Mission's full circle

It was more an adoption than a birth but the little family I look after, the Faith2Share network, gained a new member this week. A mature 26-year old joining the family brings some challenges but a lot of new energy and insight. Our new family member is full of ideas and energy and its going to be great to have them around, if we can survive the late nights and angst.

Global Teams has its roots in the Anglican Church and is based in California with over 50 mission workers in 19 different countries scattered around the world. At first they look just like any other agency sending missionaries to needy places (just like all 26 year olds look alike when you're 55, or 12) but as you get to know them you spot a radical difference - they are into reproduction in a big way (like any other 26-year old?!). Working in some of the more challenging mission contexts, Global Teams are in the buisness of seeing missionaries give birth to missionaries (followers of Jesus who instantly become 'fishers of men' - and women of course). Nothing new in that you may say - exactly what Jesus did in Galilee - but that's the point! So often mission work gives birth to church members who are not missionary followers of Jesus, church members who so easily become church-dependant rather than kingdom-building. I'm looking forward to us all learning quite a lot from the new 26-year old in our family. Get the black coffee brewing!

Is Baptism necessary?

A couple of night ago I had to choose between a night at home with the TV (and a Kenyan house guest), listening to Kenneth Cragg (he of innumerable books on Islam and a real hero of mine), and a lecture by a professor of religions and Sanskrit from Nagaland, north India. I chose the third option but took my computer along so I could catch up on emails during the lecture! (Before you judge me - don't tell me you have never done that?). Well, the emails didn't get answered and instead I came away with two pages of grey-cell stretching notes. Thank you Dr. Atola Longkumar (pictured).

Speaking against the background of recent religious violence in India, Atola raised the whole question of whether conversion is a useful term, or even a useful concept, and if it is then what it involves. The force of her arguement was that Christian faith is about discipleship, a direction of living orientated towards God as seen in Jesus Christ, not church membership or even joining a specifically 'Christian' community. In India the real point of tention is over baptism as it is such a public event which appears to mark a leaving as well as a joining of communities. Atola suggested that baptism might not be essential for Christians. For some of the audience, brought up on Jesus' Great Commission to, "Go into all the world ... and baptise them in the name of ...", this was a step too far. But when baptism costs lives (as it does in India) is this an opportunity to rejoice in martydom or just an unnecessary antagonism of Hindu (Indian?) sensibilities? [Interesting programme, by the way, on Radio 4 today on how certain Hindu groups try to define Indian identity as, by definition, Hindu.] Part of me wants to say that breaking ties, changing direction, being faithful (to God) is always costly (a cost sometimes paid in blood), but before I voice that from the comfort of my Oxford home I want to know much more deeply what it really means to be an Indian follower of Jesus - not a church member, perhaps not a Christian (in the cultural sense) - but a Christ-one, a faithful follower of Jesus. More work for the grey-cells!