Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Wrong Dichotomy?
Dan Edelen:
Look, from the perspective of the time He was in the tomb, Christ was a dismal failure. But the resurrection is the most astounding success in history! In that Jesus redefined success.
I don't think we want to complain too loudly about being too successful. I think we want to change how we think of success. And until we do so, we have less than the truth. That's the issue.
Church Evangelism Success
We live in an era where the value of any message is directly related to the success it generates. And the proof of that success is found in the bearer of the message. If the bearer is successful, then the message has validity.Whoa! Back up the truck here. Success is NOT the problem, the problem is how we define success. Edelen sorta gets it right later in the post when he writes:
This formula not only drives success but is used to substantiate truth claims.
Why is the American obsession with success so detrimental to evangelism?
For us, success by worldly standards matters more.But then he goes on railing against "success."I really disagree with this presentation - Christians should be the most successful people in the world. Not only that success is in fact an indicator of truth claims. Which means, that if the church is failing - a case that Edelen makes when he opens his post - then it is because they do not have the truth!
Look, from the perspective of the time He was in the tomb, Christ was a dismal failure. But the resurrection is the most astounding success in history! In that Jesus redefined success.
I don't think we want to complain too loudly about being too successful. I think we want to change how we think of success. And until we do so, we have less than the truth. That's the issue.
Church Evangelism Success
