The Flaw of the Excluded Middle

I wrote this paper for a recent Northern Training Institute Seminar Day. My original conclusion is included in a footnote. As we discussed the issue a different conclusion came out and so I’ve tried to rewrite it accordingly. Any suggestions or thoughts, especially from those in the context I’m writing about, please make them!

 

Evaluate the significance of Paul Hiebert’s understanding of the ‘excluded middle’.

Introduction

This issue is of particular interest to me coming to a context in South Africa where animism or ‘traditional religion’ (a more neutral term favoured by some[1]) is very much part of the culture among the indigenous peoples. In recent years there has been a massive increase, especially in sub-Saharan Africa of converts to Christianity. John Mbiti writes: “In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). This number has since grown rapidly, to the point that in 1980 there are estimated to be 200 million Christians (or about 45 per cent of the population).”[2]  By the year 2000 one statistic that was given was that there were 380 million Christians in Africa.

 
However with this massive growth have come questions about the interrelation between traditional African religion and Christianity. John Mbiti has written extensively on the subject and is a great advocate for the commonality between African religion and Christianity. The problem has come because many people have taken Jesus as Lord, but still visit the witch doctor for protection. As Bryant Myers notes: “People try to live as Christians in their spiritual life and be like good moderns in their material life, while still being bound to their animism. This explains the actions of some Christians who go to their doctor for medical advice, ask the church to pray for healing, and visit the shaman at night.”[3]

 
What has gone wrong with the preaching of the gospel in these contexts that has resulted in such a seemingly compartmentalised life? Paul Hiebert, followed by Bruce Bradshaw and Byrant Myers argue that the problem has resulted in not understanding the worldview and context of the people the gospel has been taken to, and thus not addressing every area that needs addressing.

According to them there is a blind spot that Westerners have to a very significant area of life for many people in the world (not just in Africa). The result is that of the ‘excluded middle’.

Not afraid? ‘You will be…’

My friend Stephen Murry wrote a very challenging article on his blog: http://stephenmurray.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/are-white-christians-scared/

It is worth reading and thinking about.

In it he raises the issue of comfortable ‘white’ churches in South Africa. Perhaps if you are reading this in the UK you can read it as comfortable ‘middle class’ churches in the UK. As I was thinking about Stephen’s honesty it struck me that Jesus was afraid too. As he knelt praying to his Father in the garden of Gethsemane he was sweating so much that it was like blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). The thought of Hell that he was about to go through was petrifying…and yet he did, so that we don’t have to.

On that final day, can we look at the Lord Jesus with the nail marks still in his hands and say ‘I know you did that for me, but I was not willing to do it for you, even though what you asked was less’?

Here’s Stephen’s article:

Brothers, blow the trumpet for the unborn – catch a fire

 

Last night my wife, Duncan and myself watched ‘Catch a fire’ – a film about one man’s involvement in the ANC during the 1980’s.  It’s a film worth watching…

At the end my wife said “I wonder how people could have got to the stage of thinking that way about other people.” We talked a bit about the culture, the propaganda, the entire world view that led to the discrimination we witnessed in the film. Jo then said “What will people look back on us and say ‘I wonder how they could not have spoken out against…’”

What was our answer? Abortion.

God’s Movement – Acts 11

On Sunday I’m preaching on Acts 11.

One of the most striking things from our series on Acts is the fact that the movement you see taking place is unquestionably God’s movement. Humanly speaking everything is against it succeeding. People are out to stop the followers of Jesus through physical force, the apostles appear completely disorganised (how often do you find them having to send someone to a place to find out what God has been doing there?!). And yet the movement keeps on going. It crosses racial and religious and cultural boundaries in an unprecedented way.

Gamaliel was right in Acts 5. If the movement was of human origin, it was bound to fail. But if it is a movement of God then that’s a whole other matter.

The video below is designed to illustrate this…

Tim Chester’s talks from the Total Church Conference

Tim Chester has just started posting his talks from the Total Church conference – well worth a read…

Eating together as enacted grace (Luke 5) #1

How would you complete the sentence: ‘The Son of Man came …’? There are three ways that the New Testament completes that sentence.

1. ‘The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (Mark 10:45 esv)

2. ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.’ (Luke 19:10)

3. ‘The Son of Man came eating and drinking.’ (Luke 7:34)

The first two are statements of purpose. Why did Jesus come? He came to serve, to give his life as a ransom, to seek and save the lost. Only the third is a statement of method. How did Jesus come? He came eating and drinking.

David Powlison on counselling

This is very funny… plus Powlison has some useful things to say on it below. (thanks to ‘Between two Worlds’ http://theologica.blogspot.com/ for this…)

“Newhart’s wit also creates a perfect foil for understanding the contrast between what our world offers and the riches of biblical counseling. Here are a half dozen contrasts:

1. The Bible gives a vision for lifelong transformation and mutual aid – as well as for the 5-minute moment of insight, or the 5-week and 5-month seasons of change, or the 5-year unfolding movement of progressive transformation and deepening. “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” The encouragements of the gospel of grace meet us again and again. They are always new-to-you in some way. Yet they always embrace the Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

2. Our Father never simply says “Stop it!” to the Katherine Bigmans or anyone else. He knows we can’t change on our own.