The Hermeneutic of the Gospel

I am presently working my way through a book I just picked up last week called Total Church (Tim Chester and Steve Timmis). It has resonated loudly with me because it compliments almost everything I want to communicate in my "Church's Ministry" class.

For example, in the book they quote missionary scholar Leslie Newbigin to emphasize the point that for evangelism to be effect Christians must be dually and fully engaged 1) in the culture where God has placed them, and 2) in the church they are a part of. The result of this dual engagement is what Newbigin called the "hermeneutic of the gospel." His point is, that all truly credible evangelistic efforts that gives a powerful and effective presentation of the gospel, is so because there is a congregation living out in the background of that gospel presentation, evident for all to see, a powerful apologetic of love and biblical community. And only from that platform, will sustainable evangelism happen.

Newbigin writes . . .

I have come to feel that the primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it. I am, of course, not denying the importance of the many activities by which we seek to challenge public life with the gospel—evangelistic campaigns, distribution of Bibles and Christian literature, conferences, and even books such as this one. But I am saying that these are all secondary, and that they have power to accomplish their purpose only as they are rooted in and lead back to a believing community (Leslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluristic Society, p. 227. Used by Tim Chester and Steve Timmins in: Total Church, p. 89).

So, how does this idea support our conception of the church as presented in class as a: glorifying, missional, community?

Blessings
Bill H