QC and SG accountability (30/11/18)
Selwyn shared about the Rapidly Advancing Discipleship (RAD) programme that Siew Leong is using in China and Bangladesh. This is a method of sharing the gospel, setting up small churches and helping members to be accountable to one another with specific Scripture passages following the principle of 1 Tim 3:16.. The programme seemed so simple that we felt that might work best in particular cultures with a strong sense of community and where there were not many intellectual reservations regarding the gospel. The programme seems to have strengths in its speed of transmission, in the accountability structure and in the provision of Scripture to guide behaviour. Traditional structures can be simplified to achieve rapid expansion. The programme might be less effective in Singapore, though. We will need to learn more!
We spoke about John Allen Chau, the young missionary who was recently killed by North Sentinelese tribesmen when he (illegally) chartered a boat to share the gospel with them. What he did was foolish and wrong - by worldly standards! We can say that, even had he been accepted by the tribe, not knowing the language would have meant many months or years before he could effectively share the gospel. And yet, he stands in the tradition of many other missionaries who died that the gospel might reach the ends of the earth. We cannot see where God's provision might lead, and we dare not second-guess His wisdom.
John Piper's article about Chau is instructive:
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-god-might-do-with-satans-arrows
So we should rejoice at the willingness of this brother to go into danger for the gospel, and learn the right lessons from his death.
We then asked about what it means when we say "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2, 4:17). In the simplest sense, "at hand" means "near" - something near our hand that we can hold. The first time this phrase is used, John the Baptist uses it to point to the ministry of Jesus. The second time, Jesus Himself uses it to point to His own ministry. The "kingdom of heaven/God" can be simply defined as "Where God is King" - where He rules. This is a phrase dense with meaning that needs much unpacking. It involves both our individual lives, our corporate life in church and also to wherever God's people extend His rule in the world.
As an aside, I mentioned that John the Baptist was said to be greatest "among those born of women" (Mt 11:11) and yet that the "least in the kingdom of heaven" was greater than he.Greatness here is measured in proximity to Christ. John was uniquely privileged to be the forerunner to the Messiah - the one who introduced Him to the world. And yet he did not have the intimate, indwelling Spirit of Christ within him the way that the least of the saints have under the new covenant. We are so blessed to be NT believers!
We spoke about John Allen Chau, the young missionary who was recently killed by North Sentinelese tribesmen when he (illegally) chartered a boat to share the gospel with them. What he did was foolish and wrong - by worldly standards! We can say that, even had he been accepted by the tribe, not knowing the language would have meant many months or years before he could effectively share the gospel. And yet, he stands in the tradition of many other missionaries who died that the gospel might reach the ends of the earth. We cannot see where God's provision might lead, and we dare not second-guess His wisdom.
John Piper's article about Chau is instructive:
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-god-might-do-with-satans-arrows
So we should rejoice at the willingness of this brother to go into danger for the gospel, and learn the right lessons from his death.
We then asked about what it means when we say "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2, 4:17). In the simplest sense, "at hand" means "near" - something near our hand that we can hold. The first time this phrase is used, John the Baptist uses it to point to the ministry of Jesus. The second time, Jesus Himself uses it to point to His own ministry. The "kingdom of heaven/God" can be simply defined as "Where God is King" - where He rules. This is a phrase dense with meaning that needs much unpacking. It involves both our individual lives, our corporate life in church and also to wherever God's people extend His rule in the world.
As an aside, I mentioned that John the Baptist was said to be greatest "among those born of women" (Mt 11:11) and yet that the "least in the kingdom of heaven" was greater than he.Greatness here is measured in proximity to Christ. John was uniquely privileged to be the forerunner to the Messiah - the one who introduced Him to the world. And yet he did not have the intimate, indwelling Spirit of Christ within him the way that the least of the saints have under the new covenant. We are so blessed to be NT believers!
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