Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Discipleship: Gospel for Outsiders

The term Outsiders was coined by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons in their research work published as unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity... And Why It Matters. It is a term used to describe "those looking at the Christian faith from the outside. This group includes atheists, agnostics, those affiliated with a faith other than Christianity..., and other unchurched adults who are not born-again Christians." (pp. 17)

How does the above relate to this week's Sabbath School lesson (Lesson 6: Ethnicity and Discipleship)? At least here in North America, race and ethnicity is not quite the barrier (at least that I've seen, but that is not to say that there are no barriers) to becoming a Christian disciple as was the case between Jews and Gentiles of the first century AD.

Can we find a similar barrier in 21st century North American society and culture that Christians face and must learn to overcome? I believe that this can be found in the Outsiders surveyed in UnChristian.

Similar to the Jews of the first century, Christians, including Seventh-day Adventists, I think have tended to be quite insular and tribal. We believe we have "the truth" and everyone who is different from us then falls into the category of "wrong." When we place people into the "wrong" category, the natural tendency is to look down on them, discriminate against them, and see them as less worthy than others. It doesn't matter what ethnicity they are, or what their external appearance may be. We can be just as prejudiced against the tribe that we label "wrong."

We feel most comfortable with others like us, so when we share our faith and when we look for people open to accepting Jesus, we look for people that look like us. In the process, we unconsciously and even consciously avoid people that don't look like us, think like us, act like us, or share our general values and outlook on life. So it is my proposition that for most of us in North America, race and ethnicity can be a barrier much the way it is described in this week's lesson, but we must look beyond physical appearances to discover our prejudices. Only then can we see where we are so unlike Christ so that we can have the Holy Spirit bring down those prejudices so that like Christ, we become able to make disciples of all nations and all tongues and all peoples.

To me, this week's lesson is a departure from previous weeks as it appears to be less about discipleship in our own lives, but rather, about us going out to make disciples. A number of examples from Jesus' life is used to illustrate the principles.

I do have one small nit to pick with the lesson. Actually, it is in the teacher's notes (English version, page 73). The teacher's commentary reads, "... She was no better than a dog, one of those kunaria, the wild mongrels that roamed the streets scrounging for scraps to steal..." Firstly, kunaria is not the correct Greek work. The Greek New Testament and various concordances use either kunarion or kunarios. The bigger problem is the definition given to these terms. The correct definition according to all the dictionaries, word studies, and commentaries I've researched say that this "dog" means "little dog" or "puppy," rather than a mongrel or a stray.

Why make a big deal of this? Because the definition of this one word can drastically change how we see Jesus in this narrative in Matthew 15:21-28 (parallel: Mark 7:24-30). If Jesus was indeed calling the Canaanite woman of this story a mongrel or a wild, stray dog, then it certainly would have been an insult and the woman would be perfectly within herself to be offended and leave. But Jesus called her a "puppy" and she heard something completely different. Jesus called her, not as some worthless stray (as would have most other Jewish rabbis, I imagine), but as one who belongs in the master's house and one who is loved. Rather than insulting and discouraging her, Jesus encourages the woman's faith.

Here again we see Jesus working with the cultural expectations, yet placing a twist in it that causes everyone to pause, think, and reevaluate. I think there is a lesson for us as we go about seeking to turn people towards Jesus and change perceptions and ideas. If we try to do or teach something too different from what is accepted and expected, we may turn people off and do more harm than good. Jesus' example is to push the boundaries, but no so much as to cause offense. Push just enough so that things becomes a little uncomfortable and gets people to think.

The main impression I came away with is how those outside the "system" seemed so much more open and willing to accept Jesus. They eagerly sought out Jesus. They seemed to recognize Jesus' identity more clearly than those within the "system."

Jon Paulien, in his commentary on the Gospel of John (out of print), chapter 12 (vv. 27-28) alludes to the idea above and how it precipitated Jesus' crisis. It was, Paulien suggests, the temptation to forego the cross and rather, go to the Gentiles because He would be far more accepted by them than by the Jews. (A number of other commentaries also suggest this.)

I think the primary lesson I get out of this week's study is the opportunity of making disciples for Jesus among the Outsiders. But to do that will quite likely require my prejudices, tunnel vision, comfort levels, expectations, actions, words, etc. to be adjusted. Some of these I imagine will require some very drastic adjustments.

Another lesson from this week is how God is constantly trying to show to me that He is much bigger than what I make Him out to be. On the other hand, my tendency is to continue to make Him smaller. How do I do that? By placing Him inside the box of systems, theology, tribalisms, and exclusivity. I want a god that fits into my expectations and comfort zones. In other words, basically, I want to be my own god. But God keeps hounding me to see the true, big God that He is, that I'm not god.

One last lesson from this week's study is how much easier it is to send the gospel into all the world than it is to make disciples in all the world. Anyone can easily send the gospel: Send some money, support missionaries, even go and do short-term mission work or do some evangelism. Making disciples, however, is a long-term effort. It requires much more living than preaching. And frankly, I don't think Christians, including Adventists, are doing a good job in this arena. We spend great amounts of resources in sending the gospel, but it appears comparatively little towards discipleship. We may be seeing huge numbers of decisions for Christ through sending the gospel, but is there enough being done to guide all of these "decisions" to continue making decisions for Christ each and every day? What can I do to change the balance? What can you do?

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