So, as usual, I quote:
Evangelism should be less of a duty and more of a desire. It is the natural and normal outpouring of a Christ-centred, God-impacted, kingdom-enjoying life. We ARE the light of the world and the salt of the earth. It’s significant that Paul never has to instruct any of the churches to whom he writes to evangelize. That much they were already doing quite naturally. The commission passages in Scripture are less commands to be awkwardly and artificially obeyed and more promises of the presence of Christ in partnership with us as we naturally and unavoidably manifest our faith to others. If you are not showing and sharing your faith regularly, you may be artificially holding back from doing what would come naturally if you stopped worrying and cultivated some gelassenheit (let-go-ness). - Bruxy Cavey
Hmmmphh. Call me way behind the ball, but I was thinking about this kind of a thrust today, about the church as Christ continuing on the role of Jesus, the Gospel, or the Good News, in the world now. It actually makes sense, how can the church be the body of Christ, entwined in a loving (and growing) relationship with creator God Almighty and not share the message of the Good News. I'm not talking about the evangelism that gets tonnes of press and creates the odd names and reputations that evangelicals have developed (see tele-anything or right wing republicans). I'm talking about living as Jesus Christ and his disciples did in that life as an active way of sharing the idea that there is something different, another possibility, and Jesus is right at the centre of it. I liked how Bruxy noted that the unity of the church (hopefully) , across racial, status, age, and political boundaries is one of the first ways in which 'a different way' can be demonstrated. This point may seem so simple to you readers and you've run with it all along. But bear with me, because I think previously I avoided the discussion of 'evangelism' given the negative connotations and reputation. In reality, its about figuring out how and what one is sharing in one's life. If I consider the understanding of love that I have through relationship with God and others to be what defines my life, then I should be able to share what I believe to be the power of Jesus Christ that enables it. Even this could be slightly controversial I guess because it might bring some down the track of the problem of determining that other people's systems of belief are wrong, and this might be territory you might not want to be in - but I think that that is to be thought out and discussed more another time!
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