Mission on the margins

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view”
(Prayer frequently attributed to Oscar Romero)

Secularists challenging prayers in council meetings; a bishop issuing a warning that that the Christian values inherent in Europe’s heritage have been eroded by a process of “aggressive secularisation, and polls that suggest that we are feeling increasingly marginalised. Is it any wonder then, that Callum Brown has talked of “The Death of Christian Britain” and the late Leslie Newbigin suggested Europe was one of the most challenging missionary fields in the world?

Given this massive spiritual and cultural sea change how should the church react? I would suggest to take the long view because, in many ways, we have been here before.

Martin Robinson and Dwight Smith have much to contribute in this debate. Following the research of North American Loren Mead, they have demonstrated that there is a very clear link between the church and the culture it inhabits.

“Whenever church leaders consider the findings of Loren Mead they recognise immediately the truth of the notion that the single biggest factor in determining whether or not people come to church resides in what they think of the church. In short those who live in our community are significantly influenced by whether the church has a social value”.

Interestingly, they offer convincing evidence that we can learn a great deal from the experience of the UK church in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Contrary to much popular understanding they have shown that the 18th century revivals had a minimal impact on the life of nation.

“It can be a source of surprise to read the accounts of Christians who were living some 40 or 50 years after the revivals began, at a time when Wesley was at the end of his ministry”. Indeed far from transforming the nation, “The contemporary accounts of Christian leaders at this time were almost universally pessimistic about the future… Moreover they seemed to think that the Christian impact on the nation was very limited and the churches still weak”. (Martin Robinson and Dwight Smith: Invading Secular Space).

If Robinson and Smith are correct then we need to spend more time reflecting on the work of the Clapham Sect, of whom Wilberforce is the best known. For this group had a vision to see their society transformed by Scripture. They knew that the nation needed more than a change of legislation, it needed a complete change of mind; it needed a new, biblically-formed worldview, and as a consequence they worked tirelessly to that end.

And they did so successfully too it seems because Robinson and Smith are able to argue that “It is clear that something significant changed in the early years of the 19th century that was sufficiently important to bring hundreds of thousands into the church”. For as the church became increasingly credible society became increasingly receptive to the Gospel.

Michael Green has traced a similar pattern in his stimulating book “Asian Tigers for Christ”. Green chronicles what he describes as the “breathtaking” vision of the churches of Singapore. “On any showing,” he writes, “Singapore should not have been as effective in church growth as Britain yet she far outpaces us. It is clearly important for those concerned with mission in Britain to pay attention to what is happening in Singapore”.

Green demonstrates that the churches of Singapore simply went “back to basics”. They understood the importance of prayer, and they were eager to share their faith in the Risen Christ. But they did it on the back of a missional programme that could be summed up in two words: “Love Singapore”. It was a paradigm shift in how to do church: “Rather than allow their calling to determine the direction and the limits of their ministry, they see the community needs as constituting their calling.”

It has often been said that one of the greatest obstacles to mission is the church, preoccupied with her own existence. Sadly, we often think that the gospel it is all about God meeting our needs rather than about God and what He is doing in the world.

The church is meant to be both a sign and a servant of the Kingdom of God. In its liturgy and in its evangelism it has the responsibility of proclaiming the truth, while in its fellowship it is called to embody the truth. In other words the church is meant to be a loving community that finds its raison d’etre in loving God and serving others. History shows that when it takes its calling seriously the most amazing things can happen, even it takes a lot longer than most of us would want. But if we take the long view we can confidently say

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted


Rob James is Executive Chair of the Evangelical Alliance Wales and Pastor of Westgate Evangelical Chapel