There and Back Again: Part 2

Laura and I take times of debriefing and processing seriously. These times are sacred to us because we feel that God reveals himself in profound and life changing ways. So, after several weeks of prayer and debriefing with family and friends, it is now time to finish my blog about our survey trip with a bit of insight into some of the things we learned, as well as to share some of the questions that remain in our hearts. 

The most significant thing we continually witness is the reality of unbelief in England. We have mentioned before when considering the rapid state of decline of belief in American cities that England is a generation or two further along in unbelief. In discussions with people in London, Leicester, and Moldal, Sweden, we learned that most people see the church as irrelevant spiritually, but useful for aiding social services. God is called irrelevant and Jesus simply a man interested in helping the poor. Therefore church is a tool to aid in the services of those less fortunate. What a dismal view of God and his church. Certainly God has called his church to serve all humanity. However, we cannot sum up the Kingdom of God so simply. 

A significant result of this mentality is that many people view church as meant for those "less fortunate." They view Christianity as illogical. Therefore, it is unthinkable for an educated person, or a person who is able to process the world in a logical way, to view the church as revealing truth.

The good news is that God's work is evident in the UK. Men and women of God have been raised up to lead churches to reach deep into these assumptions and beliefs in order to instill the truth of God and his Kingdom. There are a number of new works rising from within London that are committed to rebuilding a foundation of belief. We have seen first hand churches like Christ Church Mayfair, St. John's Chelsea, Urban Expression, Holy Trinity Brompton, and many others, wrestle with this deep rooted unbelief and misunderstanding of Jesus and his Church. These churches are leading the charge into a new world of Post-Christianity.

Some of the leaders in these churches have challenged us to become aware of the challenges we will face as Americans. The English are very leery of Americans starting new churches. It is often difficult for people to understand the difference between a state run church (the Church of England) and a church with no organizational leadership or direct connection to a hierarchical system (like the church of Christ). They are hesitant to open themselves up to people who do not seek to link themselves with the credibility of an established British church or organization.  This has raised many questions for us concerning our own credibility. How do we help raise our probability of successfully breaking through many of these barriers we have encountered? One short answer is to find a church planting organization who will help establish that credibility for us. Co-Mission is one such option with which we are looking to partner. 

These are just a few of the things that we took away from this survey trip. We learned more than we have discussed here, however, some of what we have learned we are continuing to process. Feel free to ask any question you have about our trip and we will try to answer them as best we can.

Stay tuned for future blogs about the new work we are a part of here in Nashville, TN, fund raising efforts, preaching through The Story, and much more. Also make sure you check out our family blog. Laura has been doing a great job giving an insight into our family life.