The Mission of the Church in the World - Research Paper Example

of teacher submitted A paper on the church’s mission in the world and how it engages in this mission. Religion is a concept that has been around for ages. It’s an idea that has existed almost as long as man’s ability to reason. From the cults and religions of ancient times, religion as evolved and narrowed to a few accepted, main religious divisions, such as Islam, Taoism, Hinduism and Christianity or Catholicism. This paper aims to look at on of these religions, on of the most popular and debated religions in the world, Christianity, and attempt to decipher one of its most important aspects; its role in the world and how it attempts to fulfill this role. This paper will look at 2 of the most reliable and popular sources in the world of Christian literature regarding information on the church’s mission. These 2 sources are “Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World” by Robert E. Webber and “Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World” by Lee C. Camp. The chapters that are most appropriate for this paper’s questions will be taken studied and assessed. There will be feedback given on these sources and then the paper will provide its own reflection regarding the church’s mission. It will also explain weather or not it agrees with the information from the sources. It will take on these subtopics as such: Discussion on “Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World” by Robert E. Webber Discussion on “Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World” by Lee C. Camp. Reflection on both sources and personal feedback Discussion on “Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for A Postmodern World” by Robert E. Webber This paper took information from chapters 17, 18 and 19 from this book by Robert E. Webber as the portions of the book that most relate to the question this research is trying to answer. In this book, Webber’s approach on explaining the church’s role is mainly associated with evangelism or sharing the word of God. His approach in telling us about the church’s role starts with explaining some historical information about how the church’s evangelism began then moved to telling of evangelism’s progression and how this idea changed or evolved thru time. The book also provides information regarding the church’s shift in how it viewed baptism. According to the book, ancient churches treated baptism as the first step toward conversion, while the early church viewed baptism as “the culmination of a process of personal salvation”. (Webber 141-42) According to the book, this is also why the medieval church used force as a tool for evangelism. The book also tells us about the church’s role or its purpose. It tells us that there came a time where reform was needed in the church’s ideas and methods, but despite these reforms, the role of the church was still understood and still remained the same. In essence, the church’s role is to “Christianize” the world, all while emphasizing the importance of faith, rather than works. The reform movements worked toward letting people know that God initiates salvation. Many movements also worked thru evangelism in their own ways and making sure to introduce God and his teachings into society. The book tells us of “The great commission” which is the church’s ultimate goal, to convert people to Christ. (Webber 143) The book also tells us about “problems inherited from the enlightenment”. This tells us about the movement’s association with individualism as being the major problem in the situation. It tells us that this approach focuses too much on “You” and loses the ultimate message of the gospel. This section of the book also provides deeper differentiation between evangelical and Baptist movements. It provides us both the positive and negative sides of these movements as well as tells us about evangelism’s apparent separation from the church. Along with this information is the information that some try to make Christianity attractive but this should not be the case and instead, the goal should be to emphasize God’s absolute claim over our lives. (Webber 145) Another issue that the book mentions is regarding a follower’s confusion between taking on new “good” habits and following God’s word. It mentions that taking on these “good” habits may not get at the heart of Christian obedience. One important idea that this book provides is regarding the relationship of evangelism and education. It explains that evangelism without education of history or substance turns Christianity into a manipulation of feelings, while education of Christianity’s history and substance without evangelism and it loses its power to convert people. This is, according to the book, why evangelism and education must go hand in hand. (Webber 153) In the book, we are shown some challenges that the old churches faced such as illiteracy and lack of written records, but despite these issues, the histories were still passed down. Once the written catechism was introduced by the Reformation, and copies were publicly available, education and training became a major focus. (Webber 155) The book also provides information regarding the stages of spiritual growth. These stages of development provide us with a look at how a new convert progressed in the community and how they became gradually accepted in a Christian society. This gives us a look at how they developed newly baptized members and provides us a point of comparison with what is done now. After discussing historical information and development of evangelism, baptism and Christianization, the book moves into describing the church’s role in the post modern world. It does this by taking the information presented in previous chapters regarding historical methods, then assesses its evolution and translates them into modern or post-modern situations. It describes the ancient church as “the continuing presence of Jesus in and to the modern world.” (Webber 164) This portrays the church as a light and as a counter-cultural entity; something that goes against the norms of the time. The church evolved into a way for God to rule over the earth. However, because of this view, there were instances of corruption and this needed to be modified. In modern times, the church is separate from the state, but still participates in Stately events and offers prayer in such events when necessary. (Webber 165) Issues in this situation are also discussed in this final section of the book such as the church being encompassed by worldly politics. This, according to the book, compromises its true role in culture. Another issue that was discussed in this section of the book is the “retreat from the cosmic battle in which the church is really engaged” (Webber 166-67) In collecting all the information regarding the church’s role and the evolution in its methods, we can observe differences in the methods but the purpose or role is still the same. The church in post modern times has become important according to the book because of a crash in Christian values. In the end, the church’s role remains the same and it is to convert people and help them come to Christ. Their methods may change and their approach may come from different angles, viewpoints or inspirations, but the end of it is still the same. Discussion on “Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity In a Rebellious World” by Lee C. Camp. This section of the paper aims to look at the book by Lee C. Camp and attempt to summarize the information and provide feedback. This paper looked chapter 11 in Camp’s book as this is the section of the book that is most appropriate for this paper’s inquiry. Camp’s style of explanation and providing information has different levels or dimensions. It provides information based on the feedback of others, based form his own experiences and based from doctrine and historical data. This gives us multiple viewpoints with regards to tackling the question that was posted. The section of the book we chose initially shows us some information regarding the gospel’s early challenges and how they addressed them. The main challenge stated in this section is regarding how their claims have been challenged in the past and how they are still questioned. Their answers to these challenges are simple, truthful, effective and above all, faithful. They respond that despite the lack of change in others, they as Christians show change in themselves. (Camp 203-04) This in itself is a struggle because of the internal issue presented in the book. It describes the author’s personal struggle with faith that was brought about his observations and experiences working for the church. He asks “How can one claim “Jesus is Lord” and live as if he is not, unless Jesus is not really Lord” (Camp 206) this of course is addressed in a way that explains that the world needs for Christians to remain Christians. In other words, they must keep their identity. The issue of the gospel being sectarian was also addressed in this portion of Camp’s book. It rejects the idea of the gospel being sectarian and instead defines it as an “indiscriminate, suffering love” and recommends to veer away from the “holier than thou” mentality. It instills the idea that it should be the least fortunate that the gospel should cater to, rather than the people with plenty. (Camp 207) This portion of the book gives us ideas on how to do this and for the church to become a beacon of light for the world. The book then addresses evangelism and provides its interpretation of what it is. According to the book, evangelism is “much more than saving souls”. It is about sharing the world and God’s love while providing a realistic and faithful response to the needs of the world. It is about living in the ways of God while teaching others to do the same. An important part of the book that should definitely be mentioned is that evangelism is not about “selling Jesus, but showing Jesus.” It’s about taking the term “Christ-like” to heart and showing others how to do the same. (Camp 208) In the end, this book points in a similar direction to Webber’s point which is evangelism. Although it may not say it outright, the role of the church is to help people follow Christ. The church should be a fisher of men and guide people on the path of Jesus while not distancing it’s self from the rest of the world. The next part of this paper aims to provide feedback and reflections on the information from both sources as well as provide its own input on what the role of the church is in the world and how it attempts to do it. Reflection on both sources and personal feedback This paper recognizes the role of the church as both a pillar of light for the world, and a guide for people. We cannot deny that the church is asked of the great commission; to harvest souls and lead them to Christ, and the way that this is done is through evangelism. This paper agrees with Camp that the church should not distance it’s self from others and find ways of reaching the people with “less” in order to guide them toward Jesus. This paper also feels that these people with less are in need of Christ the most because thru Christ, they may gain in life. It also feels that Webber definitely has a point that the Church should combine education with evangelism for several reasons. One is that most people would try to avoid being emotionally manipulated, and therefore, may avoid evangelism. Another reason is that it is a great idea to build a new or potential convert’s faith on facts about Christianity and what it has done for people in the past as well as what it will do for them. The combination of 2 ideas from these 2 authors make a very effective and formidable way of spreading Christ’s message and pulling people toward Jesus. It is this research’s point of view that evangelism is an important part of being a Christian. The moment you accepted Christ into your life, it became your duty to lead others to Christ, not because there are consequences if you don’t, nor because someone asks you too, but because you have experienced the greatest love that there is, the love of God through Jesus, and it is only right that you help others experience the same live you have. The one thing to keep in mind is that when evangelizing, although you are in the correct intention or frame of mind, you must know how to correctly do it. This will ensure that you convince more people to come to Christ and inspire more Christians to follow in your footsteps. Resources Camp, Lee, C. "Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World" Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press/Baker Book House, 2003 Webber, Robert, E. "Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World." Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1999. Read More