10 02 16 Sunday Sermon Traditions Duane & Diane Bristow

In one paragraph

Duane Bristow, a missionary with the Navajo Brethren in Christ Mission, brought the message this Sunday. Drawing from John 1 and 14, he asked whether the way Christians carry the gospel to others is truly incarnational, or whether it amounts to imposing one culture's religious habits on another. The word he kept returning to was a question every believer has to answer for themselves. He opened by...

Read together

1. Isaiah 43:19 quoted to illustrate God doing something new, making rivers in the desert, applied to incarnational ministry
2. John 1:1-3, 14 quoted in two versions to establish the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us as the foundation of incarnational ministry
3. 1 Corinthians 11:13-16 quoted to illustrate how missionaries imposed cultural standards on native people regarding hair and appearance
4. John 14:5-11 quoted as Thomas and Philip's questions to Jesus about the way and seeing the Father, with Jesus answering 'I am the way, the truth, and the life' and 'if you have seen me you have seen the Father'
5. Colossians 2:20 quoted to contrast impositional religion with incarnational ministry, noting that self-imposed rules have no value against corrupt desires

Talk about it

1. Duane described how God spoke to him through Isaiah 43:19, 'I am going to do something new. It is already happening.' Where in your own life have you sensed God doing something new that you nearly missed because you were too busy with day-to-day activity?
2. Duane drew a contrast between early missionaries who told Native people to cut their hair, change their clothes, and stop using their instruments, and Jesus who came and took on the language, clothes, and culture of the people he came to. What assumptions do we carry about what a Christian is supposed to look like or sound like, and how might those assumptions get in the way of sharing the gospel?
3. Duane asked whether our message is incarnational or impositional, and defined imposing as forcing something unwelcome to be accepted or taking advantage of someone by demanding their attention or commitment. Can you think of a time when you or someone you know communicated faith in a way that felt more like imposing than revealing? What made the difference?
4. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus answered, 'Have I been with you this long and you have not seen the Father? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.' Duane turned this into a personal question: could you say to someone, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father? What would need to change in your life for that to be true?
5. Duane read from Colossians 2 that self-imposed rules and harsh treatment of the body have no value for holding back the constant desires of our corrupt nature, and said the only thing that can do that is allowing the incarnate word of God to have control of our lives. What does that kind of surrender look like in practice, and where do you find it hardest to let go of your own religious rules or habits?