Church Planting FuelBox

When you live in a world that has little or no interest in matters concerning Jesus, and argues that all faiths are equal and valid, you have to find ways that can become an apologetic for you, a reason for your faith. In reading this book I realised that I have never given much thought to the structure of how you can build arguments for the Gospel in the world we live in. I found Newbigin to be very helpful in helping me to get some clarity about the way people construct their arguments both for and against the claims that Jesus makes about Himself and the Kingdom.

I found Newbigin’s treatment of knowing and believing to be particularly helpful. Newbigin contends that we are pluralist in what we call beliefs but we are not pluralist in what we call facts. The former are a matter of personal decision while that latter are a matter of public knowledge. If it is science/knowledge it can be taught, if it is religion it may not be taught. The problem is that even so called facts that are public knowledge are interpreted, collected, analysed and so on by those who have gone before and are able to instruct those learning. Knowing doesn’t happen automatically. Newbigin argues that you if you observe a machine, you can do all the analysis that you like on how it is constructed, what it is constructed of and so forth, but that analysis is never complete until you can factor in what it’s purpose is.

Another key construction from Newbigin is his discussion on the claims that Christianity is arrogant and exclusive. Part of his argument is that if we reduce the comparison of religions to “where do people go when they die” we miss the importance of the grace and glory of God. Firstly he says we should expect, look for, and welcome all the signs of the grace of God at work in the lives of those who do not know Jesus as Lord. Secondly we should be cooperating with people of all faiths in projects that are in line with God’s purposes. Thirdly, as a result of this shared commitment we will discover the places where our ways must separate and that is where real dialogue can begin. And fourthly, this will give us the opportunity to tell the story of Jesus. The story, Paul says, is the power of God for salvation and our role is to tell the story. It is only the Holy Spirit that can touch the hearts and consciences of others so that they can trust Jesus too.

Newbigin sums up the book by stating that we should have confidence in the gospel, because the gospel is more than capable of standing up for itself in a pluralist society. That the appropriate response to the question, “why start with Jesus?” is “why not?”. That the more we learn how to operate in a pluralist society the more we are enabled to learn more of the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God. And to have confidence that God knows what He is doing and we can trust Him.