Hey all! I'm back from two weeks of intensive classes at seminary, and I must say I am excited about what I learned. I took a class on Community Development, which is basically looking at what we need to do as Christians (not what we need to do as the church, the church in modern day terms is nothing more that an institution, I'm talking about what the church was in the day of Jesus, a group of people living like Jesus). What I mean by "what we need to do as Christians" is that Christians are supposed to impact their communities, and the world. This is what Jesus did. The other class was Global Issues In Evangelism, which is all about missions. Is God calling us to be missional in the sense of doing overseas missions? What are our assumptions and faults as Americans when it comes to trying to understand other cultures? Does Jesus want us to reach out to all the world? (hint:look up Great Commission).
So what example did Jesus leave for us? He seemed to do what the "religious leaders" thought He shouldn't do. He was always around prostitutes, immoral people, the sick, the mentally ill, and so on. So if we are to be like Jesus, and Christians claim to be "Christ like", why do we struggle to reach out to the poor, the immoral, the mentally ill, basically "the least of these." I know what some may be saying, "I support missions, I donate to this, I serve on the food sharing program". That is awesome, it really is. But let's examine our hearts and decide if we are doing it so we can feel good, or so that those we serve can feel good? Thanksgiving and Christmas are key times to feed the homeless and those who are without. These programs are awesome. However, besides the fact that they are hungry the other days of the year, what is the main theme on these days? Family, family, and family. Often times we serve the poor with a smile, and go on our way. The truly poor get feed physically,. but do they get feed spiritually or mentally. What they truly need is relationships, this is what I mean by following the example of Jesus, it goes beyond giving money or volunteering time. This is what Jesus meant by "the poor will always be among us." It isn't that the poor will always be here, it is more about us as Christians will always be around the poor, because THAT'S WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO....be around the poor, the sick, the least of these.Are we?
This is not a post to make you feel guilty (BTW....this applies to me to!), it is simply a post to get back to Christology, which is the exploration of the impact Christ has on us. This will determine our missiology, which is our purpose and function in the world. and that will determine our ecclesiology, which is the function of the church. (taken from ReJesus, by Frost and Hirsch). We often work backwards, and start with what we do in the church, which will determine what we do in the world (or do not do), and in the process we hope to learn about Christ and His impact, our Christology.
So what's the bottom line? How can we "Go Be Jesus" if we don't do what Jesus did?
I will be speaking on this Sunday morning, June 28th at our 10am service at:
CrossWalk Community Church
2590 First Street
Napa, Ca, 94558
www.crosswalknapa.org
