Having been welcomed as a genuine pilgrim, Christian is introduced to Prudence, Piety and Charity (and 'many others’ who welcome him but who aren’t named). Bunyan is giving us insight into the life of a local congregation, ‘built by the Lord … for the relief and security of pilgrims’. This shouldn’t be overlooked. So many have made shipwreck of their faith because they never grasped the importance of their engagement in the local fellowship of believers. When someone says they are a Christian, but they aren’t consistently and regularly involved in the worship and mission of a local Church, we have good grounds for scepticism. They might be a seeker, someone interested in, curious about, or even intrigued by the Gospel, but they have yet to be saved through it. To be a Christian is to be in the Church. As Cyprian, a north-African Bishop in the early third century wrote: No-one can have God as their Father, who will not have the Church as their mother.
While waiting for supper there is a very deliberate discourse. Piety, Pridence and Charity lead and shape the conversation, and Bunyan is teaching us two critical lessons.
The first is about the value of our testimony to others. As Christian shares the story of how he began his pilgrimage, what he has learned in that pilgrimage, and the dangers and distraction he has overcome, he is an encouragement to others. This is a rebuke to any ego-centric view of Church involvement. So many make their decisions about which Church to go to, and indeed whether to go to Church at all, based on the perception of how it will benefit them… ‘What do I get out of this?’. This is deeply un-Christian, and betrays a shocking degree of spiritual immaturity, and possibluy a lack of salvation entirely. Or in Bunyan’s turn of phrase, a lack of ‘piety’. The Church benefits from the meaningful engagement of pilgrims: ‘since we have been so loving to you, to receive you into our house this night, let us, if perhaps we may better ourselves thereby, talk with you of all the things that have happened to you in your pilgrimage’. Christian becomes a source of blessing and encouragement to others as he shares with them his history of God’s dealing with him in His grace.
But as Prudence takes up the reigns, the conversation strikes a more reflective note. Christian isn’t simply telling his story, he is being invited to consider his inner motivations and struggles. In sharing his own experiences, he finds himself questioning, meditating, turning over in his mind not just what has happened, but why… He finds that he is gaining a deepening insight into God’s dealings with him, and that his heart’s desires are being increasingly re-oriented towards Christ and his future hope, Mount Zion. He formulates strategies and ways of structuring his life that will guard him in the future.
But Charity will not allow this to simply be an introspective process. Christian’s love for God cannot be forged in isolation from his love for others. And love for others finds expression in evangelism. We cannot really say we love others if we aren’t sharing Christ with them! Bunyan holds out a model of praying for and pleading with those we love and care for. This is very different from the attitude many today take. Parents who expect to shape their children in every aspect of their lives, decide to allow their children to make their own decisions about Christ when they are older. Many live in families with non-Christians day after day and never speak of Christ for fear that it would jeopardise their relationships. Many of those we work with and share life with would be surprised to discover we were Christians. Charity would never let this be! ‘Why did you not bring them along with you… you should have talked to them, and endeavoured to have shown them the danger of being behind… did you pray that God would bless your counsel…did you tell them of your own sorrow nad fear of destruction… But did you not, with your vain life, damp all that you by words used by way of persuasion…’? A better training course in evangelism would be hard to find! Charity demands that our whole life, our speaking and behaviour, our prayers, our efforts should all be directed towards this one great act of love: bringing others with us to Zion.
And so it is that as Chrisitan seeks to be a blessing to others in his Church, so he is taught, challenged, inspried, rebuked and encouraged by his Church. He in turn is blessed, and strengthened in his own faith, his own pilgrimage. Such are the dynamics of a Church which has Watchful for a pastor, where Discretion admits the faithful, where Piety, Prudence and Charity shape the conversation.
Questions to ponder:
How often do you have these kinds of conversations with others at MIE? Why do you think they are so rare? How could you make sure that they became more frequent?
What role do you see your involvement in Church having in your spiritual growth and Christian maturity? …and what role do you see your involvement in Church having in the spiritual growth of others?
How would you counsel someone who said they were a Christian but who didn’t really go to Church regularly? …or who kept missing Church because of other demands on their time? …or who was content to ‘watch’ Church online?
