18 mins
Mission Mavericks
COMMENT
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THE Bible is full of mission mavericks who have grasped ‘the open door principle’ and discovered the liberation that comes from engaging with a new dimension in ministry. In the book of Revelation the risen Christ says to the church in Philadelphia, among many things: “Look I set before you an open door that no one can close.” It’s an invitation to see beyond the confines of the present. To leave the familiar and venture out into the unknown.
There’s a verse in a hymn composed by John Bell and Graham Maule which sums up the impatience that our Lord no doubt must feel when we, as members of the church, defer action and responsibility to others because we refuse to understand the nature and purpose of what it means to be a mission shaped church.
Heaven shall not wait
for the dawn of great ideas,
thoughts of compassion divorced from
cries of pain:
Jesus is Lord;
he has married word and action;
his cross and company make his purpose plain.
To be mission shaped means we cannot remain static. We need to have the word we preach married to action. However, the danger is that in the Church of Scotland, we continue to define our mission in terms of territory rather than in terms of tactical eff ectiveness. Thus we may be using our resources to support enterprises that are no longer mission shaped.
In this article I want to suggest that perhaps we need to encourage the culture of the maverick rather than the Moderator. There are open doors all around us, not only in our parishes but in our networks beyond, that could allow new forms of ministry to grow and flourish. It’s time more of us started to go through the doors and discover what it means to engage with ‘the heavenly vision.’ The truth is time is running out.
The hymn suggests that, ‘Heaven shall not wait.’ In other words, God is moving to fulfil his purposes and he will not wait for the committee meeting or the strategy to be confirmed by an Assembly looking for a new idea. The hymn words imply we know already what needs to be done. Heaven will not wait until we gild the lily. Heaven will enable God’s word to be activated by those who go through the open door. In Isaiah the prophet reminds God’s people that his word will not return to him void of purpose or action. It will accomplish all it has set out to do.
How I wish that more of us in the church would allow ourselves to become excited about the possibilities of open doors. So often renewal and transformation happens when a simple action by an individual becomes the descriptor of the Gospel, making it possible for others to respond.
If you look at the history of the church, renewal and transformation happens when individuals take courage in their hands, and inspire others to walk with them through an open door. Very often reformation and change begins at the edge of things.
I can’t help smiling when I read that verse in John 1: 46. Philip has been introduced by his friends to Jesus. He in turn seeks to influence Nathanael, who rather cynically asks the question: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And, of course, Philip the optimist says: “Come and see”. In other words let’s go through the door and see where it leads.
Perhaps there is a door that is ajar somewhere near you and you can see it. There will be those around you, like Nathanael, who will need convincing, but if you remember Philip’s reply you may discover you are pushing into a new ministry, with a team following behind. Let’s start using new tactics and in the process catch up with heaven and become a mission shaped church.
The Very Rev Albert Bogle is a Pioneer Minister of Sanctuary First Church Online at www.sanctuary/first.org.uk
This article appears in the May 2018 Issue of Life and Work
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This article appears in the May 2018 Issue of Life and Work