JOEL EDWARDS
Joel Edwards address to assembly
(full text)
Monday 7th July
A new Missionary Paradigm: Acts of Kindness and Confidence in the
Gospel.
The Revd Canon Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance
in the United Kingdom, had been invited to address Assembly by our General
Secretary: a risk akin to Joel’s appointment as the first Black Director of
the E.A. in it’s 150 year history, yet one that by the end of his twenty
minute speech we were all left thankful he did!
Joel began by ‘rejoicing in this extension of fellowship’ and of
discovering ‘a front room of new friends he kept running into.’ He wanted to
challenge us afresh with the missionary task for today’s church and suggest
a new paradigm or framework on which to build.
He first painted a picture of the early Christians responding to the
Great Commission of Matthew 28 and moving out in the concentric circles of
Jerusalem, Judea and all Samaria, and to the ends of the earth of Acts 1 v
8. However such a community was still small - a beleaguered minority
following Jesus but with an identity crisis. They sought to keep the
teaching of the Messiah but they were increasingly realising their
differences with Judaism. They were a discredited minority who were thought
to have stolen the body of Jesus: a strange bunch with many strange
practices. Their self-identity was on the line: who are we? What does it
mean to be Church?
He likened this terrain to today’s Church, set in its wider cultural
context, yet seeking to be faithful to its missionary task. How do we be
Church in a plural challenging society like Britain? And then there are the
Statistics! The evidence says we are dying - perhaps we don’t recognise it
this because we are so dead! Are we part of these sad statistics? Joel
commented that often the Church is like Noah’s Ark: smelly on the inside but
more safer than the outside! However Joel affirmed (echoing our own David
Cornick) ‘God has not finished with His Church yet’, and helpfully pointed
Assembly to Peter Brierly’s helpful statistical survey in ‘Turning The
Tide’. ‘So cheer up’ he said, ‘a little!’
He then took us to the Book of Acts: an acronym meaning ‘Active
Christians Terrorising Satan. He conceded that this could be a little
problematic for those who did not believe in a personal devil! He took us to
Acts 4 and particularly v 12 where comes the extraordinary claim: ‘Salvation
is to be found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given
to men by which we must be saved.’ The context was an extraordinary miracle
causing great excitement. The Apostles were arrested and asked to give an
explanation: ‘By what authority did you do this?’ So comes the first
apologetic of the Christian Church: Peter calls it a miracle but also refers
to it as a miracle but also refers to it as an Acts of Kindness (v9). God
had been at work - it could not be explained or danced around: Acts of
Kindness do that!
Quoting from Richard Fletcher’s book entitled ‘The Conversion of Europe’
Joel commented that even without a common grammar Europe was won and
transformed by the Gospel in four centuries. How? Fletcher highlights three
‘Acts’ that turned the tide: Acts of Exorcism, Acts of Kindness & Acts of
Temple torching. Joel discouraged the temple torching but emphasised the
other two underlining the tangibility of God’s grace translated into Faith
that works! We are called to be a people of mission who do things for the
common good. The manifesto of Jesus must be worked out on the streets. At
the turn of the millennium the BBC published research into the ‘Soul of
Britain’, in which 70% claimed to acknowledge God. It showed that people
wanted a Church involved in the issues of our day: debt counselling,
homelessness, drug abuse etc. A church committed to Acts of Kindness. Of the
early Church it was said that they went around doing good: all our work must
be to release people engage in Acts of Kindness.
Secondly Peter speaks out the exclusive claim of Acts 4 v 12. We might
like it to be different in our multi cultural/ faith/ choice Britain but
it’s not. This does not negate meeting with people of other Faiths, as Joel
had indeed done in the wake of 9:11 and signing a joint declaration against
intolerance (some members left the Alliance as a consequence). Our Acts of
Kindness must be indiscriminate but at the same time we must not sell Jesus
short. 42% of the Churches in Britain are doing midweek acts of kindness.
It’s all about Confidence in the Gospel: in ‘Turning the Tide’ Peter Brierly
comments that those who were confident in the gospel also saw the future as
good and were planning bigger buildings whilst those whose confidence was
low struggled with the future. Our Christian Faith must be rooted in the
world Jesus loves and we must minister with integrity. The question of ‘Who
is Jesus?’ must be communicated not with intolerance but with clarity and
quiet assurance. It’s the basis on which we do mission. So lets hold that
confidence with humility and clarity, grace and servant hood. I’m still
learning to do that, said Joel to finish.
The moderator responded with great enthusiasm and whilst he struggled to
see Joel as a Canon of St. Paul’s he conceded that Assembly had not heard a
speech like that! 30 denominations now related to the Evangelical Alliance:
he could see why. He thanked Joel for ‘cheering and inspiring us!’ |
