One of my favourite presentations of the last few months was Paul Dibb, Ermitus Professor at Strategic and Defence studies centre. In many ways he flies in the face of all that is trendy in 2022. Paul hasn't been to the Elon Musk/ Steve Jobs, cool walk around school of presentation. Instead as he places his old wristwatch precariously on the lectern he recites some great timeless wisdom. He choses content and importance over triviality and trying to impress. He has no desire to go viral in the multimedia age, but his learning and understanding have global implications.
He starts with this deceptive bombshell of an insight...
"I think that most countries (including Australia) are captives of their history, their geography and their culture... and actually none more so than Russia".
This is such a perceptive observation, a deeply simple understanding of what is driving our current world dynamic and issues, our sociological patterns, and also impacts massively on the work of God's global mission. We must listen to such wisdom in a world which so needs the gospel and its contextual communication.
He continues ..." there is a particular Russian saying ...
"For we Russians the future is certain,
it is only the past that is unpredictable,""
Quoting the issues of Russian warfare with Japan in Port Arthur 1904, he reminds us how the exact same analysis could be given today "abysmal preparation, a monstrous lack of coordination between generals, and scant information on the number of enemy troops" which leads to disastrous reasons for Russia's manifold military setbacks. "Sometimes nothing changes, and I find that very disturbing."
To this we might add, yes also in the church, sometimes we do not learn from lessons of the past.
If you want to understand some of the core dynamics of Eastern Europe, or what is commonly called Eurasia today, I recommend this public lecture for its content re: the issue of the Russian rationale, historical foundation, and (global wide) implications of the current conflict.
Even more significant to us I think however, is the notion of what is happening on the world stage of God's global mission. Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the 10/40 window, have many unreached people and unreached areas for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some cultures are much more defined by inherited behaviour and complex nationalism, than they are by a considered choice, educated/ revelation of cultural/ spiritual experience. The result is often isolated (or at least quirky) international relationships, which have at their core a self worship which idolises and idealises a reality that never really existed in the past, is far from the reality now and will never be the reality of the future.
For those who go with the gospel, this is a massive thing we need God's help in understanding. In every part of the world, it is the role of those motivated by grace to gently expose the idols of those who cause themselves and others much pain by building their lives upon them. Into this context we show the glorious unchangeable reality (past, present and future) of Christ.
When people (kindly and politely) ask our team about what Eastern Europe is like, they often assume we will give a simple explanation of many multi-cultures. Whilst it is a good discipline and we want to be helpfully simple, any gross oversimplification will never lead to good thinking or effective grace driven (Christlike) evangelism. It will certainly not help those who are trying to plant ingenious churches which plant churches, or make disciples who make disciples. In the same way that African nations are colourfully unique and distinct, the nature of Eastern Europe, Greater Europe and what is now commonly called "Eurasia" is even more complex. It is the merging of histories, cultures, ideologies, economies, languages, religions, all put in the slow cooking pot of migrations, wars, catastrophes and politics in a huge mass area of land locked inter nations.
This article points us to some of the issues, attitudes and mentalities of being "land locked". Without wanting to get into that complexity (it would be even longer than even my very longest, long blog :) ), I suggest instead these 4 observations for personal and missional reflection.
1. UNDERSTAND WHERE GOD PUT YOU TO START WITH, BUT REMEMBER ALSO THAT MAY ONLY BE THE BEGINNING OF HIS REDEMPTIVE PURPOSES AND WHERE HE DIRECTS YOU. It is part of our core identity to realise that where you and I were born impacts us massively as human beings. Either being born on an island or amidst land locked mass population is a significant element of this. It is good for us to trace God's sovereign goodness in our lives, as a launchpad to go to those who have not been so blessed. For us in the UK that means 95% of the world. That is not arrogance but simple maths, economics, and self realisation. This growth in self awareness, understanding of our history, culture, family upbringing and instinctive / learned behaviour impacts the way we view others, other countries, the global mission of God and it impacts often some of our natural (pre sanctified) proud and sinful thinking as a Christian, which God needs us to be open about for him to change us beautifully, drastically, and make us more fruitful both in our own and other cultures.
2. TRIBALISM IS NOT FROM THE HEART OF GOD, OR ATTITUDE OF THE HEAVENLY HOSTS: British evangelicalism (like many other evangelicalisms) can be instinctively tribal. Some of this is just sinful, wanting a name to be "great" for ourselves.
Gen 11:4
"Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
Galatians 3:29
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus"
Some of our reservations about other cultures, denominations, or networks, are deeply held and (well) learned theological views guided by Spirit as He unfolds to us the wisdom of scripture. However, some of our thinking is nothing other than copied or learned heritage, which is a statement (however unintentional) of never wanting to change, before the GOD who specialises in new beginnings.
Our instinct to immediately raise red flags re: other views of Christian behaviour and approaches to life, or inflexibility in issues of conscience, is a massive question in need of probing inspection. Suffice to say, some churches can be easily prone to thinking in the UK about trying to protect what they are, and growth only in perspectives of what they previously have known and done. Sometimes this is simply a form of tribalism which is not too dissimilar to Babel, or the isolatory behaviour of modern Russia. It will do us little good, repel good meaning (Godly) friends, scare off those who need the gospel, cause others much harm, and leave us introspectively perplexed and disorientated, wondering what our identity really is.
3 OPEN HEARTS, LEAD TO WILLING FEET. Intransigence is never an option in the Christian life, for those who submit to the bible, the cross and the global call of mission. We always need to be open to the purposes of GOD. Life always moves on from one generation to another, and so does the mission of GOD. Therefore to see our objective / identity as a museum curator of the church (maybe a single local church), to keep/ preserve what we know to be good, to be unchanging to honour our forefathers, (in a desire to protect those inside of the family of GOD) is never in line with the Sovereignty of God, either in his Global missional objectives (for us to scatter / reach all peoples or to see the outworking and outwearing of his redemptive purposes in our lives) or cosmological redemption. He gives us all that we have in CHRIST in order that this is passed on, to see others redeemed and bring Him the greater glory of all generations and all peoples.
4 DON'T EAT YOURSELF UP BEING DISOBEDIENT OR STUPID:
It won't ever do us any good to go against the mission of God.
Isolation and introspection are always destructive for those being grafted into the new community. When we see our life or church goal as serving ourselves, we will always try to lash out at those who try to impact this, (who confront our comfort or our self service). This reactionary behaviour in turn will cost us more, and damage us more, until we repent, U-Turn and go God's way. Repentance is never painless. In spiritual terms, on an individual level, living to feed oneself without following the mobilisation of the gospel will ultimately eat us up as people, as we cannibalise ourselves whilst the feast of the harvest remains white. However fat we think we can get on spiritual food stored for ourselves (which goes nothing further than our own stomaches), when we remain immobile to the purposes of God we become grossly unhealthy in mind, attitude, ability and behaviour.
We can be immobile in attitude as well as location.
In all these things we glory in the grace of GOD. He is so patient with you and me. Thank God for the saviour who breaks all cultural barriers, who comes into all the mess of our whole world, to pay for all people who will believe, regardless of background or sin, and who brings us into the only true multinational, multigenerational, new community of grace which covers the earth.
He is able to undo all tribalism, and bring the anti-Babel (ACTS 2:1-11) . He will protect us for all times and all eternity, so we can adventure in faith without fear. He guides us and accompanies us to walk into our gospel inheritance being strong and courageous.
Matt 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He can open our hands and keep us from tribalism. He opens our hearts so that we can act and react without judgmentalism. He can move our stubborn unwilling feet without restriction, so that we go where he directs (Isa 52:7, Romans 10:14, Romans 15:20), love where and whom he loves, give as he gives, preach in a way which comes in power and truth, and think His thoughts after him.
Our creator, sustainer, redeemer and LORD of all has it in his power, his orchestration and his provision. Our pleasure and joy is to trust him, that as we do so he will take us from our small mindedness, change and refine us to live for him in all his glory and uncontainable bigness, which will one day be the testimony of all nations.
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