The Faith of the English

How do we spread the good news of the gospel in our own land?
For hundreds of years Christian missionaries have traveled across the seas to distant places, where they learnt local languages and immersed themselves in new cultures so that they could tell the story of Jesus in a way that was meaningful to the people they met. And if you are reading this as a Christian, you have some of those missionaries to thank for bringing the faith to these islands so many years ago.

The best missionaries were experts at understanding the way these cultures worked, and they often spent years observing what it was that lay at the heart of the way people did things in those places – the symbols they used, the key phrases that were said over and over again, their festivals and their habits. All of these things together helped them  to talk about good news in ways that made sense in cultures so different to their own.

But what about us here in England? With culture changing so fast, the church often appears not to understand how ordinary people think. The church seems out of touch with English culture. Has the time come for us to work harder at understanding our own culture, so that we can tell people about Jesus in ways that really make sense in 2011? Do we need to become missionaries to our own people?

A recently published book tries to do that by looking at 9 key characteristics of the English. the book is called ‘The Faith of the English’ by Nigel Rooms, and I am interested to know whether you recognise what he writes.
The characteristics he lists are:

1. Humour – banter, teasing, irony, wit or mockery all play a part in almost every conversation we have.
2. Moderation – we are people of the middle way. People who dislike extremes and favour the middle ground.
3. Hypocrisy – not so much a deliberate attempt to deceive others, but more a pretending that things don’t matter when we know they do and a dislike of confrontation.
4. Pragmatism – we prefer concrete, practical, common sense to philosophical reflection.
5. Eeyorishness – summed up in our tendency to complain and moan, often in a way linked with the first characteristic, humour.
6. Class-consciousness – even at a time when the differences between social class seem to have diminished, they are still there, and we all know it (even if we don’t talk about it)
7. Fair play – summed up in our love of queuing!
8. Courtesy – in an experiment, 80% of people who were deliberately bumped into on the street apologised, even when it wasn’t their fault.
9. Modesty – summed in the phrase ‘Oh, it was nothing’

Now, there is no suggestion that everyone in England has all these characteristics, rather that together they paint a clear picture of our nation, and we’re really like.

So if Nigel Rooms is right, what does that mean for mission in England today? How do we tell people about Jesus and the good news that he is yearning for them to hear if this is our culture?

Any thoughts……?

Sent

The man tapped on my car window.  ‘Hello stranger, how are you doing?’ he asked.  Although he lives quite near, I hadn’t seen him for ages.  ‘Oh, I’m fine, thanks, how about you?’  Suddenly, he poured his heart out!  One daughter was getting divorced; another was in hiding because of an abusive husband; a third daughter had married again and moved abroad.  He himself had been suffering from depression and come close to a breakdown putting great strain on his marriage.  I felt somehow guilty that I didn’t know, and hadn’t prayed. I listened for a long time.
The last time I had seen him was two or three years before, when he had come to my door.  ‘I’ve got something for you,’ he said as he offered me a muddy carrier bag.  I peeked inside to find a big crab, scrabbling hopelessly, and looking dolefully up at me.  He explained that he’d found it in the Creek when he was digging bait.  I thanked him and retreated to the kitchen.  The idea of dropping a living creature into boiling water did not appeal to me at all.
I took it back to the Creek.  I thought of something Jesus once said about going into the world, and preaching the gospel to every creature.  (Mark 16 v 15) Now, you may think me a little eccentric, but as I lifted the dazed crab out of the bag, I said to it ‘You’ve been saved today!  Go and tell the others the good news that Jesus died to set us free.  God created you and he cares about you.  Be happy!  You’re alive!  Off you go!’  As the water lapped around its feet, it scuttled joyfully away with a burst of bubbles, and a new-found spurt of life!
It made me think about God’s mercy and grace towards us; we, too, are saved – for a purpose; it’s not just to make us feel safe and secure and to fill the church.  I once heard a preacher say ‘You are a tea pot!  God has filled you up with His Holy Spirit in order to pour you out again to bring life and hope and comfort to a thirsty, hurting world.’  Jesus said ‘Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask Him to send out more workers for His fields. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.’  (Luke 10 v 2-3.   Life Application Study Bible)
God only asks that we be ourselves, and allow Him to live and speak through us; but, in these days of ‘political correctness,’ are we willing to tell others about Jesus and what he has done for us?
Have you heard of a man called Arthur Blessit?  God called him to lay down his prosperous career, take up his cross and follow Jesus.  That’s literally what he did. With a wooden cross over his shoulder he’s been walking for 42 years, through 318 countries, for over 39,000 miles, and when people ask him ‘Why are you doing this?’ he tells them about the One who first carried his cross to Calvary to set us free from sin and death..
One day, as he was travelling through some foreign city, hot and thirsty, he called into a bar and asked for a Coke.  As he went to pay for it, the barman said ‘Your drink has already been paid for, Sir.’ Surprised, he said ‘Who by?’  The barman pointed to an Arab sheikh.  Arthur went over to thank him.  The sheikh said ‘As soon as you walked in, I was struck by your radiance and peace!’  How can I find what you have so obviously found?’
They talked about Jesus – His death and resurrection – repentance and forgiveness of sins, and the sheikh decided to commit his life to Christ.  He was the head of an oil company, and he invited Arthur to come and meet the other Board members upstairs.  He told them how he had just met this man with the cross, and how they had prayed together, and how he had experienced the presence and peace of God for the first time.  The others had many questions, and that day Arthur led several of them, also, to Christ.
The last words of Jesus to His disciples, before He ascended into Heaven, were ‘I have been given complete authority in Heaven and on Earth; therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I’ve given you;  and be sure of this; I am with you always, even to the end of the Age.’ (Matthew 28 v 18 – 20)
It’s challenging, isn’t it? What does God want ?  Isaiah says ‘Then I heard the Lord asking “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people?  Who will go for us?”  And I said ‘Lord, I’ll go!  Send me.’ (Isaiah 6 v 8)  Life Application Study Bible)

Jane Gransden