Summary: In This Episode Worship and mission guru, the late Robert Webber, articulates a biblical, ancient, and postmodern model of evangelism and discipleship in Ancient-Future Evangelism. About the Author Robert Eugene Webber (November 27, 1933 – April 27, 2007) was an American theologian known for his work on worship and the early church. He played a key role in the Convergence Movement, a move among evangelical and charismatic churches in the United States to blend charismatic worship with liturgies from the Book of Common Prayer and other liturgical sources. Webber was also a professor at Northern Seminary and the President of the Institute for Worship Studies. He wrote a number of influential books on worship and discipleship in our postmodern context such as The Younger Evangelicals, Ancient-Future Faith, and Ancient-Future Worship. Big Idea Scripture, the early church, and our contemporary context all converge to teach us what it looks like to have 'faith-forming' communities. Even in different contexts, the church has 'formed faith' through four stages - conversion, discipleship, spiritual formation, and Christian vocation. And these stage weave together three biblical teachings - Christ's victory over evil, the church's witness of salvation, and the church's worship as a witness of God's mission in Jesus Christ. Plunder Evangelism is a process over a period of time, nurturing people into Christian faith. The early church bore fruit and grew in number through 'social networking, through a structure of direct and intimate interpersonal relationships. Since eating is a primary point of contact, evangelism will need to take place of believer's homes. The solution to the plight of isolationism might be building neighborhood churches, where community develops in a natural and spontaneous way. More than 3/4 of people who become Christians do so because of personal relationships. Conversion may be a conscious decision or may be more gradual until it dawns on a person, "I'm a Christian!" "You cannot have God as your Father if you don't have the church as your mother." - Cyprian. "There is no other way of entrance into life unless we are conceived by her, born of her, nourished at her breast and continually preserved under her care and government." - Calvin Emphasize Jesus' incarnation as the point of evangelistic contact. What does it mean that God moved into the neighborhood with us? What does it mean for us and for this world? Relate aspects of "the story we tell" to your neighbor's own narrative or cultural story, finding places of overlap and sympathy. Worship is less about me and my experience and more about the witness of his mission. So, if your neighbor's interests overlap with an aspect of God's mission that the worship of your church is pursuing, that might be an avenue for them to be 'evangelized' or 'discipled' through worship. Liberating Good News While we are 'scared' to live in a post-Christian climate where the church is on decline, Christianity seems less viable, etc. Yet, the 'basics' of evangelism, discipleship, and neighboring haven't drastically changed in 2000 years. In fact, our climate gives us the chance to return to both the faith and practice of our spiritual fathers and mothers. I have the opportunity to study and learn from ancient, learned Christians and apply it to my own context. Big Challenge Conceptualize what a 'faith-forming' neighborhood looks like in your context. If God were to slowly bring your neighbors along in baby steps to seeing Jesus as the one who was dead and then raised from the dead for the redemption of the world, what does nurture into that acknowledgement look like?
