Meeting Jesus in the 'Periphery'

In a recent article from Christianity Today magazine, the Rt. Rev. Dr. David Zac Niringiye (Assistant Bishop of Kampala, Uganda) spent time answering questions about the most helpful gospel-thing that North American Christians can do. Essentially what he suggests is that we stretch ourselves to move away from places of power and being in the 'center' and instead seek to experience life in the margins. Below is an excerpt from his article:

One of the gravest threats to the North American church is the deception of power—the deception of being at the center. Those at the center tend to think, "The future belongs to us. We are the shapers of tomorrow. The process of gospel transmission, the process of mission—all of it is on our terms, because we are powerful, because we are established. We have a track record of success, after all."

Yet recently the Lord led me to an amazing passage, the encounter between Jesus and Nathaniel in John 1. Nathaniel has decided Jesus is a non-entity. Jesus comes from Nazareth, after all.

Nathaniel's skepticism comes from being in power, being at the center. Those at the center decide that anyone not with us is—not against us—[but] just irrelevant. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" It doesn't warrant our time. But the Messiah is from Nazareth.

Surprise, Nathaniel!

What's the problem with being at the center?

God very often is working most powerfully far from the center. Jesus is crucified outside Jerusalem—outside—with the very cynical sign over his head, "The King of the Jews." Surprise—he is the King of the Jews. "We had hoped … " say the disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus, but he did not fulfill our criteria. In Acts, we read that the cross-cultural missionary thrust did not begin in Jerusalem. It began in Antioch, on the periphery, the margins. But Jerusalem is not ready for Antioch! In fact, even when they go to Antioch, it's just to check on what's happening.

I have come to the conclusion that the powerful, those at the center, must begin to realize that the future shape of things does not belong to them. The future shape of things is on the periphery. The future shape of things is not in Jerusalem, but outside. It is Nazareth. It is Antioch.

If you really want to understand the future of Christianity, go and see what is happening in Asia, Africa, Latin America. It's the periphery—but that's where the action is.

This is part of our reason for going to Rwanda. God has moved and is moving in that country in INCREDIBLE ways. In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, one of the most evil and despicable events in human history, God is doing a work of reconciliation and transformation that is only possible in light of the transforming work of the gospel. Through reconciliation projects led by the church, mass murderers are being forgiven by the families of their victims and are being reconciled back into society. Victims are acknowledging that they have been forgiven of their sins by God and that they ought to forgive those who have sinned against them. For this to happen, God must be at work…

God has also worked in a mighty way through this ‘periphery’ of Rwanda through the establishment of the Anglican Mission – of which we are a part. God has used them to bring the gospel back to the United States through a faithful Anglican witness. They have provided support and encouragement and spiritual oversight and have done all of this at a great personal risk and cost. And so we are go to experience “the periphery”. We are going to see God at work and to learn from our brothers and sisters there.

This small team from Apostles has a unique experience to travel somewhere exotic, like Rwanda, but just because you may not be going to Africa this summer, doesn’t mean this issue doesn’t apply. I think this is a question / challenge that all of us would benefit from considering. I wonder what it looks like to leave the ‘center’ and the ‘places of power’ even here in Raleigh? What does this look like in our day to day lives? What are our ‘Nazareths’? Maybe it’s into the inner city, maybe it’s right next door? It will likely be different for each of us. I encourage you all to take a few minutes to consider what it might look like for you to step out of the center and then I encourage you to do it. You may be surprised to find Jesus in places you NEVER expected him to be.