Willimon and pastors' retreat

Last week nearly all of the pastors of The Methodist Church in Singapore gathered for a retreat in Johor, Malaysia. Bishop Willimon of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church was the speaker.

Bp Willimon is a good writer and preacher. He is one of those who still believes in the power of the spoke word to make a difference. He doesn't use powerpoint or any of the other hi-tech gadgets that modern day speakers lust after. In fact, his American southern wit and pacing exhudes meaning that goes beyond the words.

Theologically, Willimon follows Barth over against the Niebuhrs. To him it is more important to declare the distance between humans and their cultures than to falsely close the gap. But it is the Mennonite theology of John Howard Yoder, et. al., that has put the radical edge on his thinking. The Christian's first identity and loyalty should be the Kingdom of God.

He challenged the Singapore Methodist pastors to preach the radical gospel of Jesus, not a watered down gospel. Unfornately, his great speaking ability was not convincing for many of the Singaporean pastors. Rhetorical devices that would have made sense to his fellow Americans, elipse, deadpan, hyperpole, etc., were not obvious to many in his Singapore audience. Most Singaporeans are very capable in English, but it's a difference English. Each location has its unique patterns of discourse. This was hard enough, but made even more difficult with coupled with his bombshells. Many heard him to say that preachers should just focus on preaching the gospel and caring for the church, but not for the hurting in society; that they should not try to contextualise the gospel, etc. Some felt that he left them hanging.

This seems a bit unfortunate. Although, in Willimon's thinking, it may be just fine. After all, the Holy Spirit will apply whatever is necessary to our hearts, even if we didn't quite "get it".

--georgos