GlobalColonnade

What a conference! Global Leadership Forum 2007

Well it's over and we're still reeling from the incredible conversations we had at Global Leadership Forum 2007 at Fairfax Community Church. For those who missed it, be sure to check out the video on GlobalChristian.org in a few weeks. For those who caught it, let us know what you thought - so far our evaluations have all averaged well over four out of five. Your top three favorite speakers were Hadia Mubarak, Ahmed Younis and Madeleine Albright. Check out this survey to give some feedback or comment on this blog. http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2634svbf6uz0xhz/start

What did you think of the spontaneous hug that one of our Muslim panelists gave to a Christian question fromm the audience?

Mapping World Domination..er...Evangelism

I really like looking at maps - I think it satifies an urge we all have to conquer this vast thing called the earth by boiling it down to pretty pictures. Call it a world domination impulse, looking at maps gives us a satisfying comforting feeling that really it's all pretty simple. But ThinkChristian.net's Andy Rau posted a quick snippet about mapping global faith a few weeks ago that made me question this desire we have. He gave some links to a couple of maps he liked that attempt to diagram the geographic range of different faiths. This one at the German magazine Der Spiegel is mostly helpful if you kind of squint at it. The uniform color choices for whole regions imply that the population there are 100% of that faith. (It's unfair to Christians in Sri Lanka for instance to color the whole island Buddhist.) By contrast the global maps of evangelical Christianity at worldmap.org at least makes a clearer demarcation of uninhabitated areas but the color shading they chose (against a black background) makes it harder to process the information and the scaling of the four maps. At least both of these are NOT Mercator projections - you know, the kind that stretch the spherical surface of the earth to a rectangle that makes Greenland bigger than Africa. But why is there such a deficit in mapping faith well? The folks at gapminder do a brilliant job using U.N. development indicators to plot out global trends in literacy, poverty, HIV/AIDS etc. There's brilliant, highly-detailed and reliable data by folks like Todd Johnson over at the World Christian Database. So why hasn't anyone mapped the abundant faith data that exists in a compelling way against other indicators? Would it reveal disturbing trends, like the fact that Nigeria's Muslim half has much lower AIDS prevalence than its Christian half? What do you think?

Dallas Morning News on Northwood Church

Our favorite Texas pastor, Bob Roberts, is defying stereotypes again, this time by this time by inviting a delegation of Vietnamese government officials to spend three days in Texas hosted by NorthWood Church. Bob and his staff arranged for meetings with businesses, ministries, and NGOs to discuss how they could help Vietnam reach its economic development goals. IGE's Hien Vu participated in the meetings, and reported that the Vietnamese officials expressed their gratitude for NorthWood's love for the poor. It was so extraordinary that it was covered by the Dallas Morning News. The different work of NorthWood and IGE respectively was also covered by Christianity Today in May in a variety of ways. IGE's Jared Daugherty also wrote an article advocating a constructive approach to religious freedom in Vietnam.

The Emergent Church supports Al-Qaeda?

Evangelical Outpost gave its Top 100 Christian blogs (as of 17 July 2007) and #1 was Between Two Worlds. That's where I found a link to this article by Frank Pastore on Townhall.com accusing the post-modern evangelical movement (in some cases known as 'the emergent church') of supporting Al-Qaeda. Here's a representative quote:

"If the world is to be saved from Muslim conquest, it will be America who does it. And if America is to be saved, only conservatism can do it. And if conservatism is to be saved, it will be those Bible-believing patriots who do it–those conservative, evangelical Christians who are the bedrock of the American way of life."

I'm left speechless. What do you think? Leave a comment.

Reviews and Views: Bob Roberts' "Glocalization"

Texas pastor Bob Roberts Jr, author of Transformation: How Glocal Churches Transform Lives and the World, has published his second title in this series, Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage the New Flat Earth.

For those who enjoyed the breathless recreational theology coupled with a sampling of sociology and philosophy that was the hallmark of Transformation, Roberts does not disappoint with Glocalization. The core thesis - "Nothing is purely local and nothing purely global" - is consistently emphasized with quotes from Thomas Friedman, Fareed Zakaria and a host of other journalists writing on international affairs.

So what do you think?

Is Roberts' right to single out syncretism, survival, hedonism, pragmatism and collaboration as major issues? Do you think the values of convergence, glocal, innovation, network and faith are sufficient to equip a 21st century missional Church for global relevance? Do you agree with Roberts' list of the top ten global problems the church must confront: communicable disease, hunger, water & sanitation, government/corruption, migration/refugees, climate change, education, armed conflict, economy, and trade subsidies?

We invite you to post your feedback here using the comment feature.

From the President: A saintly start?

By Chris Seiple

Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling ... for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ ... until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
-- Ephesians 4: 1-4, 12-13.

Another year begins anew — though in some ways it feels unhappily old. A certain weariness persists, ironically sustained by that oldest of human activities: religion.

The world continues to be threatened by heretical Muslims who claim that Islam justifies their violence against innocents. Sunni and Shi’a kill each other with abandon in Iraq.

In the U.S., too many evangelicals are known for what they are against, instead of what they are for, as they suffer the public disgrace of another leader. The Episcopal Church has begun a non-amicable descent into factions, instead of seizing the opportunity to love amidst profound differences. And a Christian congressman from the legislative home of religious freedom in the U.S. — Virginia — announced over the holidays that it is wrong for America’s first Muslim congressman to be sworn in with his hand on the Koran.

Religion is undeniably part of the many problems we face. Therefore those who believe share a common challenge: how do we practice the best of our faith to overcome the worst of religion?

While each problem demands its own nuanced response, I believe that every faith community can begin to participate in the solutions we need through two basic understandings. First, a faith community is not responsible for the actions of other faith communities. Second, each faith community is responsible for its own.

As someone who is part of the Christian community, I believe that Christians first and foremost must reclaim that which unites them in the practical application of their faith, no matter their vocation or location.

Christians are called into covenant with Christ as His Church — that is, to act as His saints. Put differently, if the present-day saints are going to be relevant on the cruel edges of the world, at home and abroad, they must get back to the basics. These SAINTs understand the importance of Scripture, Adiaphora, Incarnation, Neighbor, and Today.

Scripture. The Bible is the living word of God, the supreme authority for those of us who believe Jesus Christ was the son of God, born, killed, and raised so that we might live. His disciples thirst for the scriptures. Spiritual maturity takes root, however, when scripture is read in the context of reason and experience — two elements that can only be understood in community with other saints, present and past.

Adiaphora. This wonderful phrase comes from the Anglican tradition; it literally means “things that do not make a difference.” In other words, saints do not get hung up on needless debates, theological and/or political. They appreciate and respect the need for conviction in such matters, but their true focus is the sovereignty, mystery, and majesty of God; the forgiveness Christ freely offers through His death and resurrection; and the resulting power that enables them to be salt and light in this hurting world. As my mom said to me in college: “Believing in Christ is not about what you can’t do, but what you can do.” Or, as my pop would say: “Put Christ at the center and let God draw the boundaries.” Good men and women will dispute the boundaries but these honest disputes should first and foremost be an opportunity to reveal the love of Christ.

Incarnation. The love of Christ is more than words because the Word became flesh. Love lived among us; it forgave us for our sins when we did not ask, or deserve; it conquered death and rose again. This living love is the foundation of our faith. The saints, therefore, do not regard Christianity as a philosophy to be contemplated in some safe cocoon. Christianity is a lifestyle that dares us to love. It is a call to action. “I will show you my faith by what I do!” (James 2:18). Jesus calls us to be “shrewd” and “innocent” (Matthew 10:16) as we engage this world with His indefatigable love. The incarnation is our identity and our engagement strategy.

Neighbor. An engagement strategy of love begins with our neighbor. Christ specifically tells us that the entire faith hangs on a love for Him, and a love for neighbor (Matthew 22: 37-40). The saints betray their Lord if they do not love their neighbor. Our identity as saints is authenticated by our love for our neighbor — a neighbor also made in the image of God, a neighbor that might not look or vote like us. Loving locally is the most simple and practical teaching of Christ. It is also the most difficult.

Today. Saints see every event in each day as a dare to love. For the saints, the decision to follow Christ is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a set of words that can be stored on a dusty bookshelf. The decision to love Christ is a covenant, a daily decision for which each saint is accountable before Christ. It is a decision that requires action with patient urgency. That daily action begins with glorifying and thanking Him for His unswerving love for us. “His steadfast love endures forever ... This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118: 1, 24). By adopting a posture of praise and gratitude toward God for His unspeakable love — on both good days and bad — we will be receptive to the humility and wisdom we need to extend His love to our neighbor.

We live in desperate times. Each faith community must seize anew the very best of its teachings, living out their principles in practical ways. If the saints can reclaim these teachings this day, and everyday, perhaps we can, together, start this new year with the profound knowledge that our faith will provide answers to religion’s problems. The world is desperate to see the community of saints, the body of Christ, in action.

ancient evangelicals?

The September 2006 edition of Christianity Today features an interview by CT's editor, David Neff, with Northern Seminary's Robert Webber, one of the prime movers of "A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future", a diagnosis of contemporary American evangelicalism's ills. The document prescribes a heavy dose of ancient history as a healing balm. I say bring it.

If you've read the document, I'd be interested in your comments. How do you think Call #6 - "On the Church's Embodied Life in the World" should inform/re-envision the international missionary activity of  21st Century American evangelicals? Use the Comment feature to post your response.

an uncomfortable truth: evangelicals and the environment

OK - so this post is a total rip-off of Al Gore's documentary "an Inconvenient truth", but i thought i'd use the moment to draw attention to the fact that catholics and evangelicals in north america are not renowned for their environmental advocacy. and that's putting it mildly. whereas mainline christian denominations and evangelicals outside north america have quite uncontroversially supported the concept of "creation care", their fellow north american believers have often joined the anti-environmentalist camp.

the exception to that rule was a blip in the blogosphere, or more rightly 15 seconds of televsion fame for the what would jesus drive? campaign put on two years ago by the folks at the evangelical environmental network, an offshoot of evangelicals for social action. The mainstream press thought it was funny, along the lines of: "hey look guys - they're environmentalists and they're evangelicals. tee hee!" they mostly missed the reference to the well-worn (and heavily merchandised) evangelical subculture phrase "what would jesus do?" so, unfortunately did the rest of the evangelical world.

but national public radio didn't. npr posted "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action", a controversial document signed by nearly a hundred evangelical leaders, but not formally endorsed by the national association of evangelicals (nae). it makes several claims: climate change is real, it's caused by humans, it will hit the poor hardest, and the bible says we should do something about it now. but you won't find this document on the nae website. you will find a very, very interesting letter from Richard Cizik, vice-president at the nae and a self-described "Reagan conservative".  he defends himself against the charge of supporting the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global greenhouse emissions, a charge levelled at him in an unusually personal way from Dr. James Dobson, president of focus on the family.

So what do you think is a christian response to the Kyoto protocol? why do evangelicals in australia, the uk or brazil accept climate change as a fact, and accept creation care as a christian duty? is it possible to be christian, pro-growth, and pro-environment? is simply impossible to have your (fat-free, organic, shade-grown, fair trade) cake and eat it too?

wow - just found this - check out EvanEco (get it?), a conservative evangelical environmental blog.