“If I read the Bible for the first time, I would never conclude I needed to pray some prayer, but I would conclude I need to follow Jesus. If I read the Bible on a desert island, I’d never decide I needed to start a Sunday service, my priority would be discipleship." - Francis Chan
This just connected so deeply into some of the very questions I am wrestling with these days:
- How has how we have "done church" impacted how we are "being the church"? There is such a huge difference!
- What are the bare necessities to be the church? According to the Bible. Never mind what we are doing. What should we be doing?
- If we had found Jesus in scripture or in action, instead of in church, how would we understand and live out our faith differently than we are?
There is a lot that we are doing that is right on track. But, how can we live with even more Jesus passion and Jesus compassion?
I look forward to elaborating on this stuff more in the days to come...
1 comment:
Do you know what makes Christianity fundamentally different from all of the other world religions? It's the difference between 'do' and 'did'. All of the other world religions concentrate on what their people DO. Only Christianity is based on what Jesus DID.
Paul takes this a step further and points out that for believers, it isn't about DOING Kingdom things. Really, it's about BEING Kingdom citizens. We were defined by the sin we did, now we're defined by who we are in Christ.
It seems to me that from Genesis through John's Revelation God has asked the same things of His people. Through faith we are supposed to change the world by being different from it. The Israelites where called to be different from the surrounding peoples and through their testimony spread the word of God.
Likewise, I think the Church is called to be similar. We are supposed to be involved in the world and change it by BEING different.
Sadly, the Israelites tired of being different from the peoples around them and instead of changing the world, they let the world change them. I rather think too many people in the Church are worried about fitting in rather than BEING what they are supposed to be. Just my $0.02 worth.
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