At any point in time I have this little stack of books I want to read. Usually there is a certain (sequential) order in mind, but when I am in peak form with my reading, books tend to be assigned to different chairs in the house … and I read them all at the same time.
However, every now and then, a queue-jumper, a chair-monopolizer, comes along. All my reading energy, in multiple chairs, goes into the one book until it is finished. This book is one such book. Goodness me, I interrupted the reading of a book, in my comfy lounge chair, on ‘the making of New Delhi’ in order to engage this book. That says something…
Speaking of New Delhi, this is where I got to know Dave and Angie Andrews. I was in my early, impressionable, teenage years and my parents loved having these two hippies visit, even stay for a few days at a time. They had quite the impact on my siblings and me. At one point in his story Dave includes, and honours, my parents. I was so touched by this discovery, in this the tenth anniversary year of my father’s death. It also brought back memories of how Dave and Angie came across from Brisbane to Auckland, a few months before Dad’s death, just for the little launch of the book that was written on Dad’s life,
Surprised by Obedience.
To Right Every Wrong has only been in the house for a matter of days, but those who see it tend to say a similar thing. “How is it possible for someone to speak of themselves as a prophet? Isn’t that something that others say about us?” Fair questions. Dave himself expresses his misgivings (25-26) — but he turns 70 next month and, given that he has been living this life for almost five decades, I am happy to offer the space and grace for him to ‘take off the handbrake’ and ‘let it all hang out’ for a couple of hundred pages.
This is what he does.
I delighted in the structure of the book. Enfolded within briefer sections on The Personal and The Paradoxical, the reader finds a far lengthier section, The Prophetical (22-213). These pages would not only provide a stirring conversation-partner for a course on the Old Testament prophets, but also ones on Church/Ecclesiology and Leadership. Dave divides much of this section into the four ‘prophetic roles’: The Prophetic Interrogator (45-55), The Prophetic Protestor (55-119), The Prophetic Practitioner (119-176) and The Prophetic Inspirator (176-213) … and then into these vessels are poured story after story.
The reference points for the stories tend to be the three intentional communities, each with their own distinctives, to which Dave and Angie have belonged: Dilaram and Aashiana (in New Delhi) and Waiters Union (in Brisbane).
There is a particularly ‘purple patch’, commencing from page 90. Stories of ‘advocacy’ for religious minorities flow into stories of ‘dissenting’ to war, notably his protest at finding ‘a big, brutal, firepower, fighting vehicle’ (104) — ie a tank — outside a ‘military tent’ at an Easter festival! Stories of ‘disrupting ecclesiastical business’ — where he does his bit to ‘enrage’ conservative churches, like when he rips out pages from Matthew’s gospel because they were ignoring the subversive shock in a parable contained therein — are followed by the story behind finding himself ‘excommunicated’ by YWAM. It is riveting, be it the spiritual abuse bits, the ‘how we recovered’ bits, the ‘what we learned’ bits, or the extracts from an interview with the YWAM leadership thirty years later on ‘what I learned from my painful experiences with YWAM about leadership, particularly about “hearing” and “speaking” the “word of the Lord” (116). Then we move across to the next prophetic role, ‘the prophetic practitioner’ and leading the way are stories about radical hospitality, including some of the most compelling stories in the book, as well as the reference to my parents (124) — at which point I also paused to give thanks to God for them, as well as take a breather from the intensity of it all! [And although ‘it is cringe-worthy now’ (126), I loved Dilaram Freaks Part 1 and Part 2 on YouTube because I can see and hear Dave and Angie, as I remember them from those Delhi days almost fifty years ago].

The descriptions of the genesis and rhythms of the three communities were a highlight of the book for me, especially the Aashiana story (133-153). It is not difficult to see why this vision and these values still capture the imagination of people. It is such a compelling, even intriguing, way to be Jesus to each other for the sake of the world — and for the sake of Jesus. Interestingly, at an age not dissimilar to Dave and Angie’s age when they landed on my parents’ doorstep in Delhi, two of our sons have lived in similar communities here in Auckland, with Dave and Angie as mentors in the background.
I was drawn to the way Dave describes how he continues to evolve over time, especially in ‘transitioning from a confronter to a carer’ (227-228). Fascinating.
A “confronter” is for people, but detached from them, while the “carer” is not only for people, but also attached to people. A “confronter” tends to defend people in his or her care, while a “carer” tends to befriend people in his or her care. A “confronter” also tends to be more strong, assertive and direct in dealing with the issues that she or he has with people, while the “carer” tends to be more gentle, attentive and indirect. So making the transition from “confronter” to “carer” means that I need to be totally transformed and become a significantly different person than before …
… In becoming a “caring” prophet rather than a “confronting” prophet, I am committed to playing roles that are more those of a practitioner and inspirator — energizing, encouraging, empowering, equipping — and less those of an interrogator and protester — criticizing, censuring, convicting and condemning (228).
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Dave & Angie, with my mum (right) and Auntie Jeanette (left), on the balcony of our home in New Delhi — a home which David & Angie found for us while we were on home-leave in New Zealand. |
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One of the classic photos that I remember from my childhood — Dave, Angie and their baby Evonne. |
In Langham Preaching, when we discuss each other’s sermons, I love to use the phrase, “if you had more time, these are the things you could work on”. It is far more constructive than shaping a discussion around good things and bad things in the sermon! I feel a similar impulse welling-up with Dave’s book. “If you had more pages, this is what I’d love to hear you write more about” because on a couple of issues, especially dear to my heart over these dozen years with Langham, the discussion feels incomplete.
One issue for me is around Jesus and the gospel. Dave writes at one point, “Others preach about many things, but I only preach one thing. I have only one word to say, and that is Jesus” (191). Agreed, with the Gospels taking some priority for Dave (I think), especially their explanation of ‘the gospel of the kingdom’ in the ministry of Jesus (36-39). Afterall it is in the Gospels where we meet Jesus most fully. This is reasonable. But my subsequent questions include things like “what role do the scriptures beyond-the-Gospels play in preaching just Jesus?”; and “Does the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ take us beyond the Gospels?”
For me, the gospel is a story running from Genesis to Revelation which can be taught, at its most simple, as “the good, the bad, the new, the perfect”. Often I represent each of these four words with a chair and then have people play with the chairs, by asking questions like “How many chairs are needed for there to be a gospel?” Or, “how is each chair about Jesus, while also about leading people to Jesus?” What feels incomplete to me is a description, in a Luke 24 sort of way, of how it is that all of scripture is important in preaching the gospel of Jesus. I enjoy images (with all their limitations). Auckland continues to battle a drought … this past weekend I was thinking about all this … maybe Jesus is like the life-giving water in the catchment area ready to flow into peoples’ lives. The question on my mind then is how does the water flow down from the surrounding Old Testament hills, the Epistolary and Apocalyptic hills, to fill full our knowledge of this Jesus?
The other issue has to do with the nature of Muslim:Christian relationships. Dave has given a lot of energy to this purpose, especially in ‘Western’ countries, with books like The Jihad of Jesus to the fore. After these years with Langham, it seems to me that Islam in Muslim-minority countries can look quite different from Islam in Muslim-majority countries. On the whole, Muslims in Muslim-minority countries, especially those with a loosely-Christian heritage, are granted far greater freedoms to worship than Christians are granted in Muslim-majority countries. I find this to be disturbing. Interfaith dialogue in an Australia, or a New Zealand, feels difficult for me if I am unable to put on the table, or am even expected to ignore, the plight of my Christian sisters and brothers in a Pakistan or an Indonesia, a Kyrgyzstan or a Turkey. Why don’t Muslims in Muslim-minority countries work harder to see religious minorities back in their countries-of-origin granted a similar freedom to worship that they enjoy now as a religious minority? Maybe they do more than I realise, but this would add a deeper level of sincerity to any dialogue. Dave has responded to me on this issue in the past, but I would love to have seen it surface in this book. Yes, I know. “If I had more pages…”.
nice chatting — and nice recalling this influence in my molten years.
Thanks to Dave and Angie, but also to my parents who welcomed these hippies into our home all those years ago.
Paul
Enjoyed this post Paul. I remember our local imam in Auckland explaining to me that one of their greatest needs was pastoral care for families struggling to bring up children in a multi cultural multi faith environment. Much like families in churches here too. Returning missionaries have an important role to play. Would love to see Easter celebrated in Auckland churches with the same degree of importance and effort as it is by the church in muslim majority countries.
BTW My uncle Travis Wilson died this morning. He spoke often of your family and you too.
Mike Potter
Good to hear from you, Mike.
Agree with you on the Easter celebration comment. I remember Bruce Nicholls coming back on home leave, a few decades ago. He had been out of the NZ context for many years. It would be easy to conclude that he had little to add to our context, but I remember thinking how this voice from outside seemed to be so prophetic. Blindspots exposed all over the place…
This is the first I've heard of your uncle's death. Very sad. I grew up with their names in our home, as they were friends of my father especially. The way they passed that love onto the next generation, to Barby and me, has always meant so much to me.
best wishes
Paul
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Such a helpful engagement with the book from Charles Ringma — words spoken at the Book Launch:
https://holyscribblers.blogspot.com/2021/04/charles-ringma-on-launch-of-dave.html
Paul