I saw this on Dan Ohlerking's Blog and had to put it on mine. Ed Stetzer had a great piece on his blog:
I just wrote an article for Catalyst on the dangerous trend of gaining converts to our causes without gaining converts to Christ. Here are a few paragraphs.
I continue to see movements gaining traction among Christians that do not seem to have many converts. In other words, they have recruits to their cause, but few converts to Christ. And, I am concerned. I am concerned that in the name of "fixing the Church" we are not proclaiming the Church's gospel....
So, my Reformed friends, let's not only read 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John (that is, John Calvin, John MacArthur, and John Piper), let's go plant some more churches. My emerging church friends, let's take a pause from the theological rethink and head into the neighborhood and to tell someone about Jesus. My missional friends, let's speak of justice, but always tell others how God can be both "just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." My house church friends, let's have community, but let's be sure it is one focused on redemption. My Baptist friends, let's focus more on convincing pagans than Presbyterians. And, my charismatic friends, let's focus less on getting existing believers to speak in tongues and more on using our tongue to tell others about Jesus
...
If you want to convince me (and the body of Christ) to your cause, you must show me it is a better way. You must tell and show something different. You must not just protest what is, but you must show me what should be.
You need to go an read the whole article to see these excerpts in context at Catalystspace.com,
POLITICAL FROM GOD
ReplyDeleteProbably for many Christians is a political area as pernicious and bad tend to think that is something completely mundane, but it is not. In fact the political is an area created by God so that man can manage your life. If today we see that politics in the world is dirty and evil is because man has fallen ill created all things and all the systems created by God and each other's political. But the political, initially been designed by God to Adam and Eve in the exercise its clean state before the fall. In fact, God politics practiced there in their glory because of the politics of God gives way to the Kingdom. When speaking of a "King" is applying a political, not religious, or when speaking of a "Kingdom" is a political term, and the same applies when speaking of "Laws" or "mandates . All these political terms contained in the Bible. We can then say that the policy ¨ God is clearly expressed in the writings. Law, Justice, Liberty, Equality, etc., are ideas that are expressed continuously in politics but these ideas receive the most words when they are linked to God and not man. The Lord Jesus Christ is the best political of all time because "good news" that contain preach "politics of God to man," a political that the politicians of his time (as King Herod, or Pilate) not liking. But his political message and continued were it not for that message many governments and constitutions in the world would not exist. I personally believe that Christians should participate in politics for the purpose of influencing the politics of this world with the political of God