Not long ago, I read a book by then Fuller professor of pastoral care and counseling, David Augsburger . . . a book entitled: “Dissident Discipleship: A Spirituality of Self-Surrender, Love of God and Love of Neighbor.” I must admit I was attracted to the book at the time because of a sermon series I was preaching: “God’s Big Idea: Love God, love others.” The book was (is) filled with stories and instruction that found their way rather frequently into the sermon series (which, by the way, lasted for nearly a year!) Many of them found their way into my heart too.
This particular story is one I found most interesting and challenging. It speaks to the Anabaptist assumption that salvation is not just a personal matter but “comes through the grace of community.” (Kraybill. On the Backroad to Heaven p.19)
The story is told of an evangelical pastor, having recently moved to a community near Shipshewana, Indiana, who visited an Amish bishop, sincerely concerned over his salvation. “What I really want to know is, are you saved, truly born again through a personal faith in Christ?”
The Amish bishop replied: “You’re asking the wrong person. Do not ask that question of me. Ask my neighbors, my people. I will give you the names of those people who have known me for years, of those who have been critical of me, or have real differences with me. Ask them. That is who you must ask if you want an answer to that question.”
That story has created some tension in my spirit. On the one hand, as a Wesleyan-holiness person, I fully embrace the Wesleyan teaching of “the witness of the Spirit.” That His Spirit will indeed bear witness with your spirit . . . my spirit . . . that we are children of God. This speaks to my mother’s oft repeated testimony: “I am here to testify, without a doubt, that Jesus is my personal Savior.”
On the other hand, I have a growing concern about the growing number of Christians who do not understand the value and importance of “life in community.” Maybe you’ve heard the song: “It’s Just Jesus and Me on the Jericho Road . . . there’s room for just two.” Is this a growing trend? Are these Christian folks a growing demographic? Could this be a growing feature of the new reality in which we live and are striving to faithfully pursue an effective ministry? I think so.
Look. We Wesleyan-Holiness types must keep in creative tension a message to individuals to confess, and repent of one’s sin and the Lord’s invitation to life in authentic, Christian community. To be faithful to the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ includes both an embrace of the witness of the Spirit in the individual heart and the very clear call of our Lord to a life in a loving and spiritually active community.
Pastor Bud
