Letter to friends on theologizing for transformation

Dear Chris, Jim, Mark:

As you guys probably know, here in Caracas our team is forming house churches in the hillside barrios. As an aside, I wish I could communicate how excited we are about finding Fernando Mora and the Venezuelan Vineyard with whom we’re partnering in this. Fernando is coordinator for the Vineyard in Latin America. He is such a breath of fresh air in a Church context that is rather toxic. He’s the only Venezuelan church leader we’ve met that encourages plural leadership, learning rather than preaching, worship that is NOT a show of performers up on a stage and a God that is relational instead of one that is mechanistic and punitive. He also understands process in highly relational ministry and wants the Church to be a healing community (not just a army or a business with a numerical vision).

Enough of that. That wasn’t why I was writing.

I’ve been on a journey since arriving in Venezuela, pursuing a wider, deeper theology for the vision of seeing communities deeply impacted and transformed by the gospel. I’ve bumped into this concern in part by the shortcomings I see in so much of standard ways the Church is approaching both its life together and its mission beyond its walls.

In a recent meeting with Corrie, Jane and Birgit to chart out better the core small group bible study materials that we're using in the emerging house churches, I realized that I needed to put more words to some of my growing convictions and concerns about what we teach and what we want people to catch who search the scriptures with us. BELOW is a very short and concise list of theological points that have become important to me in my pursuit of a more adequate theology for a gospel that transforms.

I email this to you because even though our contexts are different, I know that we need each other and we can encourage each other. Maybe this will mark the beginning of a genuine dialog among us, I don’t know. Maybe there are others who should be a part of this, I don’t know that either.

Take a look at the summary page of theological thoughts and let me know if your journeys coincide at all with what we’re processing in Venezuela.

Peace,

John in Venezuela

We’re aiming for a gospel that transforms and liberates.
1. We teach personal salvation within the big picture of God’s redemptive plan for humanity so that conversion is not just about ‘me’, but about God’s vision for the world.
2. We teach the Bible as a whole to ensure that new believers learn the whole story. In this, we trace themes like baptism, the Lord’s Supper, salvation, faith, the Holy Spirit from Genesis to Revelation instead of teaching from isolated texts.
3. We value the biblical narrative and believe that a careful reading of scripture can liberate and transform people. (We, therefore, teach such that biblical narrative informs prepositional truths.)
4. We enable people to find their own story in God’s story (identifying with biblical characters, emotions, nuances of God’s relationship with people).
5. We believe that the knowledge and experience of God’s grace transforms and liberates people.
6. We teach a God-centered story (God is the hero of the biblical narratives).
7. We believe that God chooses very ordinary people (people we can all identify with).
8. We believe that God chooses impossible, unlikely people and circumstances that point to His initiative and will to accomplish his purposes and promises.
9. We teach God as different / holy (his values, his ways challenge ours in every way).
10. We teach that God doesn’t operate by the ‘law of merits’ (“you scratch my back, I scratch yours”; measuring the give and take in his relationship with us)

We’re trying to avoid a gospel that is…
Transactional (in contrast to a transformational gospel)
This theology views salvation as a ticket to heaven that is sitting on the counter of a heavenly travel agent, waiting to be picked up by a repentant soul. It de-emphasizes a reconciled relationship with God, and emphasizes getting past God’s wrath and into heaven.
Domesticated (in contrast to a scandalous gospel)
This theology can be characterized by the classic call to sinners: “Accept Jesus into your heart. He will forgive your sins and save you.” This can be contrasted by Jesus’ call to life as a disciple: “If anyone wants to be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”
Truncated (in contrast to an integrated gospel)
This theology splits social from spiritual, sacred from secular. It divorces Jesus’ life and ministry from his death and resurrection, giving complete weight to Jesus’ death and resurrection without consideration for the message of Jesus’ ministry. This truncated view contributes to separating ‘converts’ from ‘disciples’ and salvation from service; and faith from faithfulness, and ‘soul’ from ‘person’; and individual from community.
Moralistic (in contrast to a relational gospel)
This view sees God primarily as judge who establishes his law, demands obedience from humans who disobey him. Then out of holy love for us God punishes Jesus on the cross for our sake, that we might be saved. God’s primary concern is for our moral conduct, and relates to us out of his holiness that hates sins. This creates a distant God and instills fear in followers. It can also contribute to a performance-orientation.