EUROPE HAS MANY BIBLES BUT HAS SHE LOST HER HOLY SCRIPTURE?

The Joy’s of living on this island! It has been twenty three years since we came to the UK. We love the people and love it when the sun shines brightly and the clouds go away for a couple of days. People come outdoors they wear colourful clothes, smile and are friendly. Though of course if this were to happen for more than a week then the next crisis would be people dying of the heat and a drought alert followed by a hose pipe ban!

Missionary struggles: God has blessed me with a wonderful family, true friends, colleagues and a fulfilling role as principal of Trinity College Bristol.  I have a general sense of enjoyment in life and feel blessed. Yet as an Indian student of the Lord Jesus Christ  I have struggled with the life of the established historic Churches in the UK & Europe!

The experience of being Minority Ethnic: I wonder if my disease is  because  of the loss of  ones identity, when one migrates to a new land as an immigrant. It is strange experience to have the tables turned on you, to live as an alien amongst people who I regarded as foreigners and tourist’s  when they came to visit India. When we leave home and country our status changes!  I become the proverbial jingoistic  “bloody foreigner” the outsider.  A missionary must be prepared to change and adapt to their new environment. i.e. the unpredictable climate, the island culture and the proud historical tradition of the British Empire. There is a huge category shift from majority ethnic in India to exotic minority ethnic in the UK. The unrelenting pressure of assimilation by the majority and the resistance by the immigrant minority often results in the breakdown of trust and the build up of resentment due to misunderstandings compounded by different expectations on both sides.

The Formality and lack of relational skills and sensitivities by local congregations: My dis ease might be the result of the isolating formalism of our established Churches, the baggage of history the  observance of traditions that have outlived their use.  The  conspicuous lack of joy and passion is quite telling. There does not seem the excitement or the anticipation  of entering into the presence of the lord. Of course there are wonderful exceptions to this experience but is the problem far deeper and more complex ? Could it be the upheavals caused by the industrial revolution when families were fragmented with the move from the land to the factory?  It is clear to the outsider that there is a loss of community and social cohesion in society in general.  It is disconcerting  when a well meaning person tries to comfort you with the words its not personal or you are not being targeted that the way we treat everybody.

Migrations into Europe from ‘Europe’s lost colonies is actually a case of the Empire striking back’  Post war Europe needed human resources for its rebuilding and looked to its former colonies for help. Invitations and incentives were offered to people to come and build their war ravaged nations. Cross cultural skills were clearly lacking on the part of the host and the immigrant.

Could my disquiet be with the lack of discipleship and spiritual formation in our local churches?  The simple fact is that many people in Church seem to have lost their vital connection with their creator.? Prayer is  becoming extinct and ordinary people are woefully ignorant concerning  the simple stories and values of the Bible and the basic tenets of the Christian faith. The Bible is not a key part of the curriculum at school and is treated as piece of mythical literature.  It is no longer treated as Holy scripture, not just in society but worse still in many of Europe’s established Churches, where clergy are seen as civil servants paid to discharge a civic service.

Europe has many Bibles but has lost her Holy Scripture: The  Church in Europe is living in the peculiar paradox of having bought into the enlightenment project. Knowledge and learning is prized and restricted to its famous cloisters of higher learning. Knowledge is normally assessed through formal written pieces of work. European academics have bought into the American mantra ‘Publish or Perish!  The European Gutenberg printed the Bible for the first time in the world. Praise God for the development in printing. Today we have so many versions and translations of the  Bible but sadly most of her people no longer read it or know it as their sacred text. The vocabulary of  Christian faith is dying in a risk averse politically correct society! It is in this sense that it might be fair to say that Europe has many  Bibles but has  lost her Holy Scripture!