timjdavy Bible and Mission

Wealth, poverty and power in the Old Testament

Chris Wright's Old Testament Ethics for the People of GodAs well as teaching on specific biblical modules at Redcliffe, occasionally I join other classes for one-off sessions looking how an aspect of the biblical material relates to their subject. The most recent class like this was on Friday when I joined the Diploma and Professional in Mission class on ‘Wealth, Poverty and the Environment’ to look at how the Old Testament addresses the themes of wealth, poverty and power.

I found Chris Wright’s Old Testament Ethics for the People of God particularly helpful in preparing this session. He outlines the Old Testament’s understanding of poverty in three ways: what causes poverty? how are God’s people to respond to poverty; and a future vision of a new creation without poverty.

We then looked at three passages, Deut. 15 and Job 29, 31. The Deuteronomy passage is well-known for its discussion of how Israel is to approach the issue of poverty. Indeed, in his excellent NIBC commentary on Deuteronomy, Wright (again!) suggests that the passage ‘offers limitless opportunity for ethical and missiological reflection and action’. OK, there is hyperbole in this statement but it is undoubtedly true that the passage (and other parts of Deuteronomy) contains much food for missiological and ethical thought. My own Master’s dissertation was on the orphan, widow and alien in Deuteronomy. A couple of years ago I also had a student here at Redcliffe who wrote her dissertation on the book’s approach to poverty and how that might inform how the church addressed the issue in the contemporary UK context.

The Job passages are more obscure to most, but in an attempt to defend his righteousness Job provides us indirectly with a window into an ideal ethical life where those with power protect the weak and address injustice. At one point Job claims that ‘The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.’ (29:13, ESV)

Wouldn’t that verse make a great epitaph?

timjdavy Bible and Mission

English Translations of the Bible – An Uncomfortable Privilege?

I’ve just written an article that will appear later this year in Inspires, the magazine of the Diocese of Gloucester. It touches on subjects like the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the Biblefresh initiative, Redcliffe College, and the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

It is fantastic to have access to so many different versions of the Bible in English; I love being able to refer to different translations for different purposes. It is a real privilege; but it is one that I’m finding increasingly uncomfortable.

Consider the following statistics from Wycliffe Bible Translators. The previous century saw more translations of the Bible produced than the rest of the history of the church put together. Yet there are still around 340 million people (representing over 2000 languages) who do not have a single word of the Bible in their ‘heart language’.

Perhaps it is time for us English speakers to say, ‘You know what, we have enough versions of the Bible now. Let’s turn our attention more fully to those that have none.’

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Why community is vital for evangelism – a missional reflection on Mark 3

In a lecture on Mark’s Gospel today we were reflecting on Jesus’ words in 3:33-35:

33. “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35. Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (NIV)

Bible and Mission Intern, Mark, made a shrewd observation by prodding us to think about what this might mean in a context where someone professes faith in Christ and is shunned by their family and community as a result.

Just what is our responsibility towards those whom we are seeking to reach? Surely at the very least it should mean that the church offers a family and community to which the new believer can be embraced. The image of church as family is a powerful metaphor; perhaps like no other it conveys the intense and necessary community that can make all the difference.

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Mission and the Image of God

In the latest issue of Encounters Mission Journal (December 2010 on the theme, Justice and Mission) I reviewed Andy Matheson’s recent book In His Image: Understanding and Embracing the Poor (Authentic Media).

I was reading it while Redcliffe’s MA in Bible and Mission students were taking a class in missional hermeneutics called, ‘Reading the Bible Missionally’. We agreed with Matheson when he suggests that we often neglect the first two chapters of the Bible when formulating ideas about humanity in relation to the mission of God. His book makes a timely and important contribution to the discussion.

Here’s the review:

In His Image is a popular level book written by the International Director of Oasis. Drawing particularly, though not exclusively on his extensive experience in India, Andy Matheson challenges the reader with the importance, complexity and possibilities of standing alongside the poor as a way of participating in the mission of God.

His particular angle, as the title suggests, is to view the issue of poverty (in its many guises) through the lens of all people being made in the image of God. This gives the book a welcome coherence which sets his discussion helpfully within a robust framework.

Following two introductory chapters on the meaning of the image of God and an analysis of the various dimensions of poverty, Matheson then works through a series of relatively short chapters that unpack and illustrate his discussion:
Community; Wholeness; Change; Empowerment; Compassion; Justice; Prayer; Receiving; Celebration; Prevention; and Perspective.

I appreciated the use of the image of God as a starting point, not least because it puts Genesis 1-2 more on the agenda than has often been the case. While he does not compromise on the reality of humanity’s rebellion and sin, Matheson is keen for the reader not to rush past the opening chapters of the Bible, ‘after all, Genesis 1 came before Genesis 3. People are made in the image of God before sin comes into the world. In fact, the fall in Genesis 3 is so horrendous because our creation in God’s image in Genesis 1 is so wonderful.’ (p3)

I found the book’s anecdotal material profoundly challenging, not just because of the heartbreaking stories of broken lives and desperate poverty, but also because of the way Matheson combines honesty about his own failings with a resilient hope that God is at work in the midst of seemingly overwhelming need.

Although his focus is his own experience in India he also draws helpfully on stories from elsewhere, most notably from the work of Oasis in the London area.

A number of key, up-to-date issues are dealt with well, including the difference between development and transformation, the relationship between the local/personal and the global, the need for prevention rather than just dealing with the aftermath of abuse (e.g., with people trafficking), and the importance of genuine partnership.

The book is clearly not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject of poverty, but it certainly makes a significant contribution to the discussion. More than merely discussing these matters, In His Image spurs the reader towards more informed action. A very good and readable book, on an ever-pressing issue.

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Regional Bible Commentaries

The brilliant Pieter Kwant explains about the concept and reality of Bible commentaries by and for different regions of the world.

The video is one of a series of videos about the fantastic work of Langham Partnership International.

You can view the video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQW317vYBNI

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Encounters mission journal on Justice and Mission

Justice and Mission Issue of Redcliffe's Encounters Mission Journal

The December issue of Redcliffe’s online mission journal, Encounters, is on the theme of Justice and Mission. You can find a link to the issue here: Justice and Mission issue of Encounters mission journal

The edition is edited by my colleagues Andy and Carol Kingston Smith, who are doing some terrific work at the College in this whole area. Here’s a snippet from the editorial plus a list of articles (I also contribute a book review – more about this in a future post):

‘A warm welcome to this edition of Encounters. A number of topics are considered which highlight the central role of justice in contemporary mission. Living in an increasingly interconnected and complex world requires of us an acute awareness of issues at both local and global levels and how they are likely to play out in each new context. We trust that this edition will contribute to sharpening your thinking and vision for mission in our world today…’

Global Mission and Justice – Snapshots from History – Dr Dewi Hughes

Justice and Eschatology – A Response to Dr Dewi Hughes – Dr Jonathan Ingleby

Caring Wisely in a Globalised World – Carol Kingston-Smith

Bodies for Sale: Globalised Trafficking for the Sex Trade – An Interview with Helen Sworn founder of Chab Dai, Cambodia – Carol Kingston-Smith (ed.)

Speaking up for Justice Connecting Church and Government – Rachel Davies

Do Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly – An interview with Sheryl Haw: International Director, Micah Network – Andy Kingston-Smith (ed.)

Act now! Inspiring Churches to act on Climate Justice – Ben Niblett

Is Fairtrade the Same as Just Trade? A Direct Trade Perspective – Ian Meredith

A Case Study of Relational Justice and Patterns of Familial Violence – Muhabura District, Uganda Mission – The Rt. Rev. Cranmer Mugisha

Book Review:  In His Image: Understanding and Embracing the Poor (by Andy Matheson; Authentic Media)

 

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What would you do?

1 and 2 CorinthiansIn his recently published International Study Guide on 1 & 2 Corinthians J. Ayodeji Adewuya offers a contemporary case study reflecting his discussion of food sacrificed to idols in 1 Cor. 8:1-11:1.

Deji is a Christian and has a sister who is married to a Muslim. He happened to visit his sister during one of the religious festivals. He witnessed the slaughtering of the ram that was accompanied with some recitation. It was time to eat and he suddenly found himself in an awkward situation. If he did not eat, he risked offending his sister and brother-in-law. More importantly, he thought he might shut the door on every opportunity to present the gospel to them. On the other hand, he thought that his participation would amount to a validation of their practice. What should he do?

What would you do?

This provided an excellent discussion in a recent 3rd year class here at Redcliffe. Different views were expressed representing various home contexts, including one student sharing about how this is an issue he confronts often when visiting his family.

It’s fine to contextualise issues for the West (what are our idols: celebrity, success, progress, cheap goods, etc.) but let’s not consign the live issues discussed in the Bible as just happening then. Of course there are nuances and differences in contemporary intercultural contexts, but we in the West need to remember that sometimes an idol is an idol.

timjdavy Bible and Mission

There can be no biblical mission without biblical ethics

… so says Chris Wright in his The Mission of God (p.358). In a recent Bible and Mission MA class we were discussing the relationship between the ethics of the people of God and their participation in God’s mission. Wright is particularly helpful here, not least because his writing on the issue combines his expertise in both biblical ethics (his PhD was on OT ethics) and mission.

In one section he very helpfully depicts the flow of logic from election to ethics to mission (p.369):

Who is Abraham?
The one whom God has chosen and come to know in personal friendship (election)

Why did God choose Abraham?
To initiate a people who would be commited to the way of the Lord and his righteousness and justice, in a world going the way of Sodom (ethics)

For what purpose should the people of Abraham live according to that high ethical standard?
So that God can fulfill his mission of bringing blessing to the nations (mission).

How often to do talk about ethics or Christian behaviour from this missional perspective? What reasons to be holy do we focus on normally? ‘Be holy because God is holy’: absolutely – this is foundational (Lev. 19:2; 1 Pet. 1:16)! But I rarely consider my holiness in relation to my participation in God’s mission.

How might grasping the missional nature of holiness transform us as individuals and as communities?

timjdavy Bible and Mission

Bible and Mission Visiting Scholar coming to Redcliffe

Lim Kar YongEach year the Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission invites a visiting scholar to spend some time at Redcliffe, contributing to the activities of the Centre. The Bible and Mission Visiting Scholar is usually from a non-Western context and is involved in the life and teaching of the College, as well as engaging in their own research.

This year we are delighted to be welcoming Rev Dr Lim Kar Yong who will be spending a month here at Redcliffe.

Kar Yong is a Lecturer in New Testament and Assistant Director of Postgraduate Studies at Malaysia Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Sufferings of Christ are Abundant in Us” (2 Cor 1:5): A Narrative Dynamics Investigation of Paul’s Sufferings in 2 Corinthians (London: T & T Clark, 2009); “Paul’s Use of Temple Imagery in the Corinthian Correspondence: The Creation of Christian Identity,” in Kathy Ehrensperger and J. Brian Tucker, eds., Reading Paul in Context: Explorations in Identity Formation (London: T & T Clark, 2010; and “Is There A Place For Suffering In Mission? Perspectives from Paul’s Sufferings in 2 Corinthians,” in Dr Tan Kang San (ed.), The Soul of Mission: Perspectives on Christian Leadership, Spirituality and Mission in East Asia (Petaling Jaya: Pustaka Sufes, 2007).

Kar Yong will be spending a month at Redcliffe contributing to a number areas of College life and learning, as well as working on his next book:

“I am looking forward to my time at Redcliffe, not only to carry out my research but also to interact with and learn from both the faculty and student community who have such diverse experiences from all over the world. I know that I will certainly be enriched from my experience at Redcliffe.” (Kar Yong)

timjdavy Bible and Mission

New Testament theology is essentially missionary theology

A Concise New Testament Theology by I. Howard MarshallMission is not just another (albeit important) theme in the Bible. It is not even merely the major theme in the Bible (though I think it is also this). No, the relationship between the Bible and mission is much more fundamental than either of these assertions. As many have said, mission describes the essential character of the Bible:

the Bible does not just talk about missional things; it is itself missional.

This is the claim of Howard Marshall in his New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel. I quote here from A Concise New Testament Theology, which is an abridgement of the much larger work. It’s a lengthy quote but well worth reproducing in its entirety (his italics):

Mission and Theology

The focus of the New Testament writings is to be found in their presentation of Jesus as the Savior and Lord sent by God, through whom he is acting to bring salvation to the world. More specifically, they are the documents of a mission. The subject matter is not Jesus in himself (or God in himself), but Jesus in his role as Savior and Lord. New Testament theology is essentially missionary theology. The documents came into being as the result of a two-part mission: first, the mission of Jesus’ follwers, called to continue his work by proclaiming him as Lord and Savior and calling people to faith and ongoing commitment to him, as a result of which his church grows. The theology springs out of this movement and is shaped by it, and in turn the theology shapes the continuing mission of the church. The primary function of the documents is thus to testify to the gospel that is proclaimed by Jesus and his followers. Their teaching can be seen as the fuller exposition of that gospel. They are also concerned with the spiritual growth of those who are converted to the Christian faith. They show how the church should be shaped for its mission, and they deal with the problems that form obstacles to the advancement of the mission. In short, people who are called by God to be missionaries are carrying out their calling by the writing of Gospels, Letters and related material. They are concerned to make converts and then to provide for their nurture, to bring new believers to birth and to nourish them to maturity.

Recognition of this missionary character of the documents will help us to see them in true perspective and to interpret them in the light of their intention. The theology of the New Testament is not primarily ecclesiastical or ecclesiological, with a central interest in the church and its life and its structures. Nor is it an exercise in intellectual understanding for its own sake. Recognition of the missionary orientation of the New Testament will lead us to a more dynamic view of the church as the agent of mission instead of the static view that we sometimes have; it will also ward off the danger of seeing New Testament study as a purely academic exercise.

There is a quite helpful classification saying that actions in the New Testament have three aspects: doxological (glorifying God), antagonistic (opposing and overcoming evil) and soteriological (saving the lost). There is a natural tendency to give primacy to the doxological on the grounds that the highest activity of human beings is to glorify God and even what God does is intended to increase his glory. That is correct, but since the glorification of God should be the ultimate aim of all our activity, a focus on glorification may fail to express what is especially characteristic of the New Testament: the specific way in which God is glorified is through mission. The New Testament is primarily about God’s mission and the message associated with it. Similarl, the antagonistic motif is clearly of great importance, in that the powers of evil and death must be overcome if humanity is to be rescued, but this victory is not an end in itself: the triumph of the crucified must be proclaimed to humankind and become a reality for them – through mission. Again, soteriology is understood in a one-sided manner if attention is centered purely on the work of Christ as if it were an end in itself. It is significant that in Paul the fact of reconciliation achieved by the death of Christ and the proclamation of reconciliation by his messengers (leading to the human acceptance of reconciliation) belong together as the two essential and integral parts of God’s saving action (2 Cor 5:18-21).

Granted, Marshall’s focus is on the New Testament. See Chris Wright’s The Mission of God, pp.48-51, for a whole Bible perspective.