This is part 2 of a series of articles.
In my first article I argued that there is a growing consensus among reformed evangelicals about how best to encourage Christian life, ministry and mission in our current Western cultural context. The discussion has gently moved on. There are now different points of discussion. This article will outline some of these points and share some notes of commentary on them.
Political Advocacy
There is a growing call for Christians to be circumspect in political lobbying and advocacy; some recommend for almost total disengagement from politics, at least for Christian ministers and churches.
I believe Christians should always seek to think, pray and speak into every area of life, out of concern for the glory of God, for truth, for justice, for the love for one’s neighbours. This includes Christians speaking into every point of the political process. But I agree with those who are issuing warnings. In our current context, the best Christian stance in public political discussion needs to be cautious and thoughtful, not giving the impression of being presumptuous and bellicose. Rallying a conservative majority to our political causes has proved itself to lead often to compromise and failure. It has, I believe helped to tarnish the public reputation of Christianity.
We should also beware of our Christianity becoming limited to a few hot topics, or worse, succumbing to a political instinct that gels with damning predictability to the platform of a particular political party.
Persuasiveness in Evangelism
The push for Christian evangelists and pastors to adopt a cautious, irenic stance in their evangelism and efforts at public Christianity remains somewhat controversial. Many squirm at what seems to them an overly timid posture: apologising too much, giving too much ground to the sinful critiques of the world. Some react against this and adopt a forthright, muscular, even sarcastic and denunciatory posture in their cultural engagement. Nevertheless, I hope that a majority will agree that one can be clear on godliness and the truth of God, while still presenting it in a manner that is persuasive.
An important aspect of being persuasive, especially in a very self-consciously post-Christian cultural context, is to be willing to concede where the legacy of Christianity has been severely lacking; where Christian morality and doctrine appears difficult or demanding. Being evangelists with integrity also requires us to be transparent and cautious about our claims; thoughtful and sensitive in our use of rhetoric—perhaps losing a bold edge to our preaching at times, but God-willing gaining credibility in our conduct.
Contextualisation needs to consider not merely questions of faithfulness to gospel truth and persuasiveness to our potential audience. We also need to assess which patterns of life, modes of communication and styles of rhetoric are fitting for the gospel of the crucified Christ—what does it mean to embody the weakness and foolishness of the cross, as 1 Corinthians 1–4 and 2 Corinthians 10–13 call us to. This is an attentiveness to the subtle, and not so subtle, ways that worldly values penetrate cultural ways of being, leading and talking. To effectively contextualise the gospel of the crucified Messiah requires us to embody the wisdom, humility and service of the gospel in both our message and our manner; in our words and our tone and patterns of organisational and community life.
Training Christians to Evangelise
Ordinary Christian conversation is arguably now more important than gospel presentations. Many ministries remain committed to training people in learning a basic gospel outline like Two Ways to Live. Many leaders remain committed to the practice of cold-contact evangelism. But these are often both rightly seen as valuable training activities, rather than prized for their direct evangelistic effectiveness.
I suspect it is largely understood, at least intuitively, that for the ordinary Christian most gospel opportunities will not lend themselves to a recitation of a gospel outline. The most immediately relevant evangelistic training will be more connected with speaking of one’s own Christian conversion and experience; answering difficult questions; some elements of Bible storytelling; and inviting people to investigate further through events, courses or one-to-one reading.
Concern for Evangelistic Focus
There continues to be concern that Australian Christians might lose their evangelistic focus. Some leaders fear that too much emphasis on political advocacy, charitable and environmental work or even the value of secular work might detract from evangelistic commitment. This is a risk. And certain theological formulations do lack clarity about the distinction between gospel work and good deeds.
At the same time, I want to agree with those who see the importance of setting a vision for a holistic Christian life and culture. When the culture around us becomes less Christian, this holistic work needs to be more deliberate. It gives our worldview cohesion, it makes our subculture robust (more of this in the next article). Giving due regard for the whole of the Christian life and work will not only sustain believers, but will likely also open up different kinds of evangelistic connections and opportunities.
In my final article, I will raise a few further suggestions of points of discussion, reflection and development—points that are not perhaps quite as common in our public Australian reformed evangelical discourse.
