Newbigin: does culture rule?

Friday, January 30, 2015
    Commemoration of Lesslie Newbigin, Bishop, Missionary, Teacher, 1998
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
    —John 15:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus is understood in the light of the assumptions which control our culture. When reason is invoked as a parallel or supplementary authority to “Scripture” and “tradition,” what is happening is that Jesus is being co-opted into the reigning plausibility structure. But the business of the missionary, and the business of the Christian Church in any situation, is to challenge the plausibility structure in the light of God’s revelation of the real meaning of history.
    ... Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989, p. 96 (see the book)
    See also John 15:18-19; 1:10; 16:33; Acts 2:36; 17:30; Rom. 3:25-26; 2 Cor. 7:10; Tit. 2:11-12; 1 Pet. 1:14-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that we may be used in challenging the world’s view of Jesus. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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