Skip to main content

"Building Bridges", Jeff Graf's notes


A bridge-building God

--He spoke in a known language
A “heart” language

--Began to explain the inexplicable
Answered humanity’s most fundamental questions
Is there a God, and if so, how do I relate to Him?
Why am I here, and how do I relate to the people living with me?

God’s starting points

--Story
Origins
Provision
Relationships
Sin, grace, and atonement

--Anchored firmly within the culture of the day

Kingdom Culture

--Relationship to earthly culture
Above it (Überkultur)
Vestiges remain in every earthly culture
Biblical culture and not Western or Eastern

--Three missionary goals
Find what remains of Kingdom Culture
Build a bridge from it to the Kingdom of Heaven
Give way to the Holy Spirit to work

Kingdom Culture in the Old Testament

--Ten Commandments
First four – our relationship with God
Last six – our relationship with one another

--God’s use of cultural images
Shepherd (Psalm 23)
Vineyard (Isaiah 5)
Husband (Isaiah 54:5)

--God’s use of story
Noah to illustrate saving grace by faith
Exodus to illustrate redemption from the slavery of sin
Choosing the younger over the older or the weaker over the stronger to illustrate the working of His heart

Kingdom Culture in the New Testament

--The Beatitudes

--Commonly understood cultural metaphors
A man sowing seed in a field (Matt 13:24)
A mustard seed (Matt 13:31)
A woman putting yeast into bread (Matt 13:33)
A treasure hidden in a field (Matt 13:44)
A merchant seeking fine pearls (Matt 13:45)
A fishing net (Matt 13:47)
A head of a household (Matt 13:52)

Apostolic bridges

--John 1:1, 14 God used Koine Greek / Greeks related to logos "the Word" / cultural image: "dwelt [as in a tent; tabernacled]" / related story: "beheld".

--Hebrews 1:1, 2 "prophets" (v 1) culturally accepted, anchor point; "Son" (v 2) new revelation, bridge to Kingdom culture

Bridges in Acts (Acts 1:8)

--Peter’s first sermon (Acts 2:14-36)

--Paul’s first sermon (Acts 13:16-41)

Starting points for missionaries

--Firm confidence in the Lord to be able to prayerfully follow His leading

--Know the “heart language” of the people and use it to gain new insights of how the culture operates

--Practice living using the incarnational principle

Incarnational Principle (John 1:14)

--Hard to find the term in a dictionary and confusing on the Web

--Creator of the Ends of the Earth, who took on human flesh

--An example to follow and yet much more

Living the incarnational principle

--Only Jesus did it perfectly.

--Missionaries do it partially.

Fearless failures

--Certain to fail (at least once)

--Learn and laugh

--Language acquisition
Adult mind with a toddler’s vocabulary
Donde? versus Como?

Subtle and sometimes stunning successes (1 Cor 3:7)

--Propositional bridges

--Story first with a proposition for support – Melanesian approach

--Proposition first with a story for support – Western approach

Going into the culture-to-kingdom construction business in our community

--Just modern or post-modern?

--Same approach
Learn the language
Understand the culture
Find an anchor point

--Take an apologetics class

Leave room for mystery (John 3:8)

--Fear of mystery
Lack of understanding and control
Christian abuses

--Balance theology and God’s sovereignty

Our Challenge

--Learn the language

--Learn the culture

--Be fearless failures

--Be ready to experience subtle and sometimes stunning successes

--Relate propositionally but don’t forget your story

--Leave room for the miraculous
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...
2 comments
Read more

clement quotes hebrews

Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90.  This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3.  Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I.   Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews.  Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews.  Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches.  Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos.  The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90:    CHAPTER 36  ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ,  the High Priest of all our offerings, the defender and he
Post a Comment
Read more

one-liners

Here are 25 of my favorite one-liners from comedian Steven Wright:   1)  I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize. 2)  Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back. 3)  Half the people you know are below average. 4)  82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 5)  A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 6)  All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand. 7)  The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. 8)  OK, so what's the speed of dark? 9)  How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink? 10)  If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. 11)  Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 12)  When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. 13)  Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now. 14)  I intend to live forever ... So far, so good. 15)  If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? 16)  Eagles may soar, but weasels don'
Post a Comment
Read more