What I learned from George Hunsberger

As I reflect on my notes from the “Culture, Gospel and Church” study conference last October, I think it might be helpful to share some key points made by speaker George Hunsberger.

What is the gospel?

• It’s the story that chooses us. North American culture has trained us to think we choose God. But Jesus said, “The reign of God is at hand” and “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” Our unexamined version of the gospel is consumeristic, leading to a “what’s in it for me?” mentality. We have a sense that we choose what works. We fail to understand our role as a body on a mission. The gospel tells us that the reign of God is already afoot in the world! Do you see it?
• It’s participation versus acquisition. If the gospel is about God coming, not about me and my salvation, then our question must not be “how will this assure me,” but “how will I participate?”
• It’s weakness and shame. As a result of our consumerist overlay, we have lost touch with the call to join Christ and identify with his death. If we think we’re part of a triumphant army, is the cross just a utility item to usher us into triumphalism and pride? The cross was so shameful in first century that people avoided using the term in conversation. Yet the church insisted on referring to it. Christians would never have worn it as jewellery. Rather they laid down their lives in honour of the weakness and shame it stood for. Can we recapture that?

What’s our missional posture in light of the gospel redefined?

• Culture, church, and gospel must engage in missionary dialogue. The church – Christians individually and corporately – needs to engage the public by talking with them, not to them. We must see the gospel as “public truth.” That is, what we discern to be true from our Bible study must connect specifically to public issues and needs.

  Addressing injustice or poverty or systemic problems is a way to fulfill this. Worship should be redefined as service to others, not as a “service” for consumer Christians gathering on a Sunday morning. To sum up, our cultural dialogue informs us, as the church of Jesus Christ, how to relate the gospel. But our re-examination of the gospel revises how we believe and how we portray God and his reign within our culture.

• We must have the right attitudes.
  • A spirit of companionship – with each other as Christians and with culture.
  • Humility in truth-telling – much more dialogical and incarnational.
  • Particularity in discourse – avoid generalizing groups of people. Get to know people individually and relate the gospel specifically.
  • Courage in public action – don’t be afraid to go against the powers of this world.

What is truth and the community of Christ?

• Don’t go to church . . . BE the church! When Hunsberger taught at Regent College in Vancouver, he met an Asian woman who converted from Buddhism by becoming acquainted with Jesus through reading the gospels. She tried several churches, but had a hard time finding the type of incarnational, living community described in her Bible. It was a sad disappointment for her.
• We must follow Jesus together. Discipleship is not only an individual matter. We must learn to disciple a congregation as a whole; to create communities of moral discernment. Only together can we pull off civil challenges. Church is about equipping our people for engaging in public conversation.
• We’re the community of the true. In our quest for truth, we need to remember:
  • Truth is a Person – there is only one who is Truth (John 14:6).
  • Truth is perspectival – the gospel is always embodied in culturally conditioned words.
  • Truth is practiced – if truth is Jesus, then truth practiced is Jesus practiced.

I hope these points will provide a framework and agenda to provoke good dialogue and a chance to grapple with important things. I invite you to engage with me and the Board of Faith and Life in this good work.

David Wiebe is the executive director of the Canadian conference. You can contact him through email.