The Basis

Years ago a Roman Catholic named Vincent Donovan was sent to do missionary work in Africa. He was to share Jesus Christ with a certain Masai tribe. (His story is recounted in his book, Christianity Rediscovered.) Donovan quickly realized that his task was daunting. He would not only have to learn a new language, he would have to immerse himself in a new way of thinking. The language of this tribe had no past tense or future tense; they spoke and thought only in the present. How would he talk about the "Rock of Ages," or "eternity"? Tribe members never spoke of personal possession, nor did they have any word for the first person, singular. They thought only collectively. How would he talk to such people about personal salvation? Three years passed before Donovan knew his new culture and worldview enough to talk about Jesus in a way that the Masai would understand. In that time, Donovan had to strip his own understanding of a relationship with Jesus back to its core basis, apart from the trappings of his own culture and denomination. Setting aside the Vatican, Roman Catholic structure, prayer books, etc., Vincent Donovan had to discover what of his faith would stand when everything around him changed.

We live in a world that is changing at meteoric speed. What is the core of that which we Jesus followers have and offer? What if some catastrophe (or blessing?) happened, and we no longer had our hymnals or our praise bands, our organs or our keyboards, our pastors or our priests, our fine buildings or our websites, our choirs or our music leaders, our traditions or our innovative programs, our cathedrals or our family life centers? What if it was just us in this rapidly changing world? Would we have something to give? Would we still be the Body of Christ? Would we still have a mission to fulfill?

This is not a rhetorical question. It is the question for Jesus-followers in this present age. Weigh in. Those of you in our church's leadership training group, what are your thoughts?

There's no standing still on a river. The environment which is familiar on one stretch is gone in the next. All that is consistent is the flow itself. I'll see you around the next bend.