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Wilberforce and Newbigin

Wilberforce and Newbigin

Last updated on: September 15, 2016 at 11:56 am by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Wilberforce and Newbigin 2016-09-15T11:56:55-08:00 J. R. Daniel Kirk

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is that Wilberforce would soon set his position, and influence, and skill as an orator and statesman to two overriding objects of concern, including the abolition of the slave trade and then of slavery itself. This work would consume him for decades before he was finally successful.

The Importance of a Good Story

We need good stories to shape our imaginations.

For many of us, the Christian story we have heard is fairly limited: Jesus came to die on the cross so that God could forgive our sins. With such a limited story in mind it is hard to imagine what being Christian in the workplace might mean beyond earning the chance to have an evangelistic conversation with someone.

A friend who works in the area of Christian leadership called this the trap of the three E’s: ethics, excellence, evangelism. Yes, ethics are important (and too often overlooked by Christians in all fields), as is excellence in what we do.

But precisely because the Christian story is so much bigger than “Jesus died so God could forgive our sins,” those whose job is not preaching can be transformational agents of God’s agenda for the world by doing good in nearly any area of life and work.

At the risk of oversimplifying, I think we can grab hold of the missional agenda for the lives we’ve been given by asking these three questions:

What does God care about?
How does the work I’m doing intersect these things that God cares about?
How can I articulate this concern as a good that people who don’t necessarily share my faith can get on board with?

These questions are deceptively simple. They might disclose to us that we have a too-limited view of what God cares about (e.g., the idea that God only really cares about forgiveness of sins).

They might force us to open our eyes to aspects of our work that we would rather, and more profitably, stay blind to: is the entire supply chain free of slave labor from mining/harvesting of raw materials through production, marking, and distribution? is the outcome of this product’s usage an increase in economic disparity? do we keep caffeinated for our work through imbibing beverages cheaply acquired through slave labor?

Wilberforce found an issue, abolition of slave trade and then slavery itself, that resonated deeply with his sense of how God values human life. He labored in a public setting to see that inestimable human value ascribed to all people.

It’s a high bar. But in many ways a simple lesson.

Serve Where You Are

One of the great things about the Wilberforce story is that he did not feel compelled to become a minister.

I often think that one of the greatest mistakes we make in our appropriation of scripture comes in our appropriation of call narratives. Yes, there are a dozen or so really dramatic call narratives in the Bible. For what? Maybe 2,000 years of biblical history. But we will put a dozen people in a room expect all of them to have some special calling from God. We might need to dial it back a bit.

Most of the time when there’s a dramatic call there’s a dramatic way that God wants to tell the people a very simple message: “Get about the business of loving Me and loving your neighbors.” Yes, let’s figure out how to do that.

The idea that everyone can choose their profession and change it on a dime is a relatively recent invention of human history. It’s what we call a first world problem.

That doesn’t mean people aren’t sometimes called to do particular things by God (heck, I was specially called by God to be a preacher! [footnote: I’ve never preached more than a half dozen sermons in a year.]). But it does mean that when we begin to imagine what it means to be a faithful citizen of the kingdom of God we should begin that exploration with the places in which we find ourselves already.

What would it look like to be the cause of “the poor” breaking out in celebration? To be the cause of freedom for people in physical or financial or social or political captivity? To be an agent of healing to people whose bodies are broken? To let the brokenhearted know that they are deeply loved? In other words, what would it look like to be an on-going fulfillment of the arrival of the reign of God? (See Luke 4:18.)

That is all of our work. And most people are in better positions to do it than preachers are. That’s the vision cast by Amazing Grace. That’s the missional vision inspired by Lesslie Newbigin. And that’s what we hope the Newbigin Fellows will be equipped to imagine and bring to life over the course of this coming year.

Image: Stories | © Banalities | flickr | CC 2.0

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