Plenary 3: Seeing The Bible As God’s Drama & Why The Future Of Mission Depends On It

In a Western context that is increasingly suspicious of, if not hostile toward, sources of supposed authority and at the same time, constantly presented with new ones, it is little wonder that questions about the authoritative role of Scripture have become such a pressing issue. Seeking a renewed imagination for mission in North America must involve turning our collective attention to how we understand and engage, corporately as well as personally, the Bible. The Bible is not a document. It is the unfolding Drama of God. As Christians, it is our one and true Story of God for the whole world. Its authority in Christ is extended into our very lives by the invitation of the Spirit as we participate in the Triune Mission. We therefore cannot know its authority apart from mission. Indeed, we only truly know and experience its authority over our lives in the hearing of it as His Word and responding to it in obedience as we join in with God and His Mission. In an increasingly secular post-Christianized society therefore, the proclamation of God’s Word is the center point for the manifestation of the authority of God’s Word in the world. The future of the gospel in mission demands we examine how we preach, how we submit to preaching, how indeed God funds the imagination for His work in the world. It is proclamation not information, from God’s Drama not a textbook, which always leads to invitation and response.

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