As I was reading through Matthew 13, I noticed this: "the kingdom," which I take as being something like the Ultimate Expression of the Rule (sovereignty, control, etc.) of God, isn't made perfect/pure until the End. That is, the two parables that Jesus uses to talk about how the Kingdom is going to rid itself of the bad-guys have this "cleansing" at "the end of the world"!!
Yet I find myself trying to figure out how to get "them" out now. I find a similar approach in the Missional movement.
How can it be that Jesus is okay with having people contrary to His desire/plan? Why does He still allow Judas-types in His Body/Bride? This seems all-wrong to me. Yet it's God's method. So now I'm trying to assess: what of my understanding needs to change so that my 'approach' to the Kingdom is the same as God's? [Note: I know I made the jump from "Kingdom" to Church. I think it's a legitimate connection]
[more important, how do I know if I am a Judas-type or have slipped into being one?!?]
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Wrong (church) Goal
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2 comments:
Hey Dave, long time no talk....
just checking in on your blog...
I was wondering what you meant by this:
"Yet I find myself trying to figure out how to get "them" out now. I find a similar approach in the Missional movement."
You made it sound like you (and the missional movement) are trying to get rid of unbelievers? Is that what you meant? Or did you mean you and the missional movement are trying to convert people?
Its hard to respond without knowing what you meant.
Sorry for the confusion... what I meant was that there is a push to get the Church to be made up of only "fully devoted followers of Christ" (to use someone else's phrasing for a moment). There is desire to not ever see half-hearted Christians who might walk away.
What I am probably pointing at more specifically is the way in which we make standards for who is Doing Well and who is not. Based on standards that are typically applied to the right-now. We don't take into account (1) movement (over years, for example) nor (2) what God is doing with someone (cf. Matt 13 above). This would all be somewhat-ish related to double-standards.
Where the Missional writers stay with the immediate (evangelical) past they come out of is when they write about all-in or all-out ("EVERY Christian a missionary").
As opposed to Jesus' being okay with people who don't seem to be getting it or who aren't even Believers - He's okay with them being around, "inside", the Body, as is the case here in Matt. 13.
If that doesn't clear up what I'm saying, PLEASE push-back!
David
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