Friday, 19 October 2012

Theology, Mission, Doing it Right

Chris Wright is an amazing theologian. Theologan. Hmmm. Brings to mind complicated words, big books, writers who seem to try to complicate what they want to say, and dust gets in the way.

Not Chris. Look for his book, The "Mission of God's People" if you want to build your own effective, comprehensive  understanding of God's work across the ages in meaningful ways. He spoke to us this morning during our plenary session.

Chris talks about God's 5-fold mission of Evangelism, Teaching & building, Compassion, Justice and Creation Care.

As Navigators we have focused big-time on Evangelism and Teaching & Building. Our hallmark, classic terms of follow-up and discipling. Helping people to become established in their faith to the point where they can feed themselvs. Then discipling them until they can lead another to Christ. Then generations, when the one they lead to Christ in turn leads another to Christ.

We keep doing this.

And we do more.

Compassion. Justice. caring for our environmnent, looking after the extended family, healing woundedness. Doing all of this in Communities of Grace, where, rather than rewarding performance, we reward authenticity, humilty, serving and loving.

Our contexts? Church, Society and Creation. Look at these amazing verses from Colossians 1!
 
18  And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone.

19  So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.

20  Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross.
 
 
So, let's do it right! Reconciliation, staying connected to Christ, making space continually for more, fixing the broken, healing the dislocated! His Death on the Cross makes this possible!
 
And the afternoon. Four hours on the bus, to get in 60 minutes of shopping. Oh well.
 
Irv.
 
PS Amazing trip to visit the game park just outside of Nairobi! Evidence of our trip!



 
 

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