|
|
|
|
Foreword
Trackless Wastes and
Stars to Steer By
When I was sent the manuscript of
Michael King’s book, I wondered if someone had made
a mistake. After all, I’m a Methodist, not a
Mennonite. Mailine, liberal, bless-almost-anything
ecclesiology is supposed to be about as far removed from
the separationist, exlusivist, sectarian Mennonites as
Durham from Des Moines. What could a Mennonite,
struggling to embrace his church family, say to a
Methodist, trying to embrace mine?
Plenty, that’s what. Sometimes,
the only way home is through someone else’s yard.
G. K. Chesterton once said that there
are two ways to get home. One was is to leave home and
then to return. Another way to get home is never to have
left. I believe that Michael King writes for those of us
who have taken the first way home. His own faith journey
began as a child in a Mennonite missionary family.
Growing up within what he calls a separatist church, King
experienced that church as a community of believers
clearly set apart from the world. From there, in his
young adult years, King ventured into the "modern
world." Losing patience with what he felt to be the
narrowness, the exclusiveness, the biblical literalism of
his his church, he embraced the pluralism, relativism,
and critical character of the world outside the
Mennonites. He attempted to make his faith
"relevant" to the demands of a brave new world.
Eventually, this pilgrim into modernity
discovered that the modern world was a troubled, muddled
place. In leaning over to speak the language of the
world, Christians had fallen in. With the help of the new
critics of modernity as well as his own experiences as a
pastor, King explored the realm of the post-modern
Christian. He caught a vision of a church which neither
nailed its doors shut to the world (deeply troubled
though still sought by Christ) nor kicked open its doors
to the world (all too willing to co-opt the gospel for
its own selfish pursuits). In short, he returned home
with a fresh appreciation of the church which first told
him the story, with new insights for living that story in
today’s world.
Out of trackless wastes, Michael King
leads us forth, wisely steering a course set by stars
which do not deceive. If you have given up on the church
because it is too critically closed or too uncritically
open, if you have lost your direction on that perilous
path called discipleship, if your house of faith is
beginning to crumble, or else you haven’t even yet
begun to build that house, read this book.
I began to read Trackless Wastes
and Stars to Steer By while I was on a cross-country
speaking tour, pondering its pages in a succession of
forgettable motel rooms far from my home. How well it
described our predicament as modern believers. How
clearly it named our situation. How simply and
straightforwardly it charted an exciting new path for
contemporary disciples.
I finished this book on a cold January
night in Nebraska. Full of fresh insights, I put it aside
and stepped out of my room into the cold, dark night. I
was still far from home, yet the stars shone bright and
clear.
William H. Willimon
Dean, Duke University Chapel
Durham, North Carolina
Trackless Wastes and Stars
to Steer By orders:
|
|
