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Missiological Engagements
Seeking Church: Emerging Witnesses to the Kingdom
New expressions of church that are proliferating among Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and other non-Christian religious communities, including so-called "insider" movements, have raised intense discussion in missiological circles. In Seeking Church, Darren Duerksen and William Dyrness address these issues by exploring how all Christian movements have been and are engaged in a "reverse hermeneutic," where the gospel is read and interpreted through existing cultural and religious norms. Duerksen and Dyrness draw on the growing social-scientific work on emergent theory--the concept that social communities arise over time in ways that reflect specific historical and cultural dynamics. This is a missiological process, they argue, in which God has always worked through people and their culture to shape his witness in the world. They illustrate emergent theory through historical and contemporary case studies and consider the church's contextualized nature by exploring biblical models of the church, worship practices as emergent, and ecclesial markers that identify emerging churches and their distinctive witness. For missiologists, theologians, practitioners, and all who ponder the challenge and opportunities of mission among other religious communities, Seeking Church offers a multidisciplinary conceptual framework with which to understand the global diversity of the body of Christ. The Spirit is constantly drawing people toward God's community, causing new expressions of church to emerge and thus displaying new facets of his work and character.
272 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2019
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 25, 2020
Summary: An approach to the development of indigenous churches within a culture, shaped by emergent theory's understanding of how cultural and historical forces interact with biblical understanding to form churches in culturally diverse ways.
If we are reading the same Bible, shouldn't our churches all look similar to one another? And if not, is there something wrong, or right about that? The authors of this work, while contending for some common marks of transformative churches, would argue that it is inevitable for churches developing in different cultural contexts to look different.
They argue first of all that churches are inevitably shaped by the cultural values within which they are birthed. They then argue for an "emergent" process in which cultural influences, historical factors, and biblical understanding interact. They make the argument that this is always how God has worked and show through case studies of different churches examples of this at work.
They begin by showing that all actual instances of the church in both history, and in the contemporary world reflect this emergent dynamic. Furthermore, they argue for the reality of a "reverse hermeneutic" in which culture interprets gospel, sometimes helpfully and sometimes obstructively.
The writers then turn to biblical descriptions of the church as the body of Christ, a pilgrim people, and a community of the Spirit. They consider worship practices, especially communion in light of emergent theory and focus in on the question of what biblical markers, across culture mark transformative churches, both rooted in their home culture and forming people to be part of a coimmunity of every nation and culture worshiping God. They contend for five markers:
1. The story of Christ is heard and obeyed.
2. A community forms around this story.
3. This community responds to the story in prayer and praise.
4. The community seeks to live in peace with each other and their wider community.
5. There is an impulse that drives the community to witness to Christ and the transformation the Spirit has brought about.
There were two aspects I found helpful in this book. One was the recognition of ways indigenous religion and culture inform the church. Rather than a wholesale rejection, there is an openness to what is good, as well as destructive to a biblical witness. Second are the examples of the distinctive forms churches have taken within different cultures, including some of the novel approaches within Islamic and Hindu cultures.
One of the tests of this emergent theory may be whether churches develop that are recognizably Christian in terms of the transformative marks outlined by the authors, and still reflective of the best of the culture within which they have been birthed. It seems that there might be two dangers, a rigid form of "Christian practice" the conforms to cultural values, or a vitiated form of Christianity that is more cultural, particularly in the way of assimilating Christianity into existing belief. The authors point to a third way that is both culturally distinctive but formed into communities shaped by the Christian story and Christian mission in the world.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
If we are reading the same Bible, shouldn't our churches all look similar to one another? And if not, is there something wrong, or right about that? The authors of this work, while contending for some common marks of transformative churches, would argue that it is inevitable for churches developing in different cultural contexts to look different.
They argue first of all that churches are inevitably shaped by the cultural values within which they are birthed. They then argue for an "emergent" process in which cultural influences, historical factors, and biblical understanding interact. They make the argument that this is always how God has worked and show through case studies of different churches examples of this at work.
They begin by showing that all actual instances of the church in both history, and in the contemporary world reflect this emergent dynamic. Furthermore, they argue for the reality of a "reverse hermeneutic" in which culture interprets gospel, sometimes helpfully and sometimes obstructively.
The writers then turn to biblical descriptions of the church as the body of Christ, a pilgrim people, and a community of the Spirit. They consider worship practices, especially communion in light of emergent theory and focus in on the question of what biblical markers, across culture mark transformative churches, both rooted in their home culture and forming people to be part of a coimmunity of every nation and culture worshiping God. They contend for five markers:
1. The story of Christ is heard and obeyed.
2. A community forms around this story.
3. This community responds to the story in prayer and praise.
4. The community seeks to live in peace with each other and their wider community.
5. There is an impulse that drives the community to witness to Christ and the transformation the Spirit has brought about.
There were two aspects I found helpful in this book. One was the recognition of ways indigenous religion and culture inform the church. Rather than a wholesale rejection, there is an openness to what is good, as well as destructive to a biblical witness. Second are the examples of the distinctive forms churches have taken within different cultures, including some of the novel approaches within Islamic and Hindu cultures.
One of the tests of this emergent theory may be whether churches develop that are recognizably Christian in terms of the transformative marks outlined by the authors, and still reflective of the best of the culture within which they have been birthed. It seems that there might be two dangers, a rigid form of "Christian practice" the conforms to cultural values, or a vitiated form of Christianity that is more cultural, particularly in the way of assimilating Christianity into existing belief. The authors point to a third way that is both culturally distinctive but formed into communities shaped by the Christian story and Christian mission in the world.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
November 9, 2019
Sometimes it’s good to be challenged and questioned. On the one hand, it uncomfortably pushes us back through the glass walls of our assumptions and presuppositions down to the place where we started building, to see if the structure really is secure. At the same time, being contested and probed can strengthen and straighten our assurances. For me that was the primary value of “Seeking Church: Emerging Witnesses to the Kingdom,” a new 224-page softback composed by Darren T. Duerksen, a one-time Mennonite Brethren missionary to India and associate professor and program director of intercultural and religious studies at Fresno Pacific University, and William A. Dyrness, previously a Presbyterian Church (USA) missionary to the Philippines and now professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. Though the authors intend to help missionaries and congregations to be more thoughtful about contextualizing the gospel and “church,” it seemed to me that the book ended up challenging and questioning crucial aspects of what the church is, how it looks, and the ways it functions. It is well written and easy to get through. But it is also contesting and probing norms, which made it somewhat arduous reading.
Not to be confused with the Emergent Church movement, the authors take a theologically reflective look at “the sociocultural formation and growth of communities who follow Christ…in terms of emergence theory,” a theory that proposes that “social communities arise over time in ways that reflect their interaction with specific historical and cultural dynamics” (25). From this perspective Duerksen and Dyrness attempt to lay out ways to discern where church exists in various cultures and environments. Therefore, throughout the volume, step by step, they show how “the church is an emergent phenomenon, a community called out by God, joined to Christ, and empowered by the Spirit to embody and witness to God’s presence and work in the world” (174). All of this is good and well and was very helpful in acknowledging the ways believers and Christ-followers in different milieus have incorporated and fleshed out their faith and worship as “a situated interpretation of Scripture” (38). It was also very useful for spurring my own thoughts on why it is important to recognize the social, cultural and historical background to the way I guide my congregation in worship and the manners by which we work out our faithfulness.
The difficulties that arose from the book, from my standpoint, came about from a handful of underlying and persistent themes that seemed to call into question, or sideline, aspects of church and Christian faith that I would have thought were unquestionable. I will give two examples, the one bringing about the other. To begin, I found a serious misunderstanding of biblical authority. The book characterizes the early church from Acts on through the Pastoral letters, as an evolving, developing, adapting process. Though one can agree with much that is penned in this regard, it becomes clear that through the writers’ reverse hermeneutic many of the practices mapped out by the Apostles in the Christian Scriptures are seen as simply encased in the culture in which they lived and reflect the concerns and pressures of that period (33-4). Even though the book declares that the Scriptural directions are normative, in almost dualistic or Gnostic fashion, it trims “normative” down to only the theological meaning, not the embodied, physical practices; “What is authoritative in the teaching of Jesus and Paul is the theological meaning ascribed on those practices, not the specifics of those practices, which are mostly impossible for us to recover in any case” (127). Since there is purportedly little that is prescriptive regarding the practices, then we should maintain “a posture of openness to the development of new Christian rituals and liturgies today” (129). It doesn’t take too much thought and brainpower to run with this and see the many (mis)directions it could go and has gone.
Yet the easiest place to see the problem comes out in how baptism is handled. For the book what matters is the theological meaning of baptism, which is identification with Christ. This leads to the observation that what “Paul emphasizes in baptism, after all, is not a particular social practice but the identification of the believer with Christ’s death and resurrection. The specific ritual chosen to symbolize this is left open; it is nowhere specified in the New Testament” (132). That is because, according to the volume, all rituals are contingent. Only their meaning is normative, and so, why should the first-century contingent practices “necessarily be determinative for believers living two millennia later, in vastly different settings” (127)? Throughout the discussion on baptism, I found it disappointing the authors never mentioned that the risen Christ, who now has all authority in heaven and on earth, commanded his disciples to go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in a prescribed way, and so forth (Matthew 28:18-20). I also found unsatisfactory that there was little connection to our risen and authoritative Lord’s pronouncement that the Apostles, by the Holy Spirit, are the Lord Jesus’ mouthpiece, and thus their words are his words. As our Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me” (John 13:20). Though I could give other examples, these two will need to suffice in this short review.
At the bottom I felt that there was a noteworthy misconstruing of biblical authority, which then gave “Seeking Church” its mistaken applications. If a reader will keep this in mind, I think the book can still be read for great profit, especially if they are planning to go into cross-cultural settings or move into a mission setting. This volume raises good questions that are important to work through. I cautiously recommend the book.
I am grateful that IVP Academic sent the book used for this review. I’m thankful that they were happy to send it to me on my request. And I appreciate that they allow me to make my own assessments, as can be seen herein.
Not to be confused with the Emergent Church movement, the authors take a theologically reflective look at “the sociocultural formation and growth of communities who follow Christ…in terms of emergence theory,” a theory that proposes that “social communities arise over time in ways that reflect their interaction with specific historical and cultural dynamics” (25). From this perspective Duerksen and Dyrness attempt to lay out ways to discern where church exists in various cultures and environments. Therefore, throughout the volume, step by step, they show how “the church is an emergent phenomenon, a community called out by God, joined to Christ, and empowered by the Spirit to embody and witness to God’s presence and work in the world” (174). All of this is good and well and was very helpful in acknowledging the ways believers and Christ-followers in different milieus have incorporated and fleshed out their faith and worship as “a situated interpretation of Scripture” (38). It was also very useful for spurring my own thoughts on why it is important to recognize the social, cultural and historical background to the way I guide my congregation in worship and the manners by which we work out our faithfulness.
The difficulties that arose from the book, from my standpoint, came about from a handful of underlying and persistent themes that seemed to call into question, or sideline, aspects of church and Christian faith that I would have thought were unquestionable. I will give two examples, the one bringing about the other. To begin, I found a serious misunderstanding of biblical authority. The book characterizes the early church from Acts on through the Pastoral letters, as an evolving, developing, adapting process. Though one can agree with much that is penned in this regard, it becomes clear that through the writers’ reverse hermeneutic many of the practices mapped out by the Apostles in the Christian Scriptures are seen as simply encased in the culture in which they lived and reflect the concerns and pressures of that period (33-4). Even though the book declares that the Scriptural directions are normative, in almost dualistic or Gnostic fashion, it trims “normative” down to only the theological meaning, not the embodied, physical practices; “What is authoritative in the teaching of Jesus and Paul is the theological meaning ascribed on those practices, not the specifics of those practices, which are mostly impossible for us to recover in any case” (127). Since there is purportedly little that is prescriptive regarding the practices, then we should maintain “a posture of openness to the development of new Christian rituals and liturgies today” (129). It doesn’t take too much thought and brainpower to run with this and see the many (mis)directions it could go and has gone.
Yet the easiest place to see the problem comes out in how baptism is handled. For the book what matters is the theological meaning of baptism, which is identification with Christ. This leads to the observation that what “Paul emphasizes in baptism, after all, is not a particular social practice but the identification of the believer with Christ’s death and resurrection. The specific ritual chosen to symbolize this is left open; it is nowhere specified in the New Testament” (132). That is because, according to the volume, all rituals are contingent. Only their meaning is normative, and so, why should the first-century contingent practices “necessarily be determinative for believers living two millennia later, in vastly different settings” (127)? Throughout the discussion on baptism, I found it disappointing the authors never mentioned that the risen Christ, who now has all authority in heaven and on earth, commanded his disciples to go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in a prescribed way, and so forth (Matthew 28:18-20). I also found unsatisfactory that there was little connection to our risen and authoritative Lord’s pronouncement that the Apostles, by the Holy Spirit, are the Lord Jesus’ mouthpiece, and thus their words are his words. As our Lord said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me” (John 13:20). Though I could give other examples, these two will need to suffice in this short review.
At the bottom I felt that there was a noteworthy misconstruing of biblical authority, which then gave “Seeking Church” its mistaken applications. If a reader will keep this in mind, I think the book can still be read for great profit, especially if they are planning to go into cross-cultural settings or move into a mission setting. This volume raises good questions that are important to work through. I cautiously recommend the book.
I am grateful that IVP Academic sent the book used for this review. I’m thankful that they were happy to send it to me on my request. And I appreciate that they allow me to make my own assessments, as can be seen herein.
October 3, 2019
Wonderful explorations on intersection of ecclesiology and missiology with a focus on emergence concepts; instead of ossified definitions of church or over generalized pictures, the authors explore case studies that demonstrate how “church” emerges out of contexts and are guided by the Spirit towards new creation. Especially appreciated the descriptions of sacramental practices of baptism and Lord’s supper as emerging out of Jewish practices but retooled within the narrative of Jesus. We must innovate faithfully today as well.
Wonderfully creative, contextually sensitive, scholarly yet very practical. Will definitely recommend to other pastors, especially those thinking through ecclesiology.
Wonderfully creative, contextually sensitive, scholarly yet very practical. Will definitely recommend to other pastors, especially those thinking through ecclesiology.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews