Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

* Do I tend to see the work of God in terms of the big picture, or do I get lost in the everyday details of my walk with God? Explain. Where did this habit of either farsightedness or nearsightedness begin in your Christian walk? * Why would it be important always to see what is taking place in our lives against the backdrop of what God has been doing across the centuries ? How can a mission vision and focus provide such a backdrop for us? * Complete the following sentence: “The one thing that would help me broaden my perspective of what God is doing in the world today is to . . .” Tom Steffen in his interesting book Reconnecting God’s Story to Ministry: Cross-cultural Storytelling At Home and Abroad argues aggressively for a return to narrative and storytelling in evangelism and discipleship. He identifies what he calls “storylands” among various people groups, and argues that mission, that is, the task of the Church to tell the Good News to the lost among unchurched and unreached peoples, is to be faithful to the story of God while being open to the story of others and our own stories. “To reach those living within a specific storyland, the storyteller must be cognizant not only of the land contours of the Bible, but also those of the people group, and especially, his or her own.” (Tom Steffen, Reconnecting God’s Story to Ministry. La Habra, CA: Center for Organizational and Ministry Development, 1996, p. 15). He believes that each of these “storylands” are foundational and critical for doing mission in today’s world. What do you think of his general view, that the core of mission and ministry is learning to tell and hear the stories of others and ourselves, while always being careful to reconnect both of these to the one, true foundational storyland, the story of God in Scripture regarding Jesus of Nazareth and salvation through him? Mission as Storytelling–A Model for Ministry

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Personalizing the Promises of God Just a Little Too Far?

With a focus on the individual and the personal today, Christianity for many has become an entirely private affair. All the promises, claims, and affirmations of the Bible are understood in existential, overly personal ways, and many have gone so far as to see the entire Christian experience as a “relationship between me and God.” This trend is shown in a number of different elements: the rash of worship music that is entirely focused on the emotional and psychological state of the worshiper,