Written by: Michael Badriaki on December 22, 2013

MY PERSONAL INTERESTS

            London! The world class city that contains places that I have only heard of in movies, and historical narratives: The River Thames, London Bridge, The Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Lloyds of London, St Paul’s cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Underground tubes, double-decker busses and the iconic red telephone box!  I mean, one can just go dizzy thinking of how awesome this city is to the outside world.  So many famous people, real and fictitious, are connected with this most visited international city!  There is C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Shakespeare, Bond, James Bond, Dr. Who, Sherlock Holmes, even Peter Pan!  What joy I had to know that my first cohort gathering was to be in this most famous of celebrated cities.

The religious history of England was also of great interest to me on two accounts.  First, I am an ordained Anglican Priest having my ordination papers filed in Canterbury.  Second, as an International Missions Mobilizer I teach workshops wherein we discuss three groups of nations—Unreached nations, Emerging Christian nations, and Post-Christian nations, we categorize England, along with all of the United Kingdom and Europe as post-Christian nations.   Yet at one time in the history of this nation there was a strong Christian presence with high church attendance and an influence that stretched all over the world.[1]  Men from England such as Charles Spurgeon, Charles and John Wesley, George Whitfield, David Livingstone, William Carey and many others were major world influencers for Christianity.  But for years now, England, along with all of the rest of the UK and Europe has witnessed a decline in Christianity.  From such lofty heights with  tremendous people and places like Westminster Abby and St. Paul’s Cathedral, the world has seen this once Great Light diminish in brilliancy.  I was eager to gain first hand knowledge of this decline in Christianity, but also see where the church is alive and thriving.

Aside from my personal interest in this grand and historical location, I was just as, if not more, excited to partake in the beginnings of a doctoral program that I had dreamed about for years.  To gather with other like minded people, who were seeking the same goal as I was, would be the true highlight for me.  We could have met in any mundane city and I would have been excited nonetheless.  To meet with these fellow students and hear their stories, their personal journeys, and their current ministry endeavors was a great highlight.  The first day we gathered I looked around at my fellow students and was simply amazed that I was surrounded by professors, pastors, and missionaries, all lovers of God desiring greater education to better serve the Lamb of God and advance His glory on the earth.  My heart was full with excitement and appreciation.

Another great impact was sitting at the feet of the great scholars and practitioners.  Each one of them brought such insight and clarity of focus to issues that we have only had cursory glances of.  They did this with great impacting and powerful presentations.  I was like a sponge soaking in the wisdom and years of experience that each one gave out generously.  The humility of these servants was also very refreshing.  I have unfortunately been around leaders who elevate themselves above the common folk as if to keep their scholarly robs from being tainted.  These puffed up small people do not interact on any personal level with those that would be the recipients of their self-declared great wisdom.   Though these London presenters were major leaders of international acclaim, authors, scholars, and entrepreneurs, they exhibited the Christ-like character of humility and allowed each of us the opportunity to get close to them.  Even if I did not personally speak to one of them I was blessed to see other students conversing on some passionate issue.

NEW KNOWLEDGE

            Having been in the ministry for some 24 plus years it is still surprising to me how much “new knowledge” regarding ministry that you continually come across.  Often times it is a fresh look, or the rediscovery of truths that have been buried in the needless accumulation of daily dribble.  These buried truths were excavated and once again brought to the surface for us to breathe afresh their forgotten fragrance.  It was refreshing to bask in the reveled truth that Martian Percey declared, that at the bottom of a Minister’s job, his occupation, is that we must be occupied with God.  What would a minister, whose job it is to represent God to people, look like if his life truly was occupied with God—to be caught up in the mystery, beauty, and love of the God he desires to communicate to people?   This is the knowledge that we must return to time and time again.  Oh how I desire to be caught up in the love of God, to be fully occupied with Him.  This was challenging and one of my great “take-aways” from our time in the crypt.

I also recall Dave Male sharing on bridging the gap like a spider casting his web between two secure points.  Brilliant!  We to must be able to bridge the gap that exist between us and those outside the church, casting a connecting “web” and securing our conversations in such a strong relational way that we can truly transfer the love of God.  We must be about bringing the kingdom of God in innovative and appropriate ways in each of the particular contexts we find ourselves in just as Jesus did.  This might provoke us to move further from the shore of our safe habitations and truly launch out into uncharted waters.  As Dave said, a leader must be, one who is out on the open seas, for ministry is not a car on a road but rather a boat on the open water.  I really appreciated the quote by Sir Francis Drake that Dave shared with us.

Disturb us Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely, because we sailed too close to the shore.[2]

How desperate we need to pray this prayer in our lives.  How often have we seen our plans come to pass only because they were to safe, never demanding true courage and boldness.  To Dave’s credit he called us all to “be calm and be dangerous.”

Then came MayKate Morse speaking on Embodied Leadership and Power.  My heart felt for her as she shared how rudely a fellow professor replied to her excitement that they would both be speakers at an upcoming conference.  I could feel the knife slide in as she shared his stabbing words accentuated with his bony finger jabbing her shoulder, “Just remember I am the main conference speaker you are just a break out session.”[3]  I then rejoiced with her as she shared her relationship with Dr. Leighton Ford, and how he lifted her up and praised her in a way we all should be treated.  How I identified with her having my own similar experiences with dysfunctional and immature leaders.  I resolved to watch my own body language as I interact with my fellow minsters gathered around me.

PRACTICE AND APPLICATION

            The fast pace life that I live, leaves very little time to reflect on what I have just experienced.  The sights, sounds, smells, great people, and knowledge I experienced in London seemed to dissipate into the back ground of my life as quickly as I recover from jet-lag.   I often leave little time to reflect and therefore fully grasp the weight of my experiences.   This assignment allows for reflection, albeit under rather strenuous tension.   Looking back now, I have attempted to put into practice and apply the understanding of what Martian Percey highlighted, that as ministers we need to be more occupied with God.  Yet re-reading my journal entries around the time of my return from London, there are distinct gaps.  Where was I? What was going on?  What was I occupied with other then God?  So, I continue anew and afresh each day with a recommitment to put into practice that which I learned regarding a God occupied life.  Each morning before entering the gym to exercise my body I park the car and open my Bible.  I enter into the calming pages of holy rite and ingest life into my soul through the Word of Life.   Throughout the day I try to keep what I read in the fore front of my thinking.  Ruminating and occupying my mind with God – attempting to stay connected to Him as much as He is connected to me.  Some days are better then others, and for the most part, I breath easier and can forge ahead into those open waters with greater confidence that the Captain of my ship is Jesus.

One thing I have placed in my life, to a more measurable degree, has been the discussion brought forth by Shawn Hotzclaw.  Shawn, unlike most of the other presenters, brought a perspective from the corporate world.  He opened up with a statement that I still carry with me to this day, “You have no value unless you meet your numbers.”[4]  That seems so “anti-Christian.”  But, as Shawn expounded on this corporate reality it sunk deep into my shallow business mind, allowing me to understand more of the corporate life.  Having never been in the corporate world in any significant degree I was unaware of such pressures that the corporate employee might be experiencing on a daily basis. These pressures are often overlooked by ministers who have the luxury of retreating into their tranquil lives of Bible study and prayer and denounce the half hearted commitment business professionals make to the church.

I have spoken to a few business men since my time in London and have repeatedly investigated Shawn’s “reality check.”  True to his words, Shawn correctly identified the importance of meeting your numbers.  The business professionals I have spoken to understand so poignantly that unless they meet their numbers their value to the company is always in question.  Though this realistic pressure was brought to light, Shawn, also skillfully balanced it with appropriate focuses that the business professional needs to maintain as he trudges through the corporate jungle.   We as God’s ministers can assist the business community in capturing these eternal truths and help the business professional maintain a healthy spiritual balance.  First, each person must look at the eternal horizon and not just the earthly horizon.  We are more then our numbers.  We are more than what we can produce.  Made in the imago Dei,[5]we must grasp that our eternal worth does not come about by what we can produce, but rather by the love that is freely given to each of us.  Second, we must understand that we are but stewards and only a fiduciary when it come to the finances of this world.  Like the steward in the parable Jesus shared we maintain that which is not ours to own.  As wise stewards we facilitate the growth of the master’s wealth, trusting that the Lord of the Harvest will provide his servants with all their needs.  Third, we must realize that we may not have all the super leader gifts but, we have a unique DNA forged by God himself, possessing gifts and strengths that can, and will, be called upon to minister and administer God’s resources to further His kingdom goals.[6]  Armed with only these small corporate insights from Shawn, I have been able to empathize with different business professional and help them understand their eternal value comes from more then just meeting their numbers.

The private time I spent with Shaw was also extremely valuable as I am seeking to enter into the corporate world through some type of cultural consulting.  He agreed to assist me in reviewing a business plan and in any other way that he could.  His time with me increased my confidence in the reality that I actually do have something to offer the corporate world more than just another sermon.

SYNTHESIS

            The decline of Christianity in England and specifically London, has always been a concerning dilemma for me as a missiologist.  For this great nation, as I discussed earlier, to have such a prominent Christian population and influence around the world, I am amazed at the “fall from grace” that seems to have precipitated the move toward a post-Christian status.  Was it the lack of relevant theology?  A theology that, Grenz and Olson advocate as one, “that articulates Christian beliefs in a manner that people can understand,…speaks to the problems, longings and ethos of contemporary culture,” and finally a relevant theology that “takes seriously contemporary discoveries and insights of various disciplines of human learning?”[7] Was it the exodus of many of the European theologians heading west to America in the mid 20^th century?  Prior to that point, Alister McGrath notes that, “German and British theology tended to dominate.”[8]  More substantial was the theological developments known as “the Enlightenment” which brought with it much uncertainty for Christianity in both Europe and North America.  England had been hard hit just prior to these development.  There was the Reformation and the ensuing Wars of Religion that followed, all of which had finally begun to settle down “before a new and more radical challenge to Christianity arose.”[9]  This Enlightenment “presented Christianity essentially as a rational and moral religion, easily harmonized with human reason.”[10]  This I believe is the largest contributor to the secularization of London.  This state of post-Christian was addressed by Dave Male during his presentation entitled, “Developing Pioneering Leaders For a New Missionary Context.”  Dave provided an overview of the projected decline of weekly attendance in the Church of England by Peter Brierley.  The projection continues to the year 2057 and illustrates a continual church attendance in decline.[11]  Many are hard at work to reverse this decline.  It was good to visit churches like The Oasis, that is stemming the tide of decline.

Contemporary social theory wrestles with different preoccupations in approaching the critique of society and, from different theoretical perspectives, each offer its own survey of why a society functions the way it functions.[12]  Could there be a contemporary social theory study correlating the influx of the Enlightenment views with the lack of relevant theology that caused a decline in the church of England?

About the Author

Michael Badriaki