A few days ago there was a challenge from Vibeke Krommenhoek, following my article on worship, to give an input to a question she was working with from CEC (European Conference of Churches): ”The current burning question faced by your Church in the areas of ecclesiology and mission”.
It is an interesting question to reflect upon and I am sure there could be a variety of questions and answers from different parts of the world. From my perspective in Denmark and the Nordic countries of Europe, I will point to especially one area, and that is martyria – our personal testimony to Christian faith and the proclamation of the gospel, of the faith we give in the public square as well as in our worship.
At the center of the Army or the very heart of the Army is mission, it is the overall agenda for all we are and do. In our setting mission is expressed through martyria, koinonia and diaconia – testimony (proclamation), fellowship and service.These three components are present in all Salvation Army work, more or less visible. Some places fellowship and service are dominant, but the challenge of the proclamation of the gospel is still there. In other places the proclamation of the gospel is very dominant and fellowship and service might be less visible, but the challenge of these two will be there as something which should be more at the forefront. Other places fellowship seems to be so much in focus that the other two suffer.
From my perspective it seems as if we at the moment are very keen in keeping focus on fellowship and diaconia. In our society there is need for inclusive fellowships, as a number of people both in the public as well as among our own live lonely lives, even isolated ones. For the older generation the loss of a spouse or friends who die will often result in a feeling of emptines and isolation, as a great part of the day is marked by silence and loneliness. The normal routines and all the small talk are gone. This can be the case for younger ones as well due to the growing number of single people, and not all are single by choice. The divorce rate is high and can mean loneliness apart from the singleness. There is a need for relevant and meaningful fellowships and also for an alert engagement in different social questions and challenges in society. The Army has competance in these areas and many corps take these challenges up, and are living out this part of their identity as a church in a relevant way.
However, the question stands if these fellowships are purely expressions of diaconia, which are fine in itself, but is real koinoniapresent? What do we mean with the fellowship that is translated from koinonia. I will quote Salvation Story Study Guidep. 46:
”The New Testament word for fellowship koinoniadoes not mean a fellowship which occurs just by gathering around some goal or mission. It means a fellowship which occurs when you are part of something or have a share in something. This something is the love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ and the fellowship ofthe Holy Spirit. This fellowship is reflected in Paul’s use of the expression being ’in Christ’ or ’in the Holy Spirit’.
The words from 2. Corinthians 13.14 describe the fellowship:” May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”. …………………It is in this fellowship created by the Holy Spirit that God is made real to us. Here the Spirit directs and inspires our prayers and worship as well as the development of our spirituality”
It makes its mark upon worship life, testimonies, preaching and devotions, if the diaconia and fellowship as an expression of diaconia are dominant, and the koinoniafellowship is lacking. Listening to what is proclaimed in preaching and testimonies, it seems often to center around God as the one who comforts, supports and loves us. When pointing to Jesus his role as a companion and friend is dominant. Very often our proclamation of faith is marked by a world view which our own soldiers and friends have been used to for years. It sounds familiar for most salvationists, because we know the words and concepts, but how much do they relate to our everyday life. They might often seem alient or irrelevant for ordinary people in society.
One challenge, as far as I can see it, lies in creating true koinonia, the other andperhaps the biggest challenge comes from martyria, both in mediating our personal testimony to our faith, and in the proclamation of faith in our worship as well as in the public square. How do we proclaim the gospel of salvation from evil, guilt, shame and sin, and the grace and liberating power of God in a way and in words that are intelligible to other people and to ourselves. Are we afraid of addressing these concepts or are we bewildered in a time where so many values are changing? We are influenced by the values and spirit of our time as well as other people in society, perhaps not as much, but we are not immune. I think most people can relate to guilt and shame, especially as much responsibility is placed upon each individual. An example could be the general attitude, that people are accountable for their own health, and if serious illness strikes a person it is often seen as a result of their way of life. Fighting even serious illness seems to be a question of the person’s will power and attitude. This creates both guilt and shame. This area could be addressed in our proclamation of the liberating power of the gospel, but a great problem might be a hindrance and that is, that we ourselves often are hostages to the same attitude.
However, the greatest problems, we face in our understanding and mediation of our faith are in the area of evil and sin. We struggle with these concepts, because we often have confused wrongdoings with the depth of sin which is in us, and which we are saved from. We also have had attitudes to what we considered evil, without really addressing the depth of evil which destoys people, relationships and societies. We find it difficult, because values and lifestyles, which due to our culture used to belong to what we considered wrong or evil, are changing. We don’t have a list of answers which we can check out. We have our Biblical texts which we need to dig deep into and not only stay on the surface. It is not a general answer book which straight away gives answers for today, it need to be reflected upon and listened to in depth.
Personnally I often return to Genesis 4. 7b:”…sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have yo, but you must master it.” It is a challenge to look inward and keep in mind the challenge of mastering this sin, instead of looking outward alone.. A Danish Old Testament scholar once described evil as a tree in which shadow nothing could grow. This description has stayed with me during the years when pondering upon the problem of evil. Nothing of this belongs to an answer book, but to inspiration and reflection. The other day I was challenged by a little passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer from 26 August ( we read a collection of his writings gathered in a book for daily devotions, I want to live these days with You) :
”Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than evil is. Against evil, one can protest; it can be exposed and, if necessary, stopped with force. Evil always carries the seed of its own self-destruction, because it at least leaves people with a feeling of uneasiness. But against stupidity, we are defenseless. Neither with protest nor with force can we do anything here; reason have no effect. Facts that contradict one’s own prejudice only need to be disbelieved – in such cases stupid people even become critical, and when facts are unavoidable, they can simply be swept aside as meaningless isolated cases. Stupid people, in contrast to evil ones, are satified with themselves. Indeed, they become dangerous in that they may easely be stimulated to go on the attack. Therefore, more care must be taken in regard to stupidity than to evil…”
Closer examination reveals that every strong eternal development of power, whether of a political or religious nature, strikes a large portion of people with stupidity….
The biblical saying, ”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1.7), says that the internal liberation of people for responsible life before God is the only real way to overcome stupidity.”
The fear of the Lord as the beginning of knowledge is also a fruitful way to overcome and address evil and sin.
Well these thoughts by the way are not giving a full answer to the question, but can be seen as a start on a process of evaluation of our ecclesiology and mission. It would be very interesting to get some input to these jottings. You are very welcome to join into this process of thinking.
(Top: Featured Image Norwegian Congress 2007)
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