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Making
God’s Word Known to God’s World
What
work are we engaged in?
That
has been the subject of an external review in recent months.
In
order to understand the work that Crosslinks carries out we need first to be
clear about who we are. The answer to that question was very clear in 1922
at the birth of the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society but we need to
communicate the objective afresh for the new generations of Christians for
whom 1922 means little or nothing. The following is in essence what I shared
with the Crosslinks General Council at a meeting held in late January though
I have added some examples. It is not intended to represent any change from
the clarity of the distinctive of BCMS in 1922 but it will need to be worked
through in the new setting of the beginning of the 21st Century.
The
Vision
“The
Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to
you are spirit and they are life” (John
6:63)
These
words were spoken by the Lord Jesus at a time when many of his followers
were finding it difficult to accept either that the carpenter from Nazareth
could be God or that the Messiah must die. I would like to draw attention to
a number of points which are underlined elsewhere in many parts of Scripture.
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The
priority of spiritual life.
In many ways the very real and desperate human needs around us could
dictate our agenda (what we do). The spiritual need around us is much
less visible and photogenic and includes many who would appear to have
everything the world offers. I think of my own neighbourhood in South
West London where many live more comfortably than the vast majority of
the world in any age, yet many face an eternity without God. As
Scripture clearly states material prosperity tends to deaden our
appetite for God. The greatest need of all people is to be put right
with God or, as John puts it, to have life. Crosslinks must preserve
that priority in all we do, without neglecting the more visible needs
around us. In fact, we believe that the gospel is the agent of change.
The old adage that Christians are ‘so heavenly minded as to be of
no earthly use’ is simply not true. It is not surprising therefore
that the spiritual awakening of the late 18th Century
(through the Wesleys, George Whitfield and others) was followed by huge
movements for social change in the 19th Century (abolition of
slavery, limitations on child labour etc).
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Life
only comes by the Spirit.
No person, however gifted or well-resourced, can provide for that
greatest of all needs, it is the Spirit who gives life to the dead.
Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones was still a valley of corpses, offering
an unexpected second helping to the gorged vultures, until the Spirit
gave life. The George Whitfields, Billy Grahams and Nicky Gumbels will
achieve nothing, however well-organised, unless the sovereign Spirit of
God gives life. The Apostle Paul recognised as much when he reminded the
Thessalonians that the gospel had come to them ‘not simply with
words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit…’ (1 Thess
1:5). The problem with a sovereign Spirit of God is just that: that He
is sovereign and blows wherever He pleases. He is not under human
control and that is why one of the key marks of the christian life is a
humble dependence on God in prayer. That must therefore be a key mark of
Crosslinks: a humble dependence upon God in prayer.
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The
sword of the Spirit.. is the word of God. Jesus,
the Word of God Incarnate, spoke words which are spirit and life. The
only authentic Jesus is the Jesus of the Scriptures. The life that he
offers us is by the Spirit through His word. For too long we have made a
false division between word and Spirit as if we can have one and not the
other. The ‘sword of the Spirit… is the word of God’ (Ephesians
6:17). We have lost sight of the power of the revealed word of
God. Paul again corrects this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “When you
received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not
as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at
work in you who believe”. Do we really believe that the
word of God is ‘at work’ in us as we study it alone or with
others in the church? If God’s word is so powerful then Christians
must daily allow it to work in our lives. BCMS and Crosslinks have
always been known for its strong emphasis on the Bible; that is a
wonderful attribute to have, if we truly have it. I suspect that
Crosslinks people, like many evangelical believers, have failed to live
up to this reputation. That must be another mark of Crosslinks:
determined obedience to and proclamation of God’s written word.
So
spiritual life is Crosslinks’s priority; spiritual life which is the gift
of the Spirit of God alone to whom we pray. The Spirit of God takes the word
of God to do the work of God which is to give life to the dead. Let me
illustrate with reference to a Kenyan believer who works this out in
practice in Britain: he identifies East African Christians coming to Britain
for post-graduate studies in anything from dentistry to engineering, and
seeks to ensure that whilst they are here they are equipped to ‘correctly
handle the word of truth’ by giving them opportunities to study
God’s word. His vision is not that they abandon their post-graduate
studies in order to teach the Bible full-time, nor that they stay in
Britain, but that they return to their countries able to contribute in their
local churches through the ‘ministry of the word’ alongside their
important contributions in healthcare and development. That echoes my vision
for Crosslinks.
A
Personal Conviction
If
you will forgive me a personal note at this point I would like to share a
few examples of how this has been my conviction (however inadequately
expressed) and practice (however inadequately carried out) in Paraguay and
more recently in Crosslinks:
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My
wife, Mandy and I, had the immense privilege of being involved in
marriage encounter work in Paraguay. For a short while we headed up that
work which consisted of inviting married couples away for a weekend and
then offering follow-up courses. It was always tempting to fight shy of
bringing the Bible to the fore as there were concerns that people might
run from this ‘religious proselytism’, but actually the word of God
was what was desperately needed (and clamoured for). The whole venture
was bathed in prayer that the sovereign Spirit of God would give life.
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Since
starting to work with Crosslinks I have been privileged in a very
different way by having the opportunity to visit and speak in churches
in Britain and Ireland as well as elsewhere in the world. It would be
easy to talk only of the wonderful things I have seen in my travels (and
I do do this) but more important than entertaining and challenging
stories is the careful exposition of God’s living word. Stories of
what God is doing in Africa are hugely encouraging (in both senses) but
of more lasting impact is God working by His Spirit through His word.
All
this is intended to show who Crosslinks is:
Making
God’s Word Known to God’s World
The
Practice
What
does all this mean in practice for what work Crosslinks is and is not
engaged in? First I would want to say what it does not mean:
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it
does not mean that Crosslinks only works with top academics, although we
would like to complement what others are doing in this vital area, not
least the Langham Partnerships International, under the leadership of
our President, Chris Wright.
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it
does not mean that we only work with or through full-time Bible teachers
(lay or ordained). Practically that would exclude us from large parts of
the world where that is not permitted. More importantly, whilst we see
the value of those set aside to give themselves to this full-time we
want to acknowledge with enormous gratitude the value of those doing
other forms of work
The East African dentists or engineers mentioned above would be a
case in point, but, like my colleague,
we would wish to enable them to handle God’s word, one-to-one,
in small groups or in public meetings.
Actually,
in a sense, what I am saying should not be distinctive because all believers
need to be enabled so that we “may know how to answer everyone”
(Colossians 4:6). Sadly that is not often the case, either in the worldwide
Anglican Communion where Crosslinks mostly works or in the other areas where
we work. Crosslinks has sometimes been associated with countries of the
world where we work but actually we are not geographically defined.
Crosslinks exists (alongside many others) to ensure that God’s word is
made known in all of God’s world; the gospel need is now as great in
Britain, Ireland and the rest of Europe as elsewhere.
There
are of course many ways of fulfilling our role and we need to constantly
re-examine how this may be most effectively done. Will you enable us to help
you make God’s word known in God’s world? More importantly will you put
this into practice where you are now, with your neighbours, friends,
colleagues and families?
Written
by Andy Lines, Crosslinks' General Secretary for the May 2002 magazine
A
summary version is also available.
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