Rev. Lam Kuo Yong's sharing on the missional church and The Lausanne Covenant brought unexpected thoughts about certain areas of Christianity that was quite grey to me, namely the relationship between the pentecostal/charismatic in Singapore and the 'reformed' congregations. The phrase of 'the whole church bringing the whole gospel to the whole world' provides some ideas on how this apparent conflict could be approached.
The cross is the centre of Jesus' life and Jesus is the centre of the Bible. The Gospel is not merely the 4 books of the New Testament that describe Jesus' life which we commonly call the gospel accounts, but it is actually the entire Bible. Our theology and the Gospel we share is based on the entire Bible and we must see that context in its totality. I wonder whether the issue is not on different Gospels being preached but that different aspects of the Gospel are being focused on. I wonder whether the issue is not a difference in 'kind' but a difference in 'degree', that we are comparing milk and solid food.
In 1 Peter 2, we are exhorted to long for pure spiritual milk like newborn babies, that by it we may grow up into salvation, if indeed we have tasted that the Lord is good. It is clear that spiritual milk, whatever it is, is good for us and that by it we may grow up into salvation. However, in 1 Corinthians 3 and in Hebrews 5 there is a comparison between milk and solid food and that a certain maturity is required before the believers are ready for solid food. The writers of Hebrews and 1 Corinthians (Paul), also mention that the believers at that time were not ready for solid food, whatever that is.
I have not put enough thought into this, but maybe as different parts of the whole church some are focusing on feeding spiritual milk for the development of newborns while the other is focusing on feeding solid food to those who are more 'mature' and that there is a place for both. That the main issue for the whole church is to learn how to work together so that they can bring both milk and solid food to the whole world.
Shawn Eng
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