In this chapter Augsburger deals with how those who want
bear witness to God’s kingdom might consider a more authentic approach. Many have experienced the church’s relentless
agenda to evangelize (be a witness of) the Christian faith (either in personal
attempts or in reception thereof). Yet,
I think it is safe to say that the Western church has degraded, at least in
some sense, what it means to be a so-called “witness”. Two things stand at the forefront of what I
am talking about.
Jesus For Sale
First, through fine salesmanship the church has mastered
capitalism by making Jesus intelligible, palatable and thereby sellable to
everyone. At its “best” it looks like Christian-apologetics
and evangelism-tracks, and at its worst it looks like “health, wealth and
prosperity”.[1] The first feeds the arrogant tendency to always correct others,
breath superiority or sum Jesus up on a post-card, while the second feeds the
narcissism that perpetually asks, what’s in it for me?
However, can we really say Jesus is
a commodity for mass consumption?
Absolutely… not! If we are to be
honest with others this is not a shallow endeavor and should never be presented
that way. To encounter Jesus is to first
come face-to-face with the darkest parts of ourselves, the world and admit everything
is not alright. Only when we face such despair
and the reality of an “end” can we see the need for new life and hear a message
of hope that makes sense.
Yet, Jesus as a message of hope will
always look like naïveté and foolishness to those who believe they are independent
or in control (hence the reason for its more frequent acceptance among those
living outside of social and economic comforts). It easier to distract
ourselves from the reality of our imminent end than it is to permit ourselves
to feel and express the fear and pain of its constant presence. Yet it is precisely in God’s embrace of this
end (on the cross) that the new could finally begin.
As a side note, confronting people with
the Ten Commandments to show them how flawed they are does not do what well-meaning
Christians think it does either. The Law usually only means something to those
who already believe it or are scared by its condemning prospect in which case
you are only selling “get out of hell” assurance and not a life with God that
reconciles creation through us. Nevertheless, confrontational evangelism is not
helpful for many and tends to push them away from God.
Talk… If You Must
The second point is (and this wholly ties in with the first)
people are turned off by the hypocrisy… and rightly so! When there is nothing to authenticate our
witness people will not have very much reason to listen. Anything we have to say
may be words with content, but they have no visible context.
I think the remedy to this was said
most clearly by Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times; if
necessary use words.”[2] We must
exemplify what we believe and yet we seem perfectly comfortable acting in ways
that are opposite of love, patience, gentleness, kindness and so on towards one
another (Gal. 5:22-23). We can only
authenticate our message with actions of congruency “when the content spoken
and the context experienced validate each other… therefore the authentic
witness is not the charismatic personality of an individual, nor the perfection
of a particular life; it is the presence of a community of witnesses who
verify, validate and authenticate their life together.”[3]
Moreover, this is a shared task and
it begins with faithful presence, concern and service with each other. It has
been said that this was probably Jesus’ fail-safe mechanism within the Gospel
in that the only ones to be trusted with the “Great Commission” were the ones
who epitomized love for God and love for neighbor in their daily life.[4] We would do well to take notice of how Jesus sequences
his instruction to the disciples. Upon entering
a city, when received in hospitality, eat with them (identifying in
solidarity), then offer compassion, service and aid, (agape-love) and then
lastly speak a verbal witness so to reinforce the living witness (God’s kingdom
has come near you) (Lk. 10:8-9).[5]
At the same time, if we wait until
we are good enough to bear sufficient witness we may never get around to it, as
Augsburger also points out. Certainly
God works through us despite us as the truth itself is much more life-giving
than the flawed ones who carry it.
But it does not diminish the point
that “authentic witnesses practice the way of humble and authentic service as
embodiment, and in time they give their faith voice and name, Jesus’s name. The
spiritual practice of authentic witness finds its center in the life lived more
than the word given.”[6] This is
something that should be prevalent in our daily rhythms of life, but it takes accepting
that the problem exists before we can adequately address it.
The End of My
Series
This is actually not the last chapter of the book, but it is
as far as I wanted to go with it. Obviously
there is much more to it all than I covered, but if anything I hope it conveyed
some areas within the Christian life that we should be willing to question, challenge
and grow in. If we are really behaving
like Jesus did, does and taught us to it requires a dissent from the current state
of things so to attest to God’s subversive rule.
Nevertheless, I must conclude that
Augsburger does not disappoint and it is certainly worth the read for anyone
seriously considering communal spirituality and discipleship in a way that
reflects the Gospel… but that is just my opinion.
[1]
Apologetics is a field that was formed for the sole purpose of attacking the Enlightenment
and proving our rightness by defending God and making him comprehensible. Well I am pretty sure God does not need us to
defend him, but he does want us to live in relationship with him and each other.
That relationship looks like respect, love and humility that is given its
content by God’s grace.
[2]
David Augsburger Dissident
Discipleship (Grand
Rapids, MI: Brazo Press 2006), 171.
[3] Ibid, 176, 179.
[4] Ibid, 177.
[5] Ibid, 183-184.
[6] Ibid, 186-187.
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