Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Maybe It Is Not What You Think
Mark Roberts:
But what really bothers me is that a church focused on spreading the narrow view cannot make room for the broader view somewhere - it will not work to promote those that seek the broader view. IT feels it "success" at risk if there are those in their number that are too radical at this whole faith thing. I wonder at that point if ti is a communication strategy or an avoidance mechanism?
christian maturity
To be sure, it is wonderful to be saved in this way. But, from a biblical perspective, God's salvation is more inclusive. We who are saved by God's grace begin to experience God's shalom—peace and wholeness, live as it was meant to be—now, even as we anticipate the fullness of shalom that is reserved for the future. (As we'll see in the second half of Ephesians 2, salvation transforms, not just individuals, but also our relationships and the social order of our world.)How many of us refuse to appropriate this broader view of "salvation?" How many churches, knowing so many do not want the broader view acquiesce to the narrow view in the name of "spreading the news?" Is the news spread if all we spread is the narrow view?
The good news embedded in the verb "to be saved" is that God is at work in you, mending your brokenness, healing your wounds, helping you to be the whole person he intends you to be. God wants you to experience life in greater abundance and to work through you to foster wholeness in this world, even as you await the joy of Heaven.
But what really bothers me is that a church focused on spreading the narrow view cannot make room for the broader view somewhere - it will not work to promote those that seek the broader view. IT feels it "success" at risk if there are those in their number that are too radical at this whole faith thing. I wonder at that point if ti is a communication strategy or an avoidance mechanism?
christian maturity
