One of the questions I’ve learned to ask local congregations over the years is “how well do you know your own zip code?” I’m always amazed at the differences I find from one congregation to the next. In my years of ministry, I’ve found congregations who have worked hard to understanding their local context and discovered meaningful ways to engage with their neighbors and the local community, but I’ve also found congregations who were seemingly detached from the culture around them, almost like an island unto themselves.
Over the past two weeks we’ve looked at a couple of questions that help us engage the local culture where the Lord has sent us to represent Him and His kingdom. Last week we explored the question “what is missing?” By listening and observing carefully, we can discern what is missing in our local culture and discover ways in which we can help create and catalyze solutions to the gaps and challenges facing our neighborhoods and communities. The previous week we started with the question “what is right?” What needs affirmed, celebrated and cultivated here where the Lord has placed us? Starting with “what is right?” also helps protect against the temptation to just bring critique and criticism.
Today I want to look at another question that we need to ask when seeking to engage our culture in helpful and redemptive ways. What is confused? As you think about your local context, what is confused? What is unclear? What is hard to understand? When you think about your neighborhood or your community, what is confused?
Once again, the Apostle Paul gives us an example from his time at Mars Hill in Acts 17:17-20.
So, he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”
When Paul started teaching about the resurrection of Jesus, the philosophers in Athens were confused. Their confusion prompted an invitation for Paul to come and share more about his “strange ideas.”
Look at Jesus’ ministry and it becomes clear that there was a fair amount of confusion about the kingdom of God and what that meant for God’s people. Over and over again, you find Jesus teaching and bringing clarity with statements like “the kingdom of God is like…” or “you’ve heard it said, but I say to you…” Most of His ministry with the disciples was clarifying what the kingdom of God was like as opposed to their expectations or ambitions.
Do you know what’s confused in your community? Do you understand where your neighbors are unclear about something? Once again, this is where listening becomes so critically important? Do you know what your fellow citizens value or believe or where they might be confused by your Christian faith? There’s certainly a lot of confusion in our larger, North American culture on a number of important matters. What is unclear or confused where you live, work and play? Are young people unclear about their identity or a sense of vocation and calling? Do your neighbors equate your Christian faith with a political ideology? Are people confused about relationships and healthy relational dynamics? Are the people in your congregation confused about the reality of the kingdom of God and their role in it?
When we’re asking good questions, when we’re listening well, when we’re seeking to understand our neighbors and fellow citizens then we get the opportunity to learn about what might be confused or unclear. This almost always requires listening more and talking less. If we do it well, we’ll discover opportunities where we’re invited to help clarify, much like the Apostle Paul in Acts 17. It’s interesting to note that Paul didn’t dismiss or disparage the philosophers because of their confusion, but rather, he engaged them and sought to bring clarity about Jesus and His kingdom.
May we do the same today in our own local cultures today.
Christ’s Peace,
Lance
CGGC eNews—Vol. 15, No. 41
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