Memo to Driscoll: Overseas speakers aren't a sign of weakness

1 Corinthians 16 has, rather unexpectedly, helped me put into words a thought that’s been buzzing round in my head ever since Mark Driscoll wrote his “Blog for the Brits” a few weeks back. Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church has been much in my mind because I’m editing Mark Dever’s second Good Book Guide volume on this book which is out next month—the second early in 2013).

What struck me about chapter 16 is that Paul clearly thinks it would be good for the Corinthian church for a pastor “from the outside” to spend some time with them. He himself can’t come for a while (v 7-9); so he’s sending Timothy, who will “carry on the work of the Lord” (v 10). It seems it was quite common for a Christian leader from a different country to come and spend some time with a church—in Titus 3 v 13 it seems that Apollos—himself from Corinth—has been spending time in Crete.

Which makes good sense. Think of it as church-management-consultancy. When a firm wants to see how they can do better, where they’re being complacent or unprofitable, they don’t get someone who works for them to analyse them; they get someone from the outside. Someone who knows how things are done elsewhere; who can challenge assumptions; who can ask the difficult “Why” questions; who can give the church what Mark Dever calls a “larger vision”.

It’s really helpful to hear what Christians who aren’t from “round here”, but have come to spend some time “over here”, think of our church which exists “right here”.

All of which brings me to something Driscoll said to British evangelicals: “Please ask … why, when there are big events for evangelicals, a speaker often has to be brought in from another country to preach?”.

UK evangelicalism has its weaknesses (as did the Corinthian church, the Cretan church, and as in fact does every church). But perhaps one thing we’ve got right is our willingness to listen to, learn from and be challenged by pastors from other countries.

It’s not that when there’s a big event the organisers have to bring in a foreign speaker (after all, it’s the word of God, not the standard of the speaker, that matters). It’s that they often choose to—because an overseas speaker’s gospel-centred perspectives will be different to ours.

And here’s my provocative thought to finish off with: what proportion of American “big events for evangelicals” invite a headline speaker from overseas? What perspectives and challenges would a UK pastor bring to American assumptions and approaches to ministry? (I can think of a few, but that’s a whole other blog!)

It’s not a sign of something wrong with a church that they do ask outsiders to come and speak to them, critique them, help them. Perhaps it is troubling when a church network doesn’t. Is the issue more with US evangelicalism than British? Comments below!