A Compelling Vision for Mission and Ministry Together

[pastormikejordan]

Raised this question on the thread about Rev. Schaper's abortion philosophy. Thought I'd raise it here again.

Please know I am raising this question because I want constructive dialogue for my own (and I hope our own) learning. I'm not seeking to be polarizing or divisive.

A preface: I am hardly a fundamentalist. My favorite writers are Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, F.F. Bruce, Frederick Buechner, and Dallas Willard. I am a student and quasi-disciple of Ignatian spirituality. I try to take the Bible literally (for what it means) but I am not an inerrantist. I am a lover of the church in all its catholicity.

With that in mind, I recognize that there are many American Baptists who differ from me on many issues: sexuality, abortion, whether or not Christ is the only way to salvation, appropriate names and metaphors for God, ways of interpreting Scripture, the ordination of women, etc. etc. I even view some of my opponents' viewpoints as dangerous: far too cozy with a badly broken culture in some instances, far too reluctant to think critically in others. And I expect others to find my viewpoints dangerous in these areas as well.

My question is this: with these differences in mind, what is the nature of real shared ministry and mission between me and a person who disagrees with me on these issues? What does that phrase mean, "Shared ministry and mission?" For example, take a person who believes homosexual behavior to be proper, abortion to be a mere lifestyle choice, and Jesus to be one of many ways to God. How could we do genuine "shared ministry and mission" the ABC-USA way? What would it look like?

My hunch is that that person and I could work together at a soup kitchen, perhaps host a community concert together, or donate financial and physical help to disaster relief. Of course, I can do this (and do) with non-Baptists. It would be hard, though, for me to imagine us both getting wholeheartedly behind any NM campaign, or even truthfully to share in support of the same missionaries (given that their mission would likely be harmful from one of our standpoints).

What do you think? What would be a good example of the kinds of "shared ministry and mission" we're capable of doing together? I've posted a lot about ABC boundaries, and this is essentially the same question stated positively: I'd like to hear what you all think are good reasons for staying together, mission and ministry that can only happen by not "breaking up."

[Ed Pettibone]

[Ed Pettibone]