In light of the upcoming Missiology Lectures (November 13-15) at Fuller Seminary entitled, “Still a Pluralist? Lesslie Newbigin in theTwenty-First Century,” we begin a series of articles that highlight the role and contribution of historical interfaith pioneers.
Lesslie Newbigin
Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998) served as a missionary in India for almost forty years. Upon his retirement and return to his home country of England, Newbigin continued to write and his books from this latter part of his life continue to be some of the most influential sources for the contemporary missional movement. Perhaps more than any other writer, Newbigin has helped a current generation of pastors and theologians in Western countries to shed the old paradigm of missions as primarily what is done “overseas” in other countries. Following Newbigin, missional thinking emphasizes that wherever the church is it exists on mission to that culture. Following Jesus’ commission in John 20, “As the Father sent me, so I send you…”, all Christians are missionaries by virtue of being a disciple of Christ, and all contexts are places to which Christians are sent—whether home, work, or neighborhood.
The best entry into Newbigin’s approach to interfaith engagement is his essay, “The Basis, Purpose and Manner of Interfaith Dialogue” (1977).1 In this essay Newbigin offers a powerful metaphor of dialogue as occurring at the bottom of a stairway rather than at the top. Grace runs downhill, he argues, and the Christian meets his religious neighbor not at the height of his or her moral or theological achievements but at the bottom of the stairway, at the foot of the cross. The Christian is fundamentally a witness, not a judge or lawyer, who proclaims a testimony to having been changed by the grace of God. The Christian gospel always has a word of “yes” and “no” to every culture and every person. Consequently, in interfaith encounters the Christian must be prepared to hear a word of judgment on his life and apprehension of the Christian gospel. This creates an opportunity for repentance amidst dialogue, which is a vital witness to all those present.
1Available at http://www.newbigin.net/assets/pdf/77bpmi.pdf.
