Books

I believe this is a very important book for Christians who want engage missionally in the world to read. Lessie Newbigin’s book, “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society” deals with the question, how is one to preach the gospel in a society where people question the ability to know truth, and have a wide range of religions backgrounds. We can not merely quote Bible verses and speak of the Bible as the truth, when the world doesn’t except the bible as truth, we must go deeper, and be more thoughtful.

One of the themes that surfaces through out the book is how we see the gospel. The gospel is not just about individuals going to heaven when they die, but it is about joining the mission of God in redeeming the world back to Himself. This theme even carries over into his view of election, “To be elect in Christ Jesus, and there is no other election, means to be incorporated into his mission to the world, to be the bearer of God’s saving purpose for his whole world, to be the sign and the agent and the firstfruit of his blessed kingdom which is for all.” (p. 86-87)

Out of all of the chapters, however, the one that was the most helpful to me was his chapter on “The Gospel and Other Religions.” Lessie is makes clear that Jesus is God’s Son, and that it is only through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that anyone can be saved. At the same time he sees the question, “Who can be saved?” as flawed. In that we are only asking “Can the good non-Christian be saved?” And what we mean is not, “Can the non-Christian live a good and useful life and play a good and useful role in the life of society,” but we are only asking “Where will she go when she dies?” The question is flawed because . . . 1) It is God’s place to judge ultimate destinies, not ours. 2) It is a question concentrating on abstraction of the individuals soul after death. It is ignoring the “full reality of the human person as an actor and sufferer in the ongoing history of the world.” (p. 178) Salvation deals as much with God’s plan on earth as humanity as it does with what happens after death. 3) “That question starts with the individual and his or her need to be assured of ultimate happiness, and not with God and his glory.” We should start with the question, “How shall God be glorified? How shall his amazing grace be known and celebrated and adored?” (p. 179)

So we ought to tell the story of Jesus, the story of the Bible. It is not our job to convert that is up to the Holy Spirit. It is our job to live out the gospel of Jesus in a world that desperately needs it.