Indigenous principle vs. pilgrim principle

During the last 5 weeks I have been preaching on the gospel-centered life. The statement that I have repeated over and over is this:
"If you know what the Bible says and you are not practicing it then though the gospel make be clear to you it still isn't real."

Last Sunday I preached on "The tension in gospel-centered living." I owe a debt of appreciation to Andrew Walls and Dr. Piper for allowing me to borrow liberally from their writing, teaching and preaching.

During the last month we have been focusing on the “cross-centered life”

1. Understanding the gospel
2. Preaching the gospel
3. Living the gospel

Last week we looked at Philippines Chapter 1 which can be outlined in the following way:

➢ Make the gospel the priority of fellowship with other believers
➢ Make the gospel the priority of our prayer life
➢ Make the gospel the priority in all life circumstances especially in suffering
➢ Make the gospel the priority in our self denial ministry to others

The word fellowship actually means partnership, which could be defined as conformity to a vision that involves self-sacrifice.

If you know what to do practically like:
Financial giving and doing all things without grumbling and complaining
But you don’t live this way
Then the gospel may be clear to you but it’s not real

Illustration – a woman asked a question about her boss who was treating her with abuse emotionally and verbally she said that her gifts were teaching and exhortation and not mercy so how do you have mercy for people like her boss.

Answer – meditate consistently on how merciful God was to you at the cross
In other words mercy distributed to others is never greater than our embracing mercy received from God at the cross.

Another question is from someone who asks about the sins we commit after we become Christians and how are we to understand that God is on our side and for us instead of being mad at us.

Answer – Romans 8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
If God can do the very hardest thing then He can do the easier thing

But here again if you know what to do and how to live and yet that is not happening in your life then the gospel may be clear but it’s not real.

And that is what these messages have been designed to do and that is transform you not next week but right there as you sit in your seat


Understanding and living within the tension of the gospel-centered life

Andrew Walls in his book “Missionary Movement in Church History” describes two principles that are found in the Bible. They are called:

1. The indigenous principle
2. The pilgrim principle

The indigenous principle – the gospel must put on the garment of the culture in order to fit the size, shape, style and form of those who are in the process of receiving it. And therefore we have missionaries that go and learn the language and like Jim Elliott go out to live among a certain type of people.

The pilgrim principle – as soon as the gospel puts on the garment of the culture it starts to indict, criticize and transform the culture making the person or group an alien that lives at home in the culture.

Illustrations and Scripture

Christians are to be in the world but they are not to be part of the world.
Within that statement (John 17:15) you have both principles at work.

In the world – indigenous
Not of the world – pilgrim

Romans 12:2 – And do not be conformed to this world - “conformed” is the verb which means to be molded into a pattern, like a jello mold that you pour in a pattern and put in the refrigerator.

But then Paul writes:
1 Corinthians 9:22 - To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.

1 Corinthians 10:32-33 - Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.

Conclusion – we need to be like the world to win as many as we can (indigenous)
But we don’t need to be conformed to this world (pilgrim)

There needs to be SEPERATION
2 Corinthians 6:17 - Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord.“AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;

And yet there also needs to be PARTICIPATION
1 Corinthians 5:9-10 - I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.

Christians are to associate with non-believers who sleep around but not Christians who sleep around.

There needs to be ADAPTION
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 - and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
Interpretation; - fit in and do not make any trouble for others in the way you live

1 Timothy 2:1-2 - First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
Interpretation; - lead a peaceful and quiet life and don’t make any waves

There needs to be CONFRONTATION
Ephesians 5:6-11 - Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not be partakers with them;
for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;

This will not make you popular in your neighbor hood or local Rotary Club when you start talking about the problems with abortion, homosexuality, and radical prejudice in our society.

So here is the tension that we are living with in our gospel centered lives:
In the world but not of the world
Separate from but participate in
Adapt to but confront
Put on the garment of the culture and live like it lives (indigenous) and then indict, criticize and transform the culture in the way you live (pilgrim)


And if you ask the question where is this all rooted there are at least 4 answers:
Creation
Conversion
Kingdom
Christ

Paul is writing to Corinth where they sold meat in the market place and hung it up and it did not have any labels on it like:
Clean or dirty
Sacrificed or not sacrificed

The Christians there wondered what do we do?
And Paul’s answer to them is eat whatever is sold
1 Corinthians 10:25-26 - Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS.

You are a child of the King and the King owns everything so eat whatever you want
The Doctrine of Creation

But
Romans 8:20 says - For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

We live in a world that is:
Groaning
Broken
Fallen
Haywire

And because of that we have conditions that now exist where the eating of meat impacts the conscience and potential weaknesses of other brothers and sisters

Before the fall God owns it all and I eat whatever I want but now there is a semi-colon and not a period because we now must deal with the doctrine of redemption and not only the doctrine of creation

Marriage and Singleness
Genesis 2:18 said that it was not good for man to be alone and so the conclusion we get from that is that everyone should be married. Also added to that is the command in Genesis 1:28 that we should be fruitful and multiply and obviously that is to be within the context of marriage.

But then we get over into the epistles where our doctrine is flushed out and in 1 Corinthians Chapter 7 the apostle Paul says that it is better to be single like he is than it is to be married.

Paul understands that he couldn’t be married to a wife and be in jail every other weekend.

So in a perfect world before the fall where sin entered into the picture everyone gets married and has kids and populates the world.
However not that sin has entered we are not only dealing with creation issues we are now dealing with redemption issues.

It may be that some marry and no kids, while other marry and have many kids and some may not marry at all and have no kids but these are to be thought of in terms of redemption.


Christ
The indigenous and pilgrim principle are rooted within who Christ is:

1. Christ came into the world and took on human flesh basically saying that I am one of you and so you go and be one of me in every community and culture (indigenous)
2. But Christ was so good, holy, perfect, meek and loving that we killed Him because though like us He was so unlike us (pilgrim principle)
John 1:11 - He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

So how do we navigate as a church through these type of tensions that are deeply rooted in the Scripture:
Be in the world but not of the world
Be separate from but yet participate in
Be adapting to but confronting of

There is only one way and that is to become a gospel-centered people of God in which:

➢ Make the gospel the priority of fellowship with other believers
➢ Make the gospel the priority of our prayer life
➢ Make the gospel the priority in all life circumstances especially in suffering
➢ Make the gospel the priority in our self denial ministry to others