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Friday, April 22, 2005

5. The Church must share the good news in the context of the marketplace of ideas and beliefs.
Given the fact that Western societies are rapidly transitioning from Constantinian to secular, neo-pagan, and pluralistic cultural contexts, the Church must recognize that all evangelism has become a cross-cultural activity. In the marketplace of ideas and beliefs, there are no privileged stallholders. We only have freedom to speak to the extent that we recognize other voices with the same freedoms. "Although tolerance is the acclaimed golden rule, the one thing that is not tolerated is intolerance." Christians who hark back to a previous generation have great problems coming to terms with the pluralism of contemporary Western societies. In such a context we cannot hope to communicate by shouting from a safe distance or by circling the wagons and taking up a defensive posture, regarding all those outside our circle as "the enemy." We have to overcome our insecurity, refusing to be intimidated into silence and isolation.
Communicating the gospel in the marketplace of ideas requires both authenticity and humility. In today's world we witness from the sidelines and, in so doing, have to overcome what psychologists describe as the impact of social demotion. We must invite without arrogance. We must propose without trying to impose. We must allow the strength of the other person's argument, and we must admit the limits of our own knowledge. All knowledge and truth belongs to God, not to us, and God has not revealed everything.

Labels: mission, reinventing evangelism