Latest / Chapel Talks / Preparing for the Global Church | Acts 13 | Eben Adu

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Preparing for the Global Church | Acts 13 | Eben Adu · Chapel Talks

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Yeah, good to be here. I think this might be
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my probably third or fourth time I've been here.
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So Oak Hill is becoming my second family home.
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And anytime I come here, we have healthy conversation
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with James and I can see Chris up there and seeing
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what God is doing over here. And I think that
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looking at how London is and London is changing
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and UK and our world is changing being trained
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in a theological institution like this should
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be taken very seriously so that we can be well
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positioned to go in and resource the church and
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also be a blessing to our world and so when I
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was asked to come and share. I was thinking,
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what should I talk about? But I think with some
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time of prayer, I felt it's very important to
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talk about being prepared for the global world
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and church. I'm sure you are not new to this.
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You know, our world is changing. It's becoming
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more global. The church is more getting diverse.
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Even here, I mean, when I look at the band guys
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on the stage, it shows diversity. So it reflects
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the world we live in. And so I just thought it
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would be good to share that. But before that,
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I go into what I'm going to talk about today.
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Last Sunday, I was in a church in Hurston, in
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Hunslow, and I was having a chat with James,
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and I told him I had an experience. That more
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or less confirmed the calling on my life. I went
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to this church, which is predominantly, I would
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say, African. But it's got some Caribbeans and
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a couple of Irish guys there and then a few other
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cultures. But they are situated in a heavily
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Asian demographic. About 61 % were Asian. And
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so the service, when I went in there, they were
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having a worship and all that. I was part of
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the worship, but... They were using a kind of
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song and singing a song, and I would say the
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drumming and everything, which more akin to the
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African or Ghanaian type of music. But I saw
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they were jubilating, they were happy, praising
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God, and most of them were first -generation,
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I would say, Ghanaians. But I felt a sense of
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overwhelming emotion. that I started having tears
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down my face, and I was wondering what's going
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on. And so I had to just sit down and get a tissue
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to wipe the tears. But it became intense, very,
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very intense, the way she was going on. So the
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impression I had was that it's more or less the
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Lord confirming his call on my life and saying
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that this is what I've called you for. Meaning
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that I've called you to bridge the gap between
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Christianity expressed in the majority world,
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particularly Africa and that of the West. And
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so when you die and you are laid in state, you
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should be known or seen as somebody who tried
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to bridge that gap, that theological tension.
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that diverse Christian expression. So when I
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was invited to go and preach, I was just going
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on with the message and this emotion came again.
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Very strong that I had to pause. I was making
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a very strong point and I had to pause. And I
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left the service last Sunday knowing that that
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is one of my main calling. is to help Christians,
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help believers, and even non -believers to understand
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that we are called as God's people, but we are
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one. We may have different theological positions.
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We may come from different cultures, but we live
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in a world that is totally different. And can
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I just give you the next slide? If we look at
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the world that we live in now, There's a global
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shift of Christianity from the west to the global
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south, what is known as the majority world. And
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then majority of Christians now live in Africa,
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Asia, and Latin America. The church is no longer
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western, it's a bit global, and more or less
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in the global south. In 1900, the population
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of Christians within the Western space was 80%.
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Now it's about, it's around 30%. That means about
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70 % of Christians, around 65 to 70 % of Christians
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now live in a global South. So the demographic
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is changing rapidly. Let me just give you a breakdown.
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In Africa alone, we are about 30 % Christians.
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In Latin America, 25%. And then Asia, 17%. And
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Europe, about 22%. And then even North America,
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10%. So Christianity has not declined. It has
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relocated to other parts of the world. So there's
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Christianity in the UK, in England, in Europe,
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in North America. But majority of Christians
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are in other parts of the world. And some of
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you here might be preparing yourself to do missions
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in that part of the world. But we also have to
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understand that the nations are now here. All
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right. So on this background or backdrop, I would
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like us to read again, I think. The mission of
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call of the church in Antioch. And if you look
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at the church in Antioch, it consisted of that
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diverse team. A team that wasn't from one ethnic
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background. And it was a worshiping community
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of a church where they prayed. The Bible says
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that they prayed, they fasted. And then the Spirit
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can send Paul and Barnabas or Saul and Barnabas
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to the mission field. So the Antioch church,
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next slide, please. The Antioch church was a
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multicultural leadership. Yeah, the next slide.
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It wasn't a monocultural leadership. It was a
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multicultural leadership. It was also a spiritual
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worshiping community. It was an ascending church,
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and it reflected a global church that we have
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today. And I think that this environment, or
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the Antioch Church environment, looks like even
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what we're trying to do here at Hokio, bringing
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people from different backgrounds, training them,
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shaping them. Having a time of fellowship and
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worshiping and then being sent out to other parts
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of the world. And this is very, very important
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in our world, particularly if we are trainers,
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as theologians and as pastors, that we understand
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that we are not living in a world that is monocultural.
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We live in a very diverse world. a diverse city,
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and we have to have that mindset, that preparation
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in order to do that. If you look at even the
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leadership of the Antioch Church, we have saw
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who is by heritage is Jewish, but by birth is
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a Roman. And so he came from a very diverse background,
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and God called him into the Gentiles to do the
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missionary work. If you look at a gentleman called
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Lucius of Cyrene, he was from what is known as
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Libya or North Africa. Manion was connected to
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the Herodian royal household, so he came from
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a more elite background. And you have Simeon
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of Niger. It is likely he came from African descent
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because the word Niger, the name Niger, from
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a Latin means black or dark. So there's a likelihood.
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So you see a very diverse team. And I think that
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if you are being prepared for ministry, if it's
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in London, which is very diverse, or any part
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of the UK, or any world, city, major city, you
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must be prepared that you are going to meet people
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who are different from you. You must have that
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at the back of your mind. Because in the past,
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people have gone to study theology or been trained
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theologically and gone out there and did not
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know what to do with the cultures that God brought
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to them. Or you may even be in the church at
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the moment that you are seeing people who are
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coming from different backgrounds into the church
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and have no idea what to do. What do we do with
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them? That's the expression. What do we do with
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them? They are our brothers and sisters. And
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we must find ways of engaging. So I want to talk
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about six critical pointers that we should consider.
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The first one is that UK or London or most major
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cities of the world are mission field. So UK
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is now, or London is now a mission field. Why?
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Because the nations are here. The days where
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people have to study cultural mission and communication
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and learn other cultures, to travel far, they
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are still relevant, but the nations are here.
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God has brought them to our doorstep. So we might
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be ready to engage. And we must also be culturally
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intelligent. I'm going to talk about that and
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unpack that. We must also be religiously aware.
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What do I mean by that? We must know that people
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who have different faith around us. And then
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we must also have a level of understanding of
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diaspora communities. Those people are coming
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from other parts of the world. We need to know
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them. And then fifthly, we must be ecclesiastically
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aware. We may have come from different traditions.
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We have to find a way of knowing other people
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who may not profess or hold the tradition that
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you hold. And then we must have an understanding
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of intergenerational formation engagement. Because
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we live in days where we have different people
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in our churches, and particularly young people.
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And we have to find a way of engaging them. So
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first of all, let me look at the first one that
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UK, Well, London is a mission field. And Matthew
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9, 37, 38 says, Then he said to his disciples,
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The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are
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few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
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to send out workers into his harvest field. UK
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used to send a lot of missionaries to other parts
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of the world, particularly in Africa and other
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global south countries. But now, UK is a mission
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field. And we must be prepared to reach out to
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those who the Lord has brought to us. There are
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people who come from other parts of the world
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who are not Christians at all. And we must be
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ready to share the faith with them. So UK is
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no longer a place where has a huge number of
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missionaries being sent to other parts of the
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world. It's rather the other non -Western countries
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who are doing so. So we must move from maintenance
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to mission. What do I mean by that? It shouldn't
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be church as usual. We shouldn't go to church
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and just warm the pews and just maintain the
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church and see the same old faces. We must trust
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God to reach out and be intentional about mission
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and go out there and talk to people who are not
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Christians. And we shouldn't see the decline.
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Normally, the research shows that, I'm going
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to talk about the choir revival research today,
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shows that, you know, it's been said that Christianity
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is in a decline in the West or in the UK. And
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let's see this idea of decline as opportunity,
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not as something that we will despair. When there's
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a decline, it means that we must go out there
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and reach out to people. And then we must be
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intentional about evangelism. There's a need
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for us to be very intentional about evangelism
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in terms of how we reach out to people. It's
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not just talking to people and organizing events.
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Any event or anything we do in our churches must
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have the purpose to it in terms of trusting that
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the Lord will open opportunity for others to
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be saved. So we must do that. We must build relationships
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with other people and also be praying for people
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to be saved. The church in Antioch was a praying
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church. You cannot do mission now without prayer.
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I'm not talking about prayer now. I'm from Africa,
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and so I understand what prayer is. But prayer
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must underget even our theological formation
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so that it's not about getting information and
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having a lot of knowledge. but it is bathed in
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prayer. And that sharpens your theological understanding.
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So we must understand that the UK is now a mission
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field and God is calling us to reach out to the
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lost. The second point I want us to look at is
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that we must be culturally aware or intelligent,
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what I call cultural intelligence. 1 Corinthians
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9 .22, Paul says that to the weak I became weak,
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to win the weak. And he said, I have become all
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things to all people so that by all possible
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means I might save them. Paul wasn't compromising
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the gospel, but he wanted to make sure that he
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understood people. The gospel word is unchanging,
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but the world we live in is changing. The unchanging
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word. God must be proclaiming a way that the
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changing world we live in, I do understand. And
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it means that we must understand cultures deeply.
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You can have a superficial understanding of a
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culture without going deeper to know why they
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do what they do. Some of you here are from different
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backgrounds. The question is how deep do you
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know one another? in terms of their cultures.
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Are you more interested in the food the person
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eats? Are you interested in their background?
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You sit down with them to ask them questions.
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Why do you do what you do? Because sometimes
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we may have blind spots without knowing that.
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Some people may see cultures through their own
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cultural lens, what we call ethnocentrism. So
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everything must be fitted to their lens. If you
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don't do things the way Ghanaians do, then you
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are not doing right. If you don't do the way
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English do things, then you are not doing right.
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As I always say, culture is not sacrosanct. Culture
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is espoused by people and it's fallible. Women
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espouse culture. We form culture and we are fallible.
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We are fallen. Only God's word is infallible.
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So we must learn to know people and listen before
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speaking. We are quick to speak. I like to talk.
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And sometimes I'm at fault, not listening well.
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I quickly want to, once you finish a sentence,
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I come out with something else. Sometimes you
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just have to be quiet and listen to what the
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other is saying. to properly understand where
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the person is coming from. And then we must adapt
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without compromising the truth. As I said earlier
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on, I'm not talking about compromising the gospel.
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The gospel, God's word is unchanging, but we
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live in a changing world. So we must learn to
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adapt and know other people by being faithful
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to the gospel. Being faithful to that is very,
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very important so that we can be able to engage
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meaningfully. I was talking to James and I said
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earlier, I was saying that you just, we must
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go beyond how you're doing and how are things
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and sit down with people and get to know them
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better. Invite them to come and eat. Don't say
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that the African or the Asian culture is communal.
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I think all cultures, if you want to be communal,
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you can be communal. Yes, build trust with people
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and invite them to come and eat at home and share
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fellowship. When you do that, you get to know
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people more. It's not enough to say hi to people
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and that is it. If you really care about them,
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you want to know more. The next point I want
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us to consider is we might be religiously aware.
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Acts chapter 17, 22 to 23, when Paul was an Areopagus,
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he realized that the guys were very religious.
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I like the expression that all they did was to
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just sit around and try and talk about new ideas,
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new philosophies. But Paul used their religiosity.
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to engage them. And the UK is religiously diverse.
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We have Hinduism, we have Islam, Sikhism, and
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secularism, and people who don't even want to
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belong to any faith in a way. So the UK is diverse.
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Your next door neighbor might not be Christian.
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Your next door neighbor might be somebody from
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the Islamic faith. And so you must find a way
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of being aware of them and we must engage other
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faith wisely you know sometimes you can be very
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you know antagonistic when it comes to engaging
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other faith you know the gospel Christ is the
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only way and that's it and sometimes people can
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be very you know too hard to the point that they
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don't want to even hear other people and listen
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to where they're coming from You don't compromise
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your Christian values and faith by listening
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to somebody who might not share your faith so
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that you can find a way of engaging the person.
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And the God Spirit might use that to get a person
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saved. So let us not be dismissive of other people
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who may not share our faith, but find a way of
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engaging them. I'm not saying compromise your
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faith. I'm not saying just about dialogue and
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nothing else. Oh, we are all the same, going
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on the same. place. That's not what I'm talking
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about. Sometimes when people talk about dialogue,
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it's like, oh, I just want to know a bit about
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your faith and you know mine, and that's all.
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That's not what I'm talking about. Yeah, know
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a bit about them, but trust that the Lord can
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use you to reach out to them. And then we must
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speak truth with humility. Sometimes we can come
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across as arrogant, even when you are sharing
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your faith. It takes humility for somebody to
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even listen to you. You can have the truth, but
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the way you communicate it can push somebody
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off. I'm not saying that the gospel is not offensive.
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It is. But sometimes the way, the posture that
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we may carry can cause somebody to just be defensive
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and not ready to listen to you. So we must ask
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the Lord to always help us to have some level
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of humility when we are speaking to people, particularly
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those of other faith. And then the very important
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point I want us to look at is diaspora engagement.
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The nations are here among us. As I said earlier
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on. You can still prepare and go to Ghana and
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do missions in Ghana, but Ghana is one of the
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growing Christian nations in the world. Most
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Ghanaians are now here with the gospel. So the
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nations are here, and some come without their
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faith. They come without any Christian faith
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at all. So we must learn to also engage them.
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But some of them also come here with their faith.
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It has been said that the African is notoriously
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religious, or I would say persistently, or, I
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mean, ardently religious. It means that the African
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doesn't mean words with his or her faith. Everywhere
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they go, they carry their faith. And most Africans
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are... come from the Christian background, or
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I would say Ghanaians. And they are here in this
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country. Some of our planted churches in London.
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When you go out to this place and maybe travel
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a few miles from here, you'll find a church that
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belongs to somebody from Africa or Ghana. And
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the planted church is here. So we must know that
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the nations are here. And we must welcome and
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also learn from them. Learn from them. The church
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I went to over the weekend, The way they praise
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God, they praise God with some vibrancy energy.
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Maybe your tradition is not like that. It doesn't
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mean that. Just, okay, what can I learn from
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that energy of praising God? What can I learn
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from them? Add to what I know. What a beauty.
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to learn from other people and enrich your experience.
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I was still in the church over the weekend. I
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was preaching. I come from a background where
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when we're praying, when we say let's pray, people
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pray simultaneously and pray very loud. Okay?
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I don't know. Even when I was in Korea, it was
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the same. Koreans pray with a lot of energy and
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loudness. When I came to the UK, I realized it's
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nothing like that, particularly most churches.
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They pray in tents, all right? So the tradition
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is when you pray, I have to wait for you to finish
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your prayer, and then I will then join in. And
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sometimes people from our background think this
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is not powerful enough. They will tell you the
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fire of the Holy Spirit is not so strong there
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because of the way they pray. They pray very
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quiet. But I said to them, you have to listen
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and also know that God hears that level of prayer.
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God is in the quiet and is in the loudness. God
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appreciates when sometimes you desperately cry
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to him. And you also appreciate when people are
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silent before him and meditating and reflecting.
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The God we serve is diverse. He's not nervous
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when we do things in a diverse way. He's not.
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We human beings are quite nervous, but God is
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not. He understands diversity. And so let's learn.
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And then also learn to partner in God's mission.
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We can do... a lot with other people from other
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parts of the world we can reach our communities
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we can reach their own rich people when we partner
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with other people and and this is very important
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we might also be ecclesiastically aware or our
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ecclesial awareness the bible says in and ephesians
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4 46 says there is one body one spirit Just as
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you were called to one hope when you were called,
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one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and
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the Father of all, who is over all and through
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all and in all. We must learn to work together
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with diverse bodies who express different traditions.
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We must understand the traditions. You may come
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from a Reformed background. You may come from
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a conservative evangelical background. You may
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come from a typical, maybe, Pentecostal background.
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but learn from one another so that we can. We
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may not fully agree on certain secondary things,
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but we're all God's children. As long as we stay
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faithful to the core tenets of the Christian
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faith, there are some things we may not be able
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to. Understand. You are different. I read this
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very important statement or observation by one
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professor, Frank Macchia. He's a professor of
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Christian theology from Vanguard University in
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South California. And I just want to read this
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for your understanding or for your consideration.
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It reads, I desperately need this gets called
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the church. My tendency is to surround myself
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with people I enjoy being with, who I feel compliment
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me. It is fine to enjoy the company of such people.
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Friendship, that is often uplifting. But it goes
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on to say that, but to be like Christ, I need
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to have my soul expounded beyond this. Beyond
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this, becoming close to others who are different
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from me and especially who I may not particularly
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enjoy being with. People who are different from
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you that you may not particularly enjoy being
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with culturally, church traditionally. But sometimes
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you must learn to do so for the sake of the gospel.
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And we must collaborate across differences. We
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can do things with other people. Anglicans can
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work with Pentecostals. Baptists can work with
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Presbyterians for the sake of the kingdom. It
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doesn't mean cede your or let go of your tradition.
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You be loyal to your church tradition, but I
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can work with other people. So as I conclude,
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Let me look at this last one before I conclude.
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You must also be intergenerationally aware. That's
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intergenerational formation engagement. Psalm
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145 verse 4 says, if we fail to engage and disciple
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the younger generation, we are... No, that is
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not it. I'm just coaching the word. Let me just
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read Psalm 145 verse 4. One generation commends
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your works to another. It's very important that
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if we fail to... engage and disciple the younger
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generation, we are not just losing the future,
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we are failing to present the mission of the
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church. The choir revival shows that even though
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there's the idea that church is declining in
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the UK, among the young people, many people,
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particularly those with an ethnic minority background,
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are coming to the faith. Those within the 18
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to 24 year kind of demographic. And I can bear
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testimony of that. I know friends who are pastoring
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churches that are attracting very young people
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who are desperate for God. And so in our missional
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work in our churches, and as we prepare to engage
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the global church and the cities that we find
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ourselves, we might be aware of the intergenerational
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differences so that we can build strong churches
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that are intergenerational. As Paul said that
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Timothy had his faith. given to him or transferred
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to him by the grandmom through the grandmom to
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the mom to him. There was an intergenerational
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connection. We must learn to pass our faith to
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the younger generation. And that is the beauty
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of any church that represents what God has called
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that church to be. So as I conclude, the Antioch
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church or model was or is a diverse one. And
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it was spiritually formed, very, very active
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spiritual kind of church. But also after they
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gathered and were able to see God's face, it
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was a missional church. They sent people out.
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We cannot build churches and we cannot be part
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of churches that maintain people and not send
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them out to do God's work. At Oak Hill, and Oak
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Hill is a typical example. As people come here,
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they have been prepared to go out there and minister
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to a church or a world that is diverse. And I
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think that let us not take our experience at
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Oak Hill for granted. You might be here for three
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years, two years, but it is a very important
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part of your journey, your Christian journey
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or ministry formation. Very important. I remember
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back home in Ghana when I did my BA, I was within
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a campus like that, an environment like that,
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and that environment shaped me very well. And
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when I went to South Korea, the same thing. I
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was in an environment with people from China,
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people from Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria,
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from all parts of the world in South Korea. And
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that enriched my... cross -cultural, multi -ethnic,
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intercultural perspective on mission. And I think
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what you are doing here is very important. I
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don't take it for granted. By the time you blink,
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your training here is over. You'll be sent out
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to the world. The question is that, were you
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prepared? Are we prepared for the global world
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and church? And any theological education now
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that is fit for purpose must train people for
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the global world and church. It must shape their
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thinking. So I want to end with this prayer that
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the Lord would prepare us so that we can serve
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across cultures to engage in a diverse world.
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And to be sent wherever the Lord calls us. Some
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of you may be sent to places that you may be
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contemplating. What next after my training here?
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Be ready to hear what the Lord is saying to you.
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He might send you somewhere among migrant communities
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that might be different from your comfort zone.
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You might be prepared. He might send you among
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Ghanians. And you are not raised from that culture.
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You must be prepared. They must send you overseas.
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You must be prepared. Modern Day Mission is both
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overseas and also next door. You can travel somewhere.
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That's great. But it's also next door. So I want
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us to just let me pray with you before I say,
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if you don't mind, let's pray. Let's pray. Father,
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we thank you. We give you praise for calling
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us into your mission. We come from diverse backgrounds
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and traditions, but you've called us to be one
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in you. In Christ, in you, we are one. Your spirit
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calls us to the nations for the purpose of making
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them known that Christ died for them. We live
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in a very challenging world at the moment. There
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are wars all over the world, all over the place.
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But Lord, prepare us from this place to be sent
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to the mission field where we are culturally
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aware. We are aware of our differences, but we
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seek to work together. May you prepare us and
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embody us where we are weak and anxious. and
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afraid, we surrender all of that to you. May
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you take absolute control of who we are so that
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we can be assured that you are with us to the
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end of the age. May you empower us by your spirit.
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May you give us the boldness and the confidence
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to do what you've called us to do. When we face
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challenges, Give us the grace to rest in you.
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Lord, we thank you for what you are doing in
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our lives. And we also pray for the leadership
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of Oak Hill, that you will continue to shape
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them and prepare the ordinance, the ministers,
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the pastors, those who come through these doors
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to be prepared for the global world and the church.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you. In Jesus' name
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I pray. Amen.