Exegeting the City: Debriefing
-we all had our viewpoints of what was our surroundings in urban Los Angeles.
The New Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah
-immigrant, multi-ethnic church planter, professor
Thesis of the book:
The American church needs to face the inevitable and prepare for the next stage of her history—a non-white majority multiethnic American Christianity in the immediate future.
3 parts:
•Western white captivity
non-white majority that will take over Christianity [13]
White captivity as a reminder that Western culture has been dominated by whites throughout history even though now they are becoming the minority
Earliest stages of American history, individualism
Danger [33]
materialistic consumer bent [47]
Race [65]
White privilege [72]
Racism elevates the physical image above the spiritual image [80]
•The pervasiveness of the white captivity
practioners replaced academics
church growth values are held captive to Western, white culture
stating that one culture and the individuals in that culture are made more in the image of God than others.
•Freedom from captivity
listen to the stories of minorities and submitting to their authority
learn holistic evangelism from the immigrant church
recognize and empower 2nd generation ethnic minority leaders.
The majority of the day was spent unpacking an urban context. While Gladewater is not a unique urban area of East Texas, our lens should be community-focused in allowing our senses to see where God is in the whole of our community.
We must have missional eyes and zeal to bring others to Christ at all costs. It is the church that must be brought into the context of neighborhood. Too often we expect the lost to come to the Church. What if we went to the lost in their space of the community? What would that look like in Gladewater? Let me know your thoughts.
See you on the journey,
Ben
Rev. Ben Bright is the Logistics & Administration Pastor for LHF.
Thanks for sharing.
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