Thanks, Trevor. Yep that's the challenge. Three reactions:
1. I was privileged to be asked to the do the Bible studies at the
VicTas Synod recently. The surprising thing to me was that in the
sermon and Bible studies where I was the most challenging, the most
radically alternate to current social values, the most uncompromising I
got the warmest response. (At the risk of blatant self-promotion they
may be found at http://vic.uca.org.au, esp the one on Luke.) It seems
to me that many people are ready for and excited by the tough challenge
to discipleship.
2. Secondly, the most hope-filled gatherings I went to this year was
the
radical discipleship get-together of young people during the June long
weekend (see Insights October, page 14). Young people do not
want a namby-pamby easy gospel.
3. Thirdly, one of the clear voices against the right wing "Christian"
sell-out in the US is Sojourners ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). They provide an
organised alternative voice to the Christian right. Elenie Poulos
(Assembly UnitingJustice) and I were wondering how to get up an
Australian e-list like that. (It needs to be ecumenical or
non-denominational, I suspect.)
(Thanks, Ann, you are right. The question then is how do we communicate
both the good news of total grace and the good news of total demand? Or
in the old money, how do we hold together Jesus as Saviour
[holistically] and Jesus as Lord [again holistically]? Maybe giving
people what they want is not grace at all.)
Rob Bos
Trevor Mattiske wrote:
Rob wrote:
The wonder of the gospel is that this is actually good news as it
sets us free from ourselves for communion with God, other people and
creation. God transforms us, not because we are entitled, but when we
are
not entitled.
Ann wrote:
The problem for those of us who recognise that prosperity
theology is
not the Gospel is that we often preach a message not very different, by
encouraging a sense of self-worth, but not balancing it with concepts
of
discipleship, self-giving love, taking up our cross, etc.
Trevor responds:
Jumping ahead a couple of steps in the thinking process, these
responses suggest that (IMO) the real problem confronting the Body of
Christ is not the pews full of greying heads, nor the arguments about
gay
clergy, ministry of women etc etc.
ISTM that the real problem for the Church is how to present a
believable
message which is the complete reverse of the culture of the day. How
does
the Church present messages like "take up your cross and follow
me" or "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die"
to a society which is bombarded from all directions by messages of
self-fulfillment, a society which is being filled with expectations of
entitlement? How does an apparently weakening Church swim against such
a
tide, a tide powered by the major political and commercial forces in
society, a tide which is constantly reinforced by a compliant (and
self-interested) media?
For me, a depressing thing about most recent election campaigns has
been
the sameness of the messages from all sides, namely "Have we got a
deal for you", with the emphasis on the "you". Somewhere
in all that election rhetoric, was there a vision of a better
Australia,
a fairer Australia, a more compassionate Australia, an Australian
community? Did I miss something in the 15 second sound bites?
------------------------------------------------------
- You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED]
- To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message
body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1))
See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm
------------------------------------------------------
|
