Canadian Mennonite
Volume 12, No. 14
July 7, 2008
Editorial
Encouraging the saints
… an issue at a time
Nearly 2,000 years after his ministry, the Apostle Paul remains the subject of much study and scrutiny. Revered for his leadership of the fledgling Christian movement, he is still a somewhat controversial figure, in that there continues to be a healthy debate among biblical scholars about his theology and his direct hand in the various New Testament letters ascribed to him. There is little doubt among biblical scholars, however, about the letter to the Romans almost certainly being his.
After a brief introduction that establishes his identity, he begins: “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now, at last, by God’s will, the way may be opened for me to come to you.
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. . . . I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. . . .”
With these words, Paul is sending a message to people he has never met: Christians in Rome, the capital city of the Mediterranean world’s superpower.
To be a Christian in the first century was not for the faint of heart. It was a thoroughly countercultural movement that spoke of deeply counter-intuitive values to a proud, militaristic culture in which might often made right. It was dangerous, too. A decade after Paul wrote these words, Nero would slaughter hundreds of Christians throughout his empire, many of them in Rome.
Despite all this, it’s easy to sense the joy, the thrill, in Paul’s words. “Your faith is being reported all over the world,” he tells the Roman believers. And Paul wishes to respond by returning the favour: “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” There seems to be a symbiotic relationship here that results in the strengthening of faith: The telling of stories, the reporting of acts of faithfulness, produce an impulse toward encouragement.
I suppose if we were to use the language of the 21st century, we would say that Paul is narrowcasting his message. He is sending a simple letter.
Did the Roman world have mass media? The answer is yes. Their symbols, armour, dress, architecture, ships, chariots and even the vestments of their horses telegraphed power and authority. It was against this overwhelming presence that Paul narrowcasts, to a specific group of believers, the gospel of Jesus Christ. The glory that was Rome would fall within decades, but Paul’s letters would live on.
As we contemplate and celebrate the work of Canadian Mennonite, we should notice the parallels. The worldwide church today exists within cultures that, more often than not, are consumed by power, control, retribution, vanity, consumption and the pursuit of fleeting pleasures.
Canadian Mennonite is no CNN, no superstation, no instrument of a giant multinational power. It is a communications vehicle, lovingly and painstakingly assembled by a devoted staff that seeks to report faith as it is being expressed around the world. It is a narrowcaster that yearns to inspire and be inspired. It aims to tell the story of God present and working in our world, and of our joys, hopes, failures, frustrations and aspirations as a family of faith. It holds up a mirror to our Canadian Mennonite family, sometimes revealing things we’d rather not see, but doing so through a journalism that possesses integrity and opens itself to accountability.
We are grateful for the partners we have in this enterprise. And our goal is very much like Paul’s hope for the Christians in Rome: to impart the stories of a living church, so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
As board members and staff, we are thankful for your support and ask for your prayers as we continue to publish, at home and abroad, a gospel we are not ashamed of, and one that relays the gifts of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.