following on from the last post ..
how do we keep the church meaningful in such a rapidly accelerating society ?
.. . . . .
we've tried all sorts of things
and we know what those things are
and the results ..
or we should
and we also know the world is changing
faster and faster
the changes over the last let's say 20-30 years
= those of the previous 200 ( say )
and the changes of the previous 100 years
= those of the previous 1,000 ( say ) ..
we're on this train that's accelerating rapidly
and the faster it goes
the more it accelerates ..
it's not only going faster as we go
it's getting faster faster ..
change
and the church has to adapt
faster
it's response time needs to be
faster
it has to somehow keep pace
with this rapidly changing world it is a witness to
because we need to be where the people are
insync with our neighbours
or we
fail ..
fail them
fail Jesus
our Head
the church is the hands and feet of Jesus
his Body
and Jesus went about
living life
among the people ..
he was meaningful and relevant and practical
now balance that ..
the principles don't change
the methodology does
the way we do things ..
.... .. . .
at this point i'd usually bring examples to the table
lash out at the wrongness we've done as ' christianity '
and the way we've done it ..
exemplify it
i refrain this time ..
rather
i turn my mind towards this book i keep close to me ..
this book that the same ' leadership ' discounts more and more as we go
( i spoke to the leadership issue in the first post addressing this issue
here http://asthekingdomturns.blogspot.com/2013/12/makeover-for-body.html ) ..
they discount that book ..
of all people !
so the sheeppeople like me end up thinking less and less of that book ..
they're turning it into fairly tales almost
some discounting the reality of things like
the deity of Jesus
the virgin birth
the bodily resurrection of Jesus
the miracles ( = suspension of the laws of nature at Jesus' command )
and on and onandonand ..
it's rather disconcerting
in fact
it undoes me ..
if i let it
i spoke to some of that here
http://asthekingdomturns.blogspot.com/2013/11/too-far-east-is-lost.html
.. . . . . . . .
but that book is God's words to me
as it was to whoever whenever it was written
and since then ..
context and Earth-age matter of course
but it's still his words
penned under his inspiration
and it continues to live close to me
it's indivisible from my faith in God and in Messiah Jesus
period
no argument ..
God isn't strapped by Earth's ages
and the twists and turns of life and of society ..
he's a bit smarter than that methinks ..
his words apply in principle across the ages
so i take his words that principle my life
and my approach to life
and i format my life to that
close as i can ..
you're free to choose what your authority will be
that's mine ..
selah ..~
now move that outward
ripple-like
to the church family i'm part of
then to the church in the city as a whole
and then further afield ..
and we gain guidance for how to move
society-wide
in the context in which we live
we use the principles found there ..
instead of reinventing-the-wheel like ..
.. . .. . .
i just figure i'll go to that book i was talking about
and read what it says there
what Messiah Jesus said and did
and Apostle Paul
( who penned 1/3 of the new testament )
and notApostle Luke who wrote a large part of it ..
see if i can get some principled advice ..
.. . ... .
let's take Jesus
as good a place as any to start ..
he used to walk around
a lot
he visited many places
did good stuff
like feed
heal
cast out demons
comfort
take the religious to task
talk to outcasts
talk to women .. alone ..
stuff like that
upset a lot of people bigtime
both empire and religion ..
and he spoke to people
too ..
but the deeds preceded the words ..
as in
the conversation came after the relation ..
what Jesus did opened the ears of the people ..they saw him as a different kind of person
concerned with their wellbeing
doing stuff to help out
to relieve their suffering ..
and then they listened to what he had to say
there's a thought for ya..
selah ..~
why don't we involve ourselves in people's lives upfront
first
before preaching ?
then as they see we ' mean business ' on the ground
where they live
helping them deal with the issues of life
that issue out of their hurts and burdens
their poverty
and disability and abuses
and homelessness and hunger
and addictiveness
then they are willing
( a necessity )
to listen to something we have to say ..
maybe ..
... . .. .
so while we push the doctrine
while we laud the preaching
while we have eyes and ears for the man/woman in the pulpit
on the tele ..
we walk out and walk on basically untouched
and not being able to touch others
because we put the proverbial cart before the horse
and people don't see us changed
or interested in them
except to invite them to church
during ' revival meetings '
or hand them a tract
or preach at them for their drunkeness or gayness or Muslimness or ...
... . .
maybe Jesus has a point
a pointy point ..
go to people
be with people
associate with people
get to know people
look to help people ..
then tell them something
then you can expect them to open their ears to what you have to say ..
for some reason
back in the day we discounted the doing part
and elevated the doctrinal/preaching/teaching part
sorta like theology
vs discipleship
kinda ..
as if Jesus was only here for a mission
and not as an example ..
rephrase that ..
some of us wanted to leave the social aspects of christianity
to the ' socialists '
and the ' liberals '
and the social agencies
labeling it the ' social gospel '
and focus on ' preaching the gospel '
as if the two are disparate issues
as if Jesus only dealt with the doctrine
and relegated the other stuff to government and social agencies
Jesus ?
did what ?
not the Jesus i am friends with ..
not the Jesus of the scriptures
that book i keep close to me ..
... . .
i'm just sayin'
maybe we should take Jesus at His Word
and at His Deed ..
and use His Methodology
instead of trying to come up with our way of doing it
after all
it is Christ-ianity
isn't it ?
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