One of the worst ways we American Evangelicals have missed the stimulating message of Jesus is the creation of the Christian ghetto. We have developed our own subculture, complete with dress codes, artistic expressions, appropriate (and maybe more importantly, inappropriate) etiquette, political processes, educational institutions and more. For Evangelicals, the only legitimate reason one might venture outside the ghetto is evangelism. Outside the ghetto is too dangerous for us weak-moraled Christians and our children, unless you're going out to "save the lost."
Are there things in the world at large, outside the ghetto, that are valuable to God for reasons other than evangelism? Can those who follow Jesus be friends with those who don't, and value those relationships for what they are, for what they can be, without "using" them only for new souls in the kingdom?
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Stimulation
So what was it about Jesus that was so different than today's American evangelicals?
It was redemptive stimulation. Not just the attempt to stimulate morality, or some outward focused shell of morality. But redemptive stimulation. His three years in the public eye were about stimulating people into real living, real life. Where are we missing that opportunity today? Where are we getting it right?
It was redemptive stimulation. Not just the attempt to stimulate morality, or some outward focused shell of morality. But redemptive stimulation. His three years in the public eye were about stimulating people into real living, real life. Where are we missing that opportunity today? Where are we getting it right?
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