People familiar with John Wimber and/or the Vineyard will know what "Doin' the stuff" refers to. And if you want a good intro to 'missional' thinking, go here or here. But what does "missional" have to do with "doin' the stuff" that Jesus was known for? Towards that question I want to throw a few ideas for folks in both camps to think about, because I think that the missional movement and doin' the stuff could be a match made in heaven--and earth. It's also why I have Wimber's Prayer Model as a tab on this blog, because I think routinely praying for people who are sick, both with the compassion of Jesus and the power and insight of the Spirit, is a pretty missional habit to pick up.
T asks this question of us: Is being "missional" much easier to say than to do? And what do we really mean when we say we are being "missional" like Jesus?
Some specific thoughts:
- Much is made in missional circles about incarnating Christ, about being Christ, imitating him, right where we are. Amen to that! It is difficult to talk honestly, though, absent some thick protective theological/western glasses on, about incarnating the Jesus of the NT, about being sent by Jesus as Jesus was sent by the Father, without talking--a lot--about healing the sick, casting out demons and having prophetic insights as we announce his reign--wherever we are. As Wimber's doin-the-stuff story makes painfully clear, only someone with theological training and/or church experience would read the NT and think Jesus' disciples don't do that kind of stuff as they embody and announce him to others.
- Do we in the missional movement really want to try to embody Christ to the broken people of the world, say we're his apprentices, and announce that he is Lord above all powers without the kind of actions that pretty much defined Jesus' own ministry and signaled the power and character of his reign?
- As much as the Vineyard become famous/infamous for some amazing 'stuff' that God would do through seemingly anyone in their meetings, the meetings weren't Wimber's focus. He was disappointed that the Vineyard Movement, in his words, 'never became the evangelistic movement that [he] hoped' for. Ironically, those in the missional movement now are motivated by the same desire Wimber had to bring Jesus to 'the streets', to everyday life and relationships, not just 'the meetings.'
- Many folks have rightly pointed out the similarities the missional movement has with Anabaptists. Well, if it makes anyone feel any better, Anabaptists were doin' this stuff in spades at their inception, but eventually stopped, which is a surprisingly common tale for western denominations as the Enlightenment and natural human tendencies took hold.
- Another valuable and obvious strand
within the 'missional' movement is the conviction that the Church in
the West needs to take the stance or mentality of missionaries
within a post-Christian/pagan/secular culture. Again, amen to
that. If we analyze, though, not only Jesus' own actions as he
pursued God's mission, but also the initial missionaries that he sent out,
we are again confronted with the role that healing, demonic expulsion and
the prophetic gifts have in that work. Indeed, even in today's
world, such activity is more common in missionary work than in established
churches.
- Another mark of the missional movement is the shift in thinking about the gospel toward the proclamation of Jesus' reign or lordship, over all other powers, about the dawning of the new age amidst the old through the cross and resurrection. Dave Fitch has argued with many others that in response to this gospel that missional orders must take on practices of resistance (to the judged but operating powers) and practices of engagement that reveal and embody the purposes of the reign of God. Again, can we faithfully talk about either--as Jesus' disciples--without talking about healing and demonic expulsion?
- One of the 'powers' that the missional movement has rightfully identified for resistance is the Gnosticism that continues to try to drive a wedge between the Church's work and ministry and the good of the physical world. Another amen! (and I really mean it!) Nowhere is the western Church more Gnostic, though, than its discomfort with the practice of divine healing of the body. In common western theology, the human body gets thrown in the same disdainful category as the rest of creation--good for nothing but the fire that's a 'comin. Is that what we believe God's posture is to the physical body and the rest of the physical creation? No. God wants to heal both.
- Many folks in the missional camp are extremely offended by the 'big-show/big-star-religion' that seems to plague the only (modern) 'healing ministries' they've ever seen. Ditto. But as Todd Hunter has said, the answer to wrong-use isn't no-use, it's right-use. Missional churches have recognized, as have many in the Christian tradition, that power of any kind can be corruptive to one's soul. Unfortunately, being used as a vehicle of God's power to heal or expel demons, for instance, is no different. Missional churches, while just as human as any, because of their awareness of and intentional practices against being corrupted by various kinds of power that we must use in our lives and mission, are in a position to minimize corruption as they still actively seek God's power to help others, rather than take a practical 'vow' against it in false piety.
Now, I'm not saying that healing and expelling demons is all there is or should be to a missional church, regardless of how much it marked Jesus' life. On the contrary, I wholeheartedly believe that we still must pursue love as our highest goal, and that other practices towards those ends must be primary. We must become different as a matter of character, for the sake of God and others, first and foremost. But just as we in the missional movement are seeking to reclaim those aspects of Jesus' teachings that have been too often avoided in the West, especially regarding money, community and discipleship, we must also ask if we are doing the same regarding his example and teachings to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons, that was so central to Jesus' own missionary work and that of his initial missionaries as they declared that his reign was at hand.
I'll post some practical, non-hypey resources about actually doing this kind of stuff soon, within a larger missional priority structure and posture. As always, your feedback is welcome, including the "you're crazy and a heretic!" variety. If you want another blog from me on this issue, but from a different angle, go here.
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Craig,
You're very welcome. Hang on to that honest skepticism; just apply it to everything, including the typical western theology and practice about this stuff (like Ben mentioned @9). Part of doing this is knowing and admitting what we know and what we don't know, and what is just our best informed understanding to date. I certainly don't believe every report of healing either. Again, I'm a lawyer by training and practice.
And on the authority issue, you should know that I often don't feel like God would/should choose me to do any of these things, even though God has already done some of these things before through me! Which is to say, I rarely feel "authorized." But that's partly a theological issue and partly a matter of practice. I love that the 70 were shocked that what Jesus told them to do actually worked! And that they, simultaneously, started to put too much pride in what God had done through them. All the disciples underestimated what God would or could do through them and then overestimated their importance after he did do something. Other times, they lacked the faith to do be instruments in this way at all. That's my experience.
Plus, healing by command or pronouncement is a common way Jesus and the apostles healed, but it isn't the only way. There are various instances of the apostles asking God to heal (I think Peter even laid on top of someone, if I recall), and Jesus even healed one blind guy partially, asked what the man could see, which turned out to be very blurry, then interceeded some more. I think these are things that we can grow into, and be led to do different things on different occasions. There's certainly more variety in the NT than we might imagine on how a person is used by God to heal. But again, only folks who study this with an intent to practice it and grow in it tend to even pick up on the variety.
John 14:12:
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do the stuff I've been doing. He will do even greater stuff than this because I am going to the father." (Okay, some slight editorial changes.)
Jesus seems to imply the stuff he did sets limited model for what is to come. What is the "greater stuff?
Is it possibly that Jesus heals a lame man. We wipe out polio.
Jesus visits the outcasts. We create communities where outcasts become a part of community.
Jesus gives bread and water to the hungry. We create economies that feed millions.
I'm not discounting the "stuff" you are talking about T, but it does seems to me that it is possible that it is ancillary to the "greater stuff," not the pinnacle.
J.P. Moreland's book, Kingdom Triangle, is very thoughtful in its exploration of Christian witness. The triangle includes a well-reasoned explanation of the Christian story as the best way to make sense of history, an intentional approach to spiritual formation, and kingdom manifestations like you've mentioned in your post. The three of these things together form a compelling revelation of God's kingdom in the world, according to Moreland's argument. Again, easier argued than lived. It takes courage to say, "Can I pray for your sickness," when you are afraid that God might not come through in the way you or the one being prayed for wants, and thus to 'embarrass' God. So instead we 'protect' God from embarrassment and dull the compelling witness that characterized Jesus and the early church.
...as an insider I thought I might add:
The Vineyard is not a homogenous movement when it comes to the way this gets played out. There are still those who bark like dogs (or wish those meetings would return), but there are also many who have a firm commitment to pray for the sick, and yet don't twitch while they do so...
This could look very different from one local Vineyard to another.
@TB #19 - good breadth of remarks, thanks!
And, thank you, all for a great discussion.
In re "power encounters" I witnessed them while ministering in Africa, and I've witnessed them here in conflict resolution ministry - frankly, I've seen some pastors be in the midst of power encounters and not recognize what's going on because of their rational/ psychological basis of viewing reality and persons.
I'd add another observation to TB's comments: sickness and alienation to community go hand in hand, but also sickness and alienation from self go hand in hand. As p/t pastor and p/t chaplain in my recent work, I've noted that pastors often don't go as deeply as I do in spiritual care for the sick. There are frequently strong elements of psychic wounding in illnesses, and ISTM that it's not so simple as believing God's Word about our identity instead of believing the abusive words or experiences in the past. It's not enough to tell an abused child, "it's not your fault"; there must be holistic healing or the wounds never even get to the scar formation stage. Also, fwiw, in hospitals other chaplains, medical personnel, and I have noted that the illnesses not infrequently correspond to painful life transitions or inadequate healing from past pain (abuse, harmful coping mechanisms, divorces, loss, deaths, etc.). Arthur Frank's book, At the Will of the Body: Reflections on Illness, presents some observations of these correlations from a sociological POV, and from Frank's personal POV as one having suffered major illnesses in mid-life. (http://www.amazon.com/At-Will-Body-Reflections-Illness/dp/0618219293)
Although most Americans would be uncomfortable if a chaplain were to "cast out demons" in a hospital, they're usually comfortable when we pray specifically and holistically for the healing of body, soul, emotions and spirit.
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