After hosting Rich Lush from Arun Community Church (Littlehampton, England) for two weeks here with us in Azle, Texas, I find myself once again thinking about the complementary nature of the British and American psyches, especially when it comes to the Kingdom of God. If you know Rich and you read his blog, you will no doubt have read the ridiculously clueless comments that he logged from young Americans during his visit. ("You play the same guitar chords we do!"spoken with amazement, and, "Do you have sandwiches in England?" Other comments were too painful for me to type.) I ache over our American self-referencing world-view, but still it makes my point stronger: We need to link up with our fellow English-speakers (okay the original English-speakers) for the sake of gaining a broader view of the Kingdom mindset, which I believe is composed of the redemptive "bests"of every national consciousness! While the American psyche is all about (and pardon this Blue Collar Comedy tour phrase), "Gettin' 'er done," Britain seems timelessly patient, refusing to rush headlong into a mess.
In America, we know how to throw a party and raise our voice. We jump in, get wet, promote and proclaim what we feel God is doing, usually failing to check any manual on cultural relevance to the rest of the world. There are advantages to this approach, for many a dream from heaven has been sacrificed on the altar of over-analysis. It is a good thing to run with the vision and obey the command without a "plan B" and yet...perhaps this is just one part of the Kingdom picture! Perhaps the British church has a complementary strength that would supply the balancing value: the left brain to our right; the stability to our movement; the yin to our yang (oops--eastern metaphor disallowed...!)!
Recently a British friend of mine had a "big idea" involving something in his nation, which he ran by me. When it didn't seem to work out, I felt impressed to tell him to pursue the relationships involved anyway, and I said to him, "You never know what will emerge." At that moment, I realized that Britishness would help him do the Kingdom thing! As I continued to wax philosophical to my friend (unsolicited, but sincere), I wrote to him in an e-mail: "In the British church, things often arise and emerge slowly through the web of caution and hesitance, but when they do emerge, they are as strong and lasting as Stonehenge... Seeds get planted deeply and seem completely dormant, but no one seems to forget them, and they are nurtured by the patience that stems from a national consciousness that has endured invaders, wars, gain and losses, and survived--all from a tiny island that should never have been (when tallying its dimensions) a world power!"
Britain reminds me of Gamaliel in Acts 5, who basically infused into the Sanhedrin a "wait and see" attitude, saying, "If this is not God, it will die out and if it is God, we cannot stop it." That is admirable, especially as we Americans seem to dive into every spiritual pool without checking the temperature first, quite often making quite a mess. That is also vital in a day when watching to see what is emerging is probably the primary need for spiritual leadership! More than ever before, those of us who have a tendency to drive the boat without permission must learn to wait on the energies and strategies of the Kingdom. We must "let things arise" and form in our vision, rather than rushing out and simply implementing a plan engineered by human reason!
I learned this truth about Britain where every truth should be learned: in the context of relationships. More than once in my early interactions with British church leaders, I thought I had failed to make a connection. I would share in glowing terms with unbridled passion my overwhelming enthusiasm for the great heights we could rise to together, only to receive cordial e-mails in return! I would feel Kingdom destiny forming between our church and British churches and propose that we together do mighty exploits for God, sure that I was seeing the plan from heaven, only to be told we could discuss some of it on our next visit over a curry! And my friend Andy Au was the most memorable of these lessons. When I declared, "You must come to America," he basically said, "I'll think about it if you demonstrate your seriousness by following up on this in the months to come, but I will not pursue it myself."
What Andy and the curry-eaters and the polite e-mailers knew (and I was beginning to learn)was that relationships for the Kingdom's sake must emerge rather than be engineered. They must be truly powered by the energies of heaven, not mere human (American or British) enthusiasm! My British friends knew that the purposes of God, like their island and its people, would ulimately survive and thrive through soul-possessing patience and confidence in the Desire of Nations, who works all things after the counsel of his will!
We American Christians are quite proud (and I mean that in the best sense) of the seeds of Christianity in our nation. But how deeply are Kingdom seeds buried in the British consciousness! Christianity has been a shaping factor in every stage of development of Britain's long history. Where there were abuses and diversions from the true faith, a correcting voice always arose to purge the message and refuel the fires of holiness. Where is Christianity today in Britain? Is it in crisis? I believe not: I believe Christianity is buried in the ground of Britain deeper than any iron age ruin. Britain's great strength of iron-willed patience will pay off as the seeds of ancient faith begin to germinate throughout the land, as I believe they are about to do.
My friend Noel Richards illustrates my point. This July 15th, he will gather the youth of the nations in Olympic Stadium in Berlin for an unprecedented day of worship and prayer. It will be a history-making event involving worshippers from literally all over the globe. It will be unforgettable and impossible to ignore. But the story that Noel will tell in years to come will include the patient pursuit of a dream that seemed easier to abandon than carry full-term. The vision for the stadiums of the world (Wembley first, now Berlin) was planted in him decades ago and he has endured roadblocks and postponements with the confidence of one who believes in actualizing emergent realities! God help us all take a lesson from Noel and carry all of our God-dreams full-term!
Whatever you might have thought was "over"...be a bit British about it and wait and see....This Kingdom is always on the move and you never know what might emerge tomorrow!!! I'll stop now before I veer off into a full salute to the motherland, but I won't apologize for the passion about the bridge across the pond!
