"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 1

This spring, in my dMin studies at Fuller Seminary, I read The Forgotten Ways by Allan Hirsch. The book resonated with many things that concerned me about the contemporary expression of American church such as the problem of consumerist congregations, who outsource spiritual development to the church.

I want to explore Hirsch's contention that Apostolic Genius needs to be restored in the western church in order for it to be a transformational power in western society. Hirsch breaks Apostolic Genius into 6 elements, which he terms missional DNA or mDNA.

Over the next few weeks, I will look at one of the three elements of mDNA that resonated in my ministry context. These elements are the confession of Jesus as Lord, the problem in contemporary western churches in regards to disciple making, and the missional-incarnational impulse where churches incarnate the gospel in culture.

Today we will look at the pitfalls of proclaiming a gospel that encourages people to declare Jesus as savior rather than following Jesus as Lord and savior.

The lordship of Jesus Christ, according to Hirsch, is the lynchpin for the powerful movements for Christ in history. These historical movements for Christ often result in intense persecution for the church, requiring a central focus on Christ. The pursuit of Jesus as Lord places a stronger claim on the believer’s life than is often understood in evangelical churches. Lordship is much more than a confession of Christ as savior. Instead, it is best understood as “all of life belongs to God, and true holiness means bringing all the spheres of our life under God.” Hirsch confirms my experiences that Western churches tend to stress the need of Christ as personal savior but neglect to demonstrate that to follow Christ is to submit to him as Lord.

My entire Christian life has been as a member of one Southern Baptist (SBC) church or another. SBC Churches seem to be very strong on understanding and fulfilling the obligation that Christ has placed on the church to proclaim the gospel. However, even more important than this mission mandate is the tendency of SBC churches to obsess over numbers. Every ministry or program is rated based on the number or people who participated or the number of “lost” people who prayed to receive Christ. This fixation on numbers has led to a gospel message where the lordship of Christ is diminished, and all that is needed is a prayer to accept Christ as savior. This leads to more people praying a prayer, but few understanding what Hirsch calls, “the primary theme of the Bible: God’s redemptive claim on our lives.” What should be a movement of God due to the importance of missions within the SBC is inflated numbers of a convention teetering on decline. This particular issue hinges on the substitution of lordship with a gospel in which Christ has no expectation for his followers.

Next week, I will explore the issue of discipleship according to Hirsch’s perspective.