不過不要緊。因為每次我聽到有人努力將聖經的overaching story 表達出來的時候，我總是十分雀躍的。不少時候，我們讀經的所謂「領受」，是「只見樹不見林」的。我們逐句逐字的研究和推敲，有時令我們忘卻了why it says what it says，只管急於問what does it mean to me?
Chris Wright 基本上問的也是NT Wright 的Worldview 問題：Who are we? Where are we? What time is it? What is wrong? What is the solution? 不過作為舊約學者，他精彩在大量指出OT/NT的「相互指涉」之處（intertextuality），並這種關係怎樣unfold this one Mission of God。這樣的解讀，相當接近 Bartholomew ＆ Goheen 在Drama of Scripture 的描述。另外，正如Chris Wright自己所說，他的舊約倫理研究背景，在寫 Mission of God的時候，正好與他對Mission的熱衷，完美地結合起來，讓他更能了解：”God’s people are chosen (for mission) to be different (= ethics)”.
本來有個問題想問他（不過後來因聽見Q＆A也要錄音而打消 了，哈！）：第二聖殿時期的猶太教，是否屬悉這樣的一個Mission of God？當時猶太教本身的宣教工做得怎樣？是他們忘記了作為「外邦人的光」的身分？（用NT Wright的話是”solution becomes the problem”）。他們的策略（我的基本印象）是Come and see the difference。為什麼跟初期教會的Go and tell 有這麼大的分別？今日的教會，怎樣避免再一次”solution becomes the problem”？耶穌在十字架上成就的，令教會跟昔日的以色列人在使命上，有甚麼基本的分別（we already understand the obvious similarities e.g Ex.19:4-6, 1 Peter 2:9 etc… ）？
The “so what?” to his major work “The Mission of God”.
In The Mission of God’s People, part of the Biblical Theology for Life series, author Chris Wright offers a sweeping biblical survey of the holistic mission of the church, providing practical insight for today’s church leaders. Wright gives special emphasis to theological trajectories of the Old Testament that not only illuminate God’s mission but also suggest priorities for Christians engaged in God’s world-changing work.
In what way have we as evangelical Christians failed to grasp or live out the fullness of God’s missional intent? How (if at all) has our theology of evangelism been weak?
Read Christopher Wright’s response in a 2-part series here (1) and here (2).
A snippet:
We have tended to separate believing from living the gospel, and to prioritize the first. That is, we seem to think that there can be a belief of faith separate from the life of faith, that people can be saved by something that goes on in their heads, without worrying too much about what happens in their lives. So long as they have prayed the right prayer and believed the right doctrine, nothing else ultimately matters, or at least, whatever happens next is secondary and distinct.
…The bad result of this dichotomy is that we have people called believers and evangelicals, whose actual lives are indistinguishable from the culture around them – whether in terms of moral standards, or social and political attitudes and actual behaviour (as various surveys have shown, including the recent Pew survey that showed evangelicals were the largest religious group in the USA who approved of the use of torture).
Verse of the Day
Worship
You become like what you worship. You reflect the one you worship.