Okay, I finally got a few hours by myself this morning to pray, read my bible and think. Some questions/thoughts arose, that I'll put down here for now and we'll see whether they lead us anywhere as we go forward ...
- Looking specifically at Acts 14 (but could be argued from lots of other places) that miracles and healing seem to be poured out through those who are evangelizing
- Acts doesn't tell us a whole lot of what they taught the first Christians - all we get is, 'Jesus is the answer to your messianic hope - He died and He rose again - repent, believe, be baptised'
- How do you rephrase that message for a society that has at the very least been exposed to the concept (however wrongly understood) of Christians and Christianity their whole life? There are very few people who haven't in one way or another made assumptions about Christ and Christianity from what they have seen in world politics, media, etc., not to mention all those dragged off to Sunday School as a child.
- Looking at the intensity of which the Apostles took the gospel to those who did not know, and the significant change in the lifestyles of the early disciples as a result of the knowledge of Christ, either we have watered down the truth and significance of the gospel so as to render it weak and ineffectual, or worse, we have allowed evil lives to continue, while putting a cloak of respectability over the top with our 'religious acts/service'.
- What would a 'Christ-life' look like today? What does it mean to be 'salt' or 'light'?
- What is to be done when 'the church' ceases to be involved in redemptive, discipleship-building, life-changing, world-impacting faith - even if it is 'relevant' to a small number of people within the society in which it operates. Since when is being 'relevant' the point, anyway? Aren't we supposed to be radical, not relevant?
1 comment:
I completely agree that they obviously preached "believe, repent, be baptized". What I don't understand is why so many don't preach the same message today. It is very simple, so why do people leave out the "be baptized" which is clearly part of the gospel message? Is it because they are more concerned with offending the "pseudoChristians" that you speak about than with preaching the whole gospel? May it never be!
I think we have let the influence of society control our Christianity. We don't take the Bible at face-value, as the unadulterated, complete word of God, but we try to understand it in the context of society. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Study God's Word, decide what to do, and then figure out what to do about society. Or, as I recently read, "obey God and let Him worry about the consequences".
What a mind-blowing thought that is. Can we get the courage to live like that? That would be salt and light in the world.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post.
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