Old words, new meaning

I am grateful to Thomas Whelan (writing in the BIAMS journal) for correcting a misunderstanding I have had for at least 30 years! Like a lot of other people, I suspect, I have always thought that the catch phrase from the Student Volunteer Movement of 1886, "the ezangelisation of the world in this generation" meant that the world would be converted to Christian faith within the current generation - an aspiration which has been behind many mission movements, not least the pre-millennium movements like AD2000. (Of course it didn't happen, so what do you make of that?) Apparently it never meant that in the first place - it meant "the proclamation of the gospel by each generation throughout the entire world". I like that. Why? Because its far more Biblical for a start. It reflects the call on each Christian to 'live like Christ', 'to bear witness', 'to proclaim good news' .... to be faithful in these things and leave the converting to God (if that's what He wants!)

Thank you Thomas, its always great to have fresh light on a well known phrase - especially when it fits in so well with what I already thought must be right. There always was too much in scripture about leaven, mustard seeds, remnants and suffering for me to really grasp the 'everyone on board in the next sixty years' vision. Now I can get on with the witness and proclaiming and leave the converting to God - that's challenge enough for me!

Bunker or Bakehouse

We first met in Pattaya in Thailand last year. I hasten to say we were not there for the reason most older European men seem to go to Thailand, but rather to attend the Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance - I to network with mission colleagues, Anton to link up with those working on advocacy issues. Anton is a Dutch merchant banker turned missionary with family ties back into Indonesia. Today Anton was in my office and we shared a whole lot from publishing challenges to the state of European Christianity - and good German coffee too.

The core to our conversation was the attitude and worldview of younger (than us!) Christians in Europe. With so much talk of the 'Islamicisation of Europe', the rise of secularism, and the decline of faith communities, Anton's big questions was this. Are the current generation of Christians in Europe busy pulling down the hatches so they can survive in their holy bunker or are they getting out there into the bakehouse of civil society, politics, education, media with a 'yeast' that has the transforming power of the gospel? I'm not sure I agreed with him all the way but I share some of his concern about a 'loss of nerve' in contemporary European church. At least I think we agreed that it is not Islam that threatens Europe, the real threat is the withdrawal of Europe's Christians into their holy bunker, pockets still stuffed full of the yeast which was designed to be spread around the European bakehouse - hot and unconfortable as that might be.

But what to do? Anton has a few ideas so wait and see!