Building Bridges

With John and Olive Drane arriving in the country today, and my belonging to a church called Bridges this paragraph (under the heading “Building Bridges”) by John grabbed my attention. It contains one of the most important points I tried to make to Bridges in sermons over 2003 – learning to deeply listen; to speak less and listen more. Added Listening Ministry: Rethinking Pastoral Leadership to my library late last year in order that I could better understand the subject and integrate, increasingly, its practice in to my life. I want to further explore the whole question of “congregational listening and mission” over 2004; a theology of listening and missional engagement, and its practice.

“… As Paul reflected on the need for persuasive communication, he never made the mistake of thinking that one person was pretty much the same as another. This is one of the factors to which we need to give urgent attention today. Modern Christians tend to assume that the gospel can be articulated in exactly the same way no matter to whom we are trying to communicate. Naturally enough, we unconsciously imagine that everyone is like us, and so we angle our message and our strategy towards a particular kind of person. Of course, people like us (whoever we are – for all ethnic groups and strands of society tend to make the same assumption) need to hear the gospel. But…

there are specific issues that need to be addressed in different cultures. The key issues change from one generation to another, and the questions of people today are quite different from the questions of people in our grandparents’ generation. They will also be different for different groups within the community…it will not do simply to adopt someone else’s understanding: we need to be ready to listen to the actual people we meet, and formulate our message accordingly.”

(From Faith in a Changing Culture by John Drane, p. 153.)

Comments

[steve]

Flight arrives at 11:20 pm. After 12 hours from LA, I imagine he won't look quite as good as this photo!

[maggi]

morning, prodigal. I was at a conference where JD was interviewed last year (been a bit of a Drane fan for a number of years now)and bought him a pint afterwards. Was completely blown away by his outrageousness - he come straight out with what he thinks, whether it's acceptable or not, and isn't even conventionally polite in conversation! (I don't mean he was rude, but he doesn't use platitudes or smoothie Christian niceness). There's a kind of liberation in his way of being, and I was left with the distinct feeling that there was something of Jesus about the conversation: no faff or dishonesty, just saying what's real. Have a great time!