Categories: uncategorized
Date: 15 August 2005 03:06:57
.. is the title of one of our readings this week for Perspectives. It's very interesting, a bit of a contrast to the other articles this week. I like it. Its message is positive. I think I needed to read something like this just now.
Some excerpts, from Beyond Duty by Tim Dearborn:
So many conflicting and competing missions cry for our attention. We're so easily drawn and quartered by the pull of divergent needs and calls. Without a central understanding of the biblical emphasis on the Kingdom of God, our terminology becomes one of "I bring you bad news of sad problems".
No wonder the church and many organisations' supporters are increasingly disinterested in mission! People cannot handle relentless exposure to catastrophes and crises. This is not the gospel. The gospel is good news of great joy!
Lack of interest in mission is not fundamentally caused by an absence of compassion or commitment, nor by lack of information or exhortation. And lack of interest in mission is not remedied by more shocking statistics, more gruesome stories or more emotionally manipulative commands to obedience. It is best remedied by intensifying peoples' passion for Christ, so that the passions of his heart become the passions that propel our hearts.