Bulletin Number 109 ( 8th Sep 2007 ) Scarcely a month goes by without a story of a high-profile Christian figure hitting the media headlines for what might seem to be the wrong reasons. I remember the excitement over Glen Hoddle, the former England Football Manager who professed to being a Christian and then a little while afterwards he was sacked because he expressed views which reflected his belief in reincarnation, offending people with disabilities and alienating himself from the Christian community in the process. After that we had the story of Jonathan Edwards, the world triple jump champion and former presenter of Songs of Praise who has now moved away from the church. As if all this isn’t bad enough, we now have a book being published which features life-long faith struggles of the late Mother Teresa (click here).
I suspect that both Jonathan Edwards and Mother Teresa were subject to these pressures more than most. Have a look on my web site as Evangelism Bulletins 74 – 77 give a detailed explanation of the six stages of faith described by Fowler. My concern is not about these stories as such, painful and sad though some of them are. Psalm 73 gives a biblical example of someone struggling with faith but they win through in the end. My concern is over the way we deal with these situations within our churches and the way in which we make time for faith issues to be explored in a positive and affirming manner. It’s true that for those people who only attend church on a Sunday and don’t join a midweek group, there’s little we can do to assist them in the normal scheme of church life. I am a great fan of the Alpha course but I know that Alpha comes in for criticism from some quarters because of its evangelical / charismatic leanings. However, there are two ways of using Alpha:-
One of the great things about Fresh Expressions of Church is that some of them deliberately provide a space for faith-exploration and set no conditions upon where people will end up. That, for some church leaders, is scary but I believe it is necessary if we are going to reach out to people in 21st century Britain.  Jamieson points out (p120) that many churches set out their stall to attract Stage 3 people (Loyalists). Perhaps we will see the emergence of a new breed of church which affirms and encourages people who are more comfortable at Stage 4 (Critic).
For all her doubts, Mother Teresa is one of the few people who Fowler would rank as having reached Faith Stage 6 – Saint. On p203 of Stages of Faith he describes the experience which led her to sacrifice her own life for the sake of the abandoned children in Calcutta. If that isn’t the gospel in action, what is?
For more information on these bulletins and other matters relating to evangelism in the Nottingham and Derby District, contact Roger Johnson on 0115 923 5221 / 07913 252541 or email dee@ionian.co.uk
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In letters written to friends and confessors she writes, “Where is my faith? Even deep down there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. If there be a God — please forgive me.”