Friday, April 11, 2008
"The Way!"
Milt Stanley links to Dan Weddle who writes on "Situation Evangelism."
Interestingly, no sculptor can make the same statue twice in exactly the same way. You see, even two lumps of clay from the same lot will have somewhat different behaviors when subjected to the artist's hand. On one attempt the sculptor may have to hold the gouge at a 45 degree angle, but the next time, he may have to hold it at 40 degrees.
Not to mention that even with his best attempt, no two sculptures will be completely identical. There will always be variation in the result.
Now, just to carry the metaphor to an extreme, imagine the gouge telling the artist that He has to do it some certain way every time. Isn't that what we are doing when we try to do this the same way every time.
This is why the gospel is about relationship, not words. As God's tools we have to be come intimate with the material we are being used to shape so that we can be properly used.
Who is more successful? The artist that has made on beautiful pot, or the manufacturer that as made millions of mediocre ones. Now imagine that if the artist makes that one beautiful pot, that pot goes on to make others.
Different church, isn't it?
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It would be nice if we could formulize the Gospel but one thing you’ll find in the Bible is that there is no formula.This is an excellent point that needs to be looked at much more deeply - you see it is about so much more than just words and presentation. The gospel is not about acceptance, it is about transformation. As as such we are God's instruments in shaping the other when we do evangelism.
Jesus says, love your neighbor (Luke 10:25,26), sell all you have (Luke 18:18-23), be born again (John 3:3) and to groups he often sums up with "Repent" (Matthew 4:17). His gospel message was determined by who He was with.
Peter does the same thing in Acts. You will be saved if you repent for killing the Messiah (Acts 2), observe the miracle and believe it’s Jesus doing it (Acts 4:7-12), guys brought by angels heard the gospel preached to Gentiles (Acts 11:12-17). Each one is phrased differently based on the situation of each one.
Interestingly, no sculptor can make the same statue twice in exactly the same way. You see, even two lumps of clay from the same lot will have somewhat different behaviors when subjected to the artist's hand. On one attempt the sculptor may have to hold the gouge at a 45 degree angle, but the next time, he may have to hold it at 40 degrees.
Not to mention that even with his best attempt, no two sculptures will be completely identical. There will always be variation in the result.
Now, just to carry the metaphor to an extreme, imagine the gouge telling the artist that He has to do it some certain way every time. Isn't that what we are doing when we try to do this the same way every time.
This is why the gospel is about relationship, not words. As God's tools we have to be come intimate with the material we are being used to shape so that we can be properly used.
Who is more successful? The artist that has made on beautiful pot, or the manufacturer that as made millions of mediocre ones. Now imagine that if the artist makes that one beautiful pot, that pot goes on to make others.
Different church, isn't it?
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