"You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of good literature." -Mohandas Gandhi
I know that I've pointed this out before, but I think it needs repeating. Most every sermon preached in scripture lead either to mass conversion or mass hysteria. When a glimpse of God's Kingdom invades earth, people are either repulsed to the point of rioting or their entire way of being changes. It's something similar to throwing a molotov cocktail into a crowd of people and dealing with the aftermath (except alot less bloody for the audience).
What would happen if the people of God told the message of God and lived out the life of Jesus without restraint? What would happen if the messages in scripture were explained in their entirety, without murdering context and without fear of financial repercussions for the institution? The world truly would be a better place because the church would be better able to not only communicate Jesus through mere words, but also through deeds of kindness, reconciliation and justice.
This is something that should haunt us to know end because we know that an entirely new way of existence is possible here and now. The disciples lived it and it spread like a virus. Will you join me in being bothered by the way things currently are. Will you join me in not accepting the status-quo. Let's be uncomfortable together. Let's walk out of the sanctuary and put hands and feet to our rehearsed prayers. Let's work at taking Jesus seriously.
"Just crawl across this desert heat and become tragic with me. And now that we are not alone, you know that we could never be!" - Andrew Schwab, Project 86
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2 comments:
I'm with you, bro. I'm going to do my best to get our church to live out their faith in acts of service to our community this summer. I'm going to be doing a 12 week series through the book of Acts on "Being the Church" and what that looks like for us. Every small group in the church (sunday schools, men's and women's fellowships, etc.) will be challenged to perform at least 1 tangible act of service each month to someone they know from June through August. If the Church will get on board with it, it could be life-changing for them and transforming for those we serve. Pray for us about it, please? Thanks, brother!
i'll pray for you guys too stephen. right now in fact....AMEN!
ryan, you're slippin. one post a month? come one.. we need to utilize our office hours and have fun on the internet! haha... good post bro. Kingdom Come changes everything. few believe it, even fewer live it out. i watched a special on "the lord's bootcamp" in florida last night on cbs. it was provoking. one group went to africa and served. very inspiring. the other went to a fair in indiana and had committed to save 300 souls. they failed miserably. I wish the indiana group would have simply used the same platform of social reform and service that the africa team used. until we realize how to live out Jesus teaching right here in our city, we will never make progress as the Church.
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