{"id":73,"date":"2004-12-10T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2004-12-10T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tonyj.net\/2004\/12\/10\/without-authority-5-traveling-light\/"},"modified":"2015-03-13T17:12:49","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T22:12:49","slug":"without-authority-5-traveling-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2004\/12\/10\/without-authority-5-traveling-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Without Author|ity 5: Traveling Light"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The two major theological movements in Protestantism in the 20th century (one might argue in all of Christianity) were neo-orthodoxy and contextual theologies. In the first, led by Karl Barth, there was a recovery of biblical revelation and of a \u201chigh\u201d Christology.<\/p>\n

In the second, people in \u201cbase communities\u201d had a Luther-like revelation as they read the Gospels: \u201cHey,\u201d they said, \u201cJesus talks about the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew) all the time<\/em>!\u201d That is, they realized that Jesus is not so concerned with his own divinity, defending the Trinity, or talking about the character of God. Instead, he is constantly talking about this present-future Kingdom.<\/p>\n

As a result of this realization, \u201ccontextual theologies\u201d sprung up around the world: liberation theology in Central and South America, Minjung theology in Korea, theology of hope in Germany, feminist theology in the U.S., and black theology in the U.S. and South Africa. All of these attempted to appropriate for a certain group the freedom that Jesus proclaims and brings in the Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, the bloom is pretty much off that rose. On the one hand, few want to go back to a universal, all-encompassing theology, but a different theology for every downtrodden group sounds a little like the Tower of Babel.<\/p>\n

However, it is from this \u201cKingdom of God\u201d move in theology that the emerging church gets its missional<\/em> thrust (most in the emerging church have gotten it via Lesslie Newbigin, who was kind of a contextual theologian in reverse, bringing missionary sensibilities back to Great Britain).<\/p>\n

To be missional <\/em>means to be convinced that the Kingdom of God is about movement<\/em> \u2014 it\u2019s going somewhere<\/em>. I\u2019m often reminded of the American slave spiritual:<\/p>\n

The Gospel train\u2019s comin\u2019
\n
I hear it just at hand
\n
I hear the car wheel rumblin\u2019
\n
And rollin\u2019 thro\u2019 the land<\/p>\n

Get on board little children
\n
Get on board little children
\n
Get on board little children
\n
There\u2019s room for many more
\n
<\/em>
\n
I hear the train a-comin\u2019
\n
She\u2019s comin\u2019 round the curve
\n
She\u2019s loosened all her steam and brakes
\n
And strainin\u2019 ev\u2019ry nerve<\/p>\n

The fare is cheap and all can go
\n
The rich and poor are there
\n
No second class aboard this train
\n
No difference in the fare<\/p>\n

(A couple white guys turned it into a hymn in 1906 here<\/a>; Waterdeep has a great version here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

You see, there is both movement<\/em> and urgency<\/em> to the Kingdom of God in this conception. And it\u2019s not just about a message \u2014 it requires action<\/em>. You have to get on board or you will miss the train.<\/p>\n

QED, Implication #2<\/strong>:<\/em> The emerging church will be missional<\/em>. That is, the emerging church will be developed in such a way as to be ready to respond with action<\/em> to the call and movement of the Kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

Subimplication: I contend that church hierarchies and bureaucracies diminish the ability of the church and of individual Christians to respond with action. You don\u2019t have time to get the approval of a committee or a bishop if the train is pulling out of the station. Thus, the emerging church must be wary of any layers of administration or authority that will temper our ability to respond with action.
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The two major theological movements in Protestantism in the 20th century (one might argue in all of Christianity) were neo-orthodoxy and contextual theologies. In the first, led by Karl Barth, there was a recovery of biblical revelation and of a \u201chigh\u201d Christology. In the second, people in \u201cbase communities\u201d had a Luther-like revelation as they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWithout Author|ity 5: Traveling Light<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The two major theological movements in Protestantism in the 20th century (one might argue in all of Christianity) were neo-orthodoxy and contextual\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2004\/12\/10\/without-authority-5-traveling-light\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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