{"id":14036,"date":"2017-09-14T17:46:15","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T00:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=14036"},"modified":"2017-10-28T13:52:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-28T20:52:10","slug":"a-practical-application-of-the-book-visual-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-practical-application-of-the-book-visual-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Book ‘Visual Faith’ Helped Me Prepare for an Upcoming Mission Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I read this week\u2019s assignment for the DMinLGP program, I realized that some of the information in this book was extremely relevant to the team of 17 that I will take to Serbia this November.\u00a0 The following is written to these team members.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Serbia Mission Trip Team:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know that you are excited about our upcoming trip to Eastern Europe.\u00a0 As you know, the main mission of our team is to support local pastors, missionaries, and church leaders as they seek to share the life-changing gospel of Jesus with the people of Serbia.\u00a0 Our goal is not to go as \u201cLone Rangers,\u201d but to assist our coworkers in Serbia who are seeking to be salt and light in a country that has many needs.<\/p>\n

The most common question that I get when I talk to people about missions in Serbia is this: \u201c85% of Serbians belong to the Orthodox Church.\u00a0 Aren\u2019t they already Christians?\u201d<\/p>\n

That is a good question.\u00a0 As evangelicals, we\u00a0 believe that neither church attendance, baptism, financial contributions, nor a confirmation class can insure salvation.\u00a0 We believe that salvation is only found through a personal decision to follow Christ.\u00a0 We believe that\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.\u201d\u00a0 (Romans 10:9)<\/p>\n

I want to be clear.\u00a0 I am not saying that all members of the Orthodox Church will miss Heaven.\u00a0 Yet, my experience in Serbia and my conversations with Serbia evangelical Christians (and an Orthodox priest) gives evidence that there are many in Serbia who merely see the church as part of their culture.\u00a0 Very few Serbians own a Bible.\u00a0 If they do own one, it is probably not read.\u00a0 Many youth and young adults in Serbia will attend church services with their families but claim to be atheists.<\/p>\n

As you prepare for this trip, I want you to be ready to have meaningful spiritual conversations with Serbian people.\u00a0\u00a0 Attached is a monograph entitled “Witnessing to People of Eastern Orthodox Background: Turning Barriers into Bridges to Personal Faith.”<\/a>\u00a0 I would like you to read through this in the coming weeks.\u00a0 \u00a0If you find the concepts difficult, don\u2019t\u2019 try to read it in one sitting.\u00a0 In the end, though, I believe that it will help you gain an understanding of how to engage Serbian men and women in conversations regarding faith.<\/p>\n

In addition to this, I would like to share with you some insights that I gained recently as I read the book, Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue, <\/em><\/strong>by William A. Dyrness.\u00a0 This book is a terrific overview of the ways that Christians have viewed art across the generations.\u00a0 It goes into detail about the relationship between the visual arts (paintings, sculpture, drawings, etc.) and theology.<\/p>\n

For example, during the Protestant Reformation, \u00a0there was a widespread rejection of the visual arts which was prominent in the Catholic church.\u00a0 Reformer John Calvin wrote:\u00a0 \u201cWhatever men learn of God in images is futile, indeed false, the prophets totally condemn the notion that images stand in the place of books\u2026In the preaching of his Word and sacred mysteries [God] has bidden that a common doctrine be there set forth for all\u201d (Dyrness, p. 52-53). \u00a0Calvin and other Protestant theologians \u00a0criticized the Catholics of substituting a veneration of artwork for Biblical preaching of the gospel.<\/p>\n

Theological disagreements over artwork did not start with the reformers.\u00a0 Three hundred years before the separation of the Roman Catholic Church from the Eastern Orthodox Church, Christendom was rocked by the Iconoclastic Controversy.\u00a0 In the AD 700s, some Church leaders began to speak out against the worship of icons (portraits of Christ or various saints).\u00a0 This was based on deep theological differences as to the nature of salvation. \u00a0For example, many in the West followed the teachings of Augustine who believed that salvation was defined as reconciliation with God through the cross.\u00a0 Yet, many in the East viewed salvation as a spiritual communion with God (Dyrness p. 33).\u00a0\u00a0 Church leaders in the East taught that icons were a supernatural way that people could commune with God.<\/p>\n

While this seems strange to modern evangelicals, Dyrness explains it this way\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cVenerating the image was not a veneration of the object but the person who was visible in and through the image.\u00a0 The image did not simply represent the one portrayed, but actually became transparent; that is, one could see through the image to the sacred presence it represented.\u201d (Dyrness pg. 35).<\/p>\n

In other words, by meditating on a picture of Christ, you are able to see Christ Himself and stand in His physical presence.<\/p>\n

The worship of Christ and the saints via icons is just as important in today\u2019s Orthodox Church.\u00a0 While evangelicals teach that we grow closer to Christ through studying the scriptures, the Orthodox church proposed a more mystical view.<\/p>\n

This is also expressed in the different ways the church building is viewed.\u00a0 For Evangelicals, the church building is simply a place that is set aside for gatherings\u2026 worship, teaching, Bible study, etc.\u00a0 Contemporary Evangelicals are fond of saying \u201cthis building is not a church, the people inside the building is the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, the Orthodox concept is much different.\u00a0 Dyrness writes \u201cIn the Orthodox family of churches, this tradition has placed a great emphasis on the holy space, represented by the church building and the images or icons of Christ and the saints that adorn its walls\u2026(though the beauty of the church building) the Orthodox believe we can be progressively changed into the image of these saints and their glorious beauty\u201d (Dyrness p.88)<\/p>\n

To be honest, my experience of watching men and women worship in an Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe reminded me of the worship I encountered in a Taoist Temple in East Asia.\u00a0 In Serbia, I saw men and women kneeling in front of a statue of a saint, hoping to become more like that saint.\u00a0 In Taiwan, I saw men and women kneeling in front of a statue of a revered Chinese scholar, hoping to become more like that scholar.<\/p>\n

As you prepare for this trip, I encourage you to learn as much as you can about the culture, history, and beliefs of the Serbian people.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0At the same time, focus on your own soul.\u00a0 In what ways is your faith alive and growing?\u00a0 What role does God’s word have in your life?\u00a0 Are you able to give a clear explanation of how you came to place your faith in Jesus?<\/p>\n

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William A.\u00a0Dryness. Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue<\/i>. Engaging Culture, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.<\/p>\n

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ATTACHMENT\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

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PHOTOS FROM SERBIA<\/h5>\n

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Singing in an Orthodox Church in Serbia<\/strong><\/p>\n