural and social
roadmaps, helping us navigate everyday life with some level of success. They
answer the big question, "Why?" and give us a sense of sure footing
in changing times. However, when a community's map changes radically and
quickly we feel confused and unsure. It's like trying to drive in San Francisco with a map of Chicago. While there are some
similarities -- large bodies of water nearby and many streets share the same
names -- something is not quite right. We feel lost most of the time.
A
great paradigm shift has hit our churches and left most of us scratching our
heads. From our local congregation all the way to our entire synod, we
recognize the huge shift has taken place from a "churched" oriented
society to one where "church" is not on most peoples' radar screen.
Such a change in context calls on the church to make changes in the way it
approaches Christ's mission while maintaining the purity and integrity of the
Sacred Gospel. We cannot change our thinking about whether God wants all people
to be saved. We confess that He does (1 Timothy 2:4).
Nor can we change our understanding about how people are saved: People must
hear the true Gospel in order to believe and be saved (Romans 10:17). The
change in paradigms must come not in "Who should hear" or "What they
should hear" but rather in answering the question St. Paul asked, "How will they
hear?"
Our traditional way of thinking answers Paul's question in this
way, "The unsaved need to come to church in order to hear the Gospel."
We assume that Gospel proclamation locates primarily in the church
building around the ministry of the called pastor. The paradigm change requires
that we answer Paul's question by recognizing that rather than the unsaved
first coming to us to find the Gospel, the Gospel needs first to go to
the unsaved in order for them to hear it. That means that Gospel proclamation
locates primarily in the world around the ministry of the baptized in their
everyday lives. The paradigm change is from a "coming or attraction" model of
Gospel proclamation to a "going" model. That's why Jesus made "going" an
important aspect of making disciples (Matthew 28). When Jesus' disciples asked,
"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel" (traditional paradigm),
Jesus responded with a new paradigm, "You will be my witnesses . . . to the end
of the earth" (Acts 1:6-8). The disciples were operating with the ministry
paradigm that assumed the complete restoration of David's earthly Kingdom,
which under Solomon (David's son), had attracted the whole world (1
Kings10:24). Such restoration made perfect sense, seeing that David's "greater
Son", the Messiah, had now come. Jesus exploded their paradigm by promising to
restore the Kingdom not only to Israel,
but to the whole world. Furthermore, God's Kingdom would not be restored by the
world coming to Jerusalem to hear the
Gospel, but that the Gospel would go from Jerusalem into all the world.
The "going" paradigm in the book of Acts included both a
scattering of the baptized in the world (Acts 8:1-4, 11:19) and the call and
sending of missionaries by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2-4). Both were intentional
acts of the ascended Lord in the fulfillment of His missionary plan. The
scattering of the Christians in Acts 8 should not be understood as accidental
or tragic. It was deliberate on the part of God and, therefore, dynamic like a
sower scattering good seed on the soil. Such a scattering of saints follows our
Lord's parable of "the wheat and the tares," where the Son of Man sows the
children of the kingdom in the world (Matthew 14). It also reflects His words
regarding true discipleship: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a
grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies,
it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). The baptized are scattered by
Christ in the soil of their everyday world for the express purpose that many
will hear the word; and in hearing, believe; and in believing, be saved.
Jesus calls both laity and pastors to go with Him into the
world to "proclaim" the Gospel to all creatures. Pastors and people have
specific and complimentary roles to play in that going. So St. Paul wrote to
the church in Ephesus living in a ministry context much like ours today: And he
gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers, to
equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13. God's goal was that His Body grow as it builds
itself up in love. And such growth God will accomplish regardless of the
paradigm in which His church is planted.
Rev. Dr. Robert Newton is the President of the
California-Nevada-Hawaii District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
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