In many places in Africa the church has existed for decades, but the ultimate impact on culture and society is minimal at best. Under a veneer of the church there is a Christian culture where sin is not only tolerated, but is seen as normal behavior for some of those those claiming to follow Christ.
I heard several stories today where those claiming to be believers and even pastors and those studying to be pastors have demonstrated attitudes and actions that are in alignment with cultural norms, but not the Word of God. The troubling thing was that people didn't seemed troubled by it. Rather they seemed to respond with a "well that is just the way things are here..."
Certainly this problem is not limited to Africa. In over two decades of pastoral ministry in the States I found far too often the things that were talked about and affirmed on Sunday weren't lived out in the marketplace on Monday.
I have spent significant time in the past two months thinking about what genuine Gospel transformation looks like. I have read numerous books on the subject. N.T. Wright in his book "After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters" writes about genuine transformation as a living out of what he calls "the virtues and the values of the Kingdom of God" as a natural part of day to day life. My mind and heart were gripped by this idea, which can only be done through the renewing of our minds by the powerful work of the Word of God and the Spirit of God (Romans 12:1& 2)
I think it is time to begin to measure the effectiveness of the church less by the number of activities and events and people attending and more by people evidencing the values and virtues of the Kingdom of God in their day to day lives at home, at church, and in the marketplace. We are working in our ministries and partnerships to find effective ways to both press for this and to measure whether or not it is happening.
3 comments:
Kevin,
Your thoughts have echoed the feelings in my own soul. I would love to bounce around your ideas, as you have the time.
One thing I am planning om is my fall preaching series. I am going to walk through Matthew with an eye to it being a manual on Christian Discipleship. I also am going to put together weekly discussion sheets for our fall Community Groups. I guess that's one reason I would love to hear more of your thoughts.
Maybe if you're home for awhile, yeah right, we can do the Starbucks on your side of the hill. (No, I didn't imply that you're over the hill. Hardly!)
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Randy, I'd love to get together to talk about this. I'm headed home on Saturday and will be home for a few days. Tuesday July 10 and Thursday July 19 are the best dates for me. Let me know if one of those mornings would work. Kevin
You're quite right, Kevin, both that this is an issue, and that it's one we all need to wrestle with far more than most have. Good choice of books to start the process too...
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