Healing, Emergents, and a thirsty continent
This is a slight continuation of some of the conversation happening at Nic's “lame lame lame” post.
The question here is : what does Africa need? And, is there space for healing within an emergent framework?
What do I mean by that?
As Emergent Africa, we ought to be considering what Africa needs and how we, as the Church, are to be a light to Africa and satisfy it's thirst with the Water of Life that is Jesus Christ.
Let's face it – Africa is indeed thirsty.
What is Africa's thirst? I'm not too clued up on the post-colonial issue, which is what Emergent Africa is about discussing, but by using my own eyes, ears and experience with Africa (here in South Africa and throughout Africa) it's obvious to me that the main issues are :
1)Education
2)Disease
3)Poverty
4)Identity
Perhaps here we could all list some more and discuss them.
The last one (identity), to me, is a bit of a lost cause. Africa needs the other things more desperately than identity, and identity is a social problem all over the world. Americans have this problem too-- each state in America appears to be different. America doesn't have one identity.
And neither does Africa. But, let's face it, Africa has a far more richer identity than the West because of it's diversity. My opinion is that identity forms naturally, and Africa has a wonderful identity within each country.
So, let's chat about the first three.
Education is a post-colonial issue, I think, because it links in with number (4) in a way. Who is going to do the education? Do we educate our kids the Western way? Why? Is it because the western way brings prosperity? But is prosperity even an African thought?
Disease and Poverty. Here is the immediate need of Africa. Here's where my question comes in. The prosperity churches and teachers (please, let's not transform this post into bashing of any individuals) have been quite popular within Africa because they are presenting a message that appears to satisfy a very present need. The message isn't successful within Africa, because it is an American message based in and around an American system. In other words, in America there is a much stronger economical system and people can lift themselves out of poverty a lot more simply.
In Africa, the problem with poverty links to a problem with education, and so poverty requires more than just 'believe' but also a new system of thought and worldview to lift it up. (By the way, find a book called “Discipling the nations” by Darrow L. Miller. Within it, he discusses how worldview affects a country's economy, and looks specifically at the main worldviews of the world and how those worldviews have led to poverty or prosperity. A wonderful take on Kingdom thought, and sure put fire in my bones about economics!) While God is our provider, he provides finances and education to build a nation up. Kingdom is about building nations up. I think we should be discussing how we, as Africans, can be building both our nation and the nations of Africa up. Thoughts?
Now, onto disease. And here, I think, is actually where we can create a framework that incorporates most of the problems, as disease links with healing and the Church is meant to be a healing community. But what does healing community mean?
What is an emergent theology on healing?
My theology? The more I'm studying it, the more I'm believing it. I mean, that Jesus came to heal the whole person. That the atonement is for the salvation of the entire person, not just their soul. The saving of the soul is a more of a Greek thought, while the saving of the entire person is more a Hebrew one.
“Salvation” to me means something very different to what it meant a few years back. Salvation now means the justification of a person, the sanctification (set-apart) of a person, and the healing of a person. All of these are events that take place at once, but are experienced and lived out throughout life, and finally attained in their completed form at the end of time. When you were saved, you were justified, you were sanctified, and one day you will be glorified. Your sanctification and justification means you have access to healing throughout your life, and God's provision. God is your savior the day you believe, and for the rest of your days as well. He doesn't just save one time, but continually saves!
A study on the seven revealed names of God to the Israelites really seals this thinking for me. God reveals himself as “the Lord, your healer” to the Israelites (Jehovah Rapha.) This promise is as sure to us as it was to them. Especially since all the other names of God (the Lord our peace, the Lord our righteousness etc.) are promises within the atonement. Why some theologies accept all of the rest but the one is very strange.
I think the Church needs to be a healing community in every sense. We need to be going into Africa and actually praying for people's disease and seeing them healed. But then, we ought to be working towards the healing of this continent from the damages of colonialism. We need to be healing the problems of poverty (which can even be the cause of the disease.) Then, we also ought to be working towards the healing of people's minds both individually (ie, inner healing) and corporately (ie, through education.)
God saves us in this way. We are saved the day we believe, and then God begins to save us from some of the ROOT issues in our lives. For instance, if I have an anger problem it has a very strong potential of leading to a bodily problem (high blood pressure, heart attack.) Sometimes, God needs to heal the anger problem before the blood pressure problem. He always heals the cause, not just the symptoms. When we approach Africa, we need to heal causes and symptoms at the same time. We heal people's disease (God's heart for the individual) but also need to heal the causes of disease in that nation (poverty, education etc.) This is God's heart for the nation.
I'm praying for people and seeing them healed ever since I've begun believing it as true. I'm seeing myself healed from various problems in the last couple of months. It's been awesome and truly eye-opening to see the REAL POWER of God and not just some philosophy. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that we would receive POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon us... and it's point was to be witnesses of Jesus to the ends of the Earth. What is an emergent theology of this kind of healing? Can it fit into the larger framework? Are Emergents even discussing it? How do we see the “power” of the Holy Spirit? As mere sin avoidance? As thinking rationally? As working on our own steam? Or on God's? Of seeing nations changed?
Or as everything and more? REAL power, tangible but also working discretely? In my hands to heal but also in my hands to work towards healing?
I don't think I've seen any real discussion within emergents about healing. I might be wrong...
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Reading
Oh yes, just wanted to say, that if you're interested in healing of individuals by prayer, a great book to read is by a guy called Francis Macnutt called "Healing." He is a catholic guy, interestingly enough, with a great healing ministry.
I'm also reading FF Bosworth's classic "Christ the Healer" which, so far, is pretty cool.
www.ryanpeterwrites.com
"The Glory of God is man fully alive" - St Iraneaus
Healing
Perhaps N.T. Wright's main thesis is that God is in the process of putting the world to rights, in other words, bringing justice and healing the world. Especially look at Revelation 21 (wiping every tear from their eyes, and "I am making everything new") and 1 Cor 15 (with the resurrection body and the defeating of death). Also see Romans 8 pointing to new creation.
Our role is anticipating this new creation in our current everyday life. This means that we are called to be in prayer at the place the world is in pain. If you're in IT, do the systems you're helping to build favour the powerful and disenfranchise the poor? If so, you may not be able to reverse that overnight (and indeed, may not be called to do that either); you're called to hold that pain before God in the hope that he will heal it. This extends to whatever field you're in: teaching, micro-biology, theology...whatever. Where is your world in pain?
(This idea is developed excellently in this podcast.)
This is a general model to approach the topic of healing, whether it's systemic (justice), on a wide level involving many people (restorative justice, like the Amahoro conference next year in Rwanda), on a personal level involving HIV/Aids (see Brian McLaren's story in "Everything must change" about the medical worker in Cape Town), on ethics (see Stanley Hauerwas's work). Also see Hauerwas on "The theology of disability" as well as this podcast on medicine, death and the Christian community from Emergent Village.
That's really scratching the surface of your post, though. Dawid Bosch talked about the church as the "suffering servant" of humanity; in a similar way I like you talking about the Christian community as a healing one.
More listening: N.T. Wright on:
Putting the world to rights
God's restorative program
Resurrection and the task of the church
Just thought
Just thought of this this morning,
Seeing the church as the 'suffering servant' much like Jesus - we suffer to see the healing of the world? Like Jesus suffered to see our healing.
Interesting...
www.ryanpeterwrites.com
"The Glory of God is man fully alive" - St Iraneaus
say what?
Errr...? How exactly do we suffer to see healing?
Envoy
well
Well, through like persecution, or trying to live morally and ethically well. Say, like, turning down a lucrative business deal because of an ethical - or even environmental - issue. Every time we do that, the world is one step closer to its healing.
www.ryanpeterwrites.com
"The Glory of God is man fully alive" - St Iraneaus
too abstract i think
Perhaps, but I think that's too abstract for my liking.
There's a lot to be said for healing that takes place over time and through knock-on-effects, e.g. good morality and behaviour. I often find that this is at the expense of a real display of power, e.g. dramatic healing and deliverance and revelation.
I'm trying to chew through what it means to be an ambassador of the kingdom, an envoy with authority to speak on God's/-ess' behalf followed by God's/-ess' active hand and voice.
Envoy
healing as advancing the kingdom & identity as african
Hi Stray,
Thanks for this post!
I'd like to comment on two things: healing and African identities.
Healing
In some ways Christ made use of the medicine of his day but He teaches us to heal through hearing and seeing what the Father is doing. I believe we need to do everything in power to bring healing. Let's do as much as we can in this regard, However, as ambassadors or envoys of Christ we are instructed to "heal the sick" as one of our primary activities and to do so in actual history with real people and real conditions beyond and including what is within the realm of science and medicine to deal with.
I believe our primary activity of healing ought to stem from the presence and power of the Spirit. I understand that we evangelicals have put forward an understanding of healing, the words about it, but as having lost touch with the actual power behind our theology. By doing so we've neutered the gospel. I know not everyone agrees with my statment. But do you and Roger?
Identity
I get frustrated by how pomo related stuff is viewed as not an African issue while post-Colonialism gets elevated. I may be white but I am African. I may be more concerned about pomo than post-C - arising from calling and interest just as much as from cultural blindspots and ignorance/indifference - but this very reality makes pomo as valid an African concern as post-Colonlialism.
As an individual I've been comfortable with my identity being in the space between identities - I am not Afrikaans as my father was nor English as my mother was and I don't know my family history; I am neither Methodist or Anglican or Charismatic or Pentecostal but navigate the space between them; I am open to truth in all worldviews - including the sciences and religions - but not fully committed to any of them; I am a white man finding his way in Africa, born and bred on this soil and I know no other. I have no identity crisis. I don't believe the rich variety of African identities are a problem. There is no need for such and we need to articulate that it is from every tribe and tongue and nation and history that our meta-nation as ecclessia consists of.
Envoy
Great responses :)
Thanks guys, these are such great responses!
Roger, you've provided a lot of resource there, thanks bro. That's awesome. Will definately be checking those out. When I read Mclaren's Secret Message of Jesus, I think a lot of that idea came through. I really did enjoy that book. The last chapter really moved me, as he portrays a very moving picture of what a healed world looks like. I was given a new perspective of seeing how we really ought to bring healing to our world, in any way we can.
Envoy, I agree with you that we have neutered the Gospel somewhat when it comes to healing. We've done this in two ways :
1) We have not acknowledged God wants to heal (we have elevated a suffering gospel over a healing gospel.)
While I know the Gospel is ALSO about suffering, it generally tends towards healing. Suffering into healing, or suffering as healing. "Weeping may go on for the night, but joy comes in the morning." I see God's plan is to bring and end to suffering eventually. There may be some suffering for some time, and we ought to praise God through it (which is a wonderful testimony) but healing is going to happen some time as well. I don't mean in the grand day of the return of our King, I mean now as we pray "May your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." If Kingdom is about bringing REAL healing into a REAL sick world, then healing ought to REALLY be for now -- not only later.
2) We have not acknowledged the Holy Spirit comes with power (Acts 1:8)
The only power our theologies seem to acknowledge is the power we can now have over personal sin in our lives. This isn't a power to be sneezed at, I acknowledge that. But there is very little acknowledgement that God has ACTUALLY, REALLY, TANGIBLY and REALISTICALLY empowered my hands to heal this world - both individually (I lay my hands on a sick person, and they become well) and corporately (the church lays its hands on this world, and it becomes well.) In other words, we - as Roger is saying - bring healing into where our world hurts. I'm a writer, so I want to bring healing into philosophy, literature, and the thinking world in general. Another is a lawyer, and wants to bring healing into the justice system, which will subsequently bring healing into people's actual real LIVES.
But also, I'm a disciple of Jesus, and so bring physical healing to the physical sick person sitting next to me on the plane. Most certainly, that is a wonderful - REAL, PHYSICAL - testimony about the Kingdom.
We, as you have said, have made healing into a wonderful philosophy but have perhaps failed to realise how REAL it is, and that there are REAL people out there who need it in any number of REAL ways. It's not just evangelicals who have done this.
The fact that Jesus healed all who were brought to Him, to me, means He wants the same from us. I mean, his message was one of healing. I don't mean to say that he is saying we must just go pray for people, what I mean is that our purpose is to bring real, real, real healing to our world in EVERY single way.
So, I'm going to be honest about it, and I'm going to say that not only evangelicals have limited the healing power of God, by making it into a nice philosophy - but so have Catholics, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists (etc. etc.) AND so have Emergents. Really. Because I don't see much discussion with Emergents when it comes to real, physical healing. I tend to find many Emergents like to talk, but seem to deny (indirectly) a REAL POWER behind the Gospel's ability to bring TOTAL healing to person in every COMPLETE way. In other words, some of them get involved with social work, and see the vision of doing that - bringing healing to our world, maybe with ending slavery etc. But, they fail to bring real Holy Spirit Power into a situation, for instance, where a sick person needs to be made well.
Am I making any sense?
Are we not to do both? Work for social justice to bring healing to our world, but also get people saved into the Kingdom while we do that, and also physically heal people as they need it? Instead of working just on one level, we work on every level. I would be interested in hearing what some think of that? Do you believe God has given YOU the power to heal? Are there any limits to this power?
Envoy, I enjoyed your response on identity... will be thinking about that. Good points!
www.ryanpeterwrites.com
"The Glory of God is man fully alive" - St Iraneaus
all i want is everything
Stray
Thanks for this meaty conversation. It's asking many good questions; I respond to some more than others. Don't take any silence from me as apathy, its more about YOU completing ME where I lack.
For example, I don't at this juncture ask too may questions about Contextual African stuff. Not because its not important, but we need to honour the fires that are burning, rather than spread our energy too thin.
I've come to a point of Oneness where these facets of life merge strongly. For me, Healing has a lot to do with Justice, Justice with Salvation, Salvation with Creativity, Creativity with Love, Love with Relationship, Relationship with Healing. It's all so joined up. I treat our conventional Greek categories as being quite "thin" and descriptive, rather than, well, categorical.
McLaren hints at this in the Full title of A generous Orthodoxy:
"Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished CHRISTIAN "
We had an experience this weekend where mixed group of emergents and charismatics put themselves in a new situation - Nia Dance. It was incredible fun, fully immersive, communal, and has raised some interesting questions. Have a look - it relates to / illustrates your concerns, I think:
Community of Love - an Authentic Miracle by Andrew Hendrikse.
...must have more...
Nic,
All you want is everything? Me to. I think I'm going to have to wrestle for more together with you. I had a great meeting with Kathy today (the woman who brought Nia into SA) and she's a follower of Christ but not a churchgoer. Kinda like us ;-) I'm super amped at co-developing a model of worship together with you and her. I'm coming away from today humbled and tearful in good ways.
Stray,
I more and more lean toward a both/and approach to things and sometimes this leads toward things doevtailing nicely while at other times it means holding things in tension. I believe we need a social gospel but we also need to become empowered evangelicals. If Christ gave us the keys to His kingdom then I believe we've lost them. I want to find those keys. I've seen glimpses and I want MORE.
A friend of mine has recently been seeing blind people receiving their eyesite back when praying for healing! He's an "empowered evangelical" along with being a mentor and friend. I believe we need to be inspired by contemporary and historical figures who've "done the stuff" of healing, deliverance and the prophetic. I believe we seel our preaching short when we do not speak as envoys who've heard from God/-ess. I believe we sell our worship short when we sing about and to God/-ess but aren't open to connecting intimately with Him/Her. I believe we sell the concept of personal ministry short when we limit it to fix jobs. Let's seek the fullness of the kingdom laying actual experiential deposits in the lives of those we touch that will serve as insurance and guarantee of more to come.
I developed a course on our 7 major relationships that includes experiencing the Spirit as a community. I've been encouraged by this, particularly when Christians and non-Christians have been present. I've glimpsed something. I want more. I have to have more. I will forcefully lay hold of the kingdom stuff and as best I'm able advance it.
Again, Stray I'd love to connect with you if/when you're in CT - I'm here all season.
Envoy
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