That’s an important question. We’re called to do many things, but what is the one thing that informs and makes sense of every other thing we’re called to as Christians and as the church?<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Kevin DeYoung posted an article<\/a> written by Ryan Kelly about the word, “Missional.” In this post, Ryan follows up on his recent round table discussion<\/a> with pastors Greg Gilbert and Kevin DeYoung on the subject of the mission of the church. Ryan argues for the centrality of gospel proclamation if all of the Church’s doing and helps clarify the relationship between showing<\/em> mercy in tangible ways and sharing<\/em> about Mercy in Jesus Christ, between offering<\/em> help in this life and telling<\/em> persons about the only Help for life eternal.<\/p>\n Ryan offers three suggestions<\/a> to help inform the ongoing conversation concerning “the vocabulary and content of the church’s mission.” I’ll paste them here, along with highlights from each explanation. However, don’t waste your time reading it here \u00e2\u20ac\u201c go to Kevin’s blog and read the entire article<\/a>.<\/p>\n 1) Insisting on a definition of\u00c2\u00a0missional or asking for specifics of one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view of the mission is not curmudgeon fundamentalism\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still needed.<\/strong><\/p>\n …There are a few take-aways here. 1) Those skeptical of the term\u00c2\u00a0missional<\/em> should give the benefit of doubt about another\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s definition until there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reason to be concerned. The term itself has no necessary bearing on gospel fidelity. 2) Conversely, those who identify themselves with the term\u00c2\u00a0missional<\/em> should be gracious and eager to clarify when another asks him what that word means. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen too many young pastors get bent out of shape simply for being asked what\u00c2\u00a0missional<\/em> means to them. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s silly. 3) We should all strive to avoid repetitive empty vocabulary, and instead make pains to be clear about what we think the church should be doing. Again, this is a good discussion if we navigate it openly and graciously.<\/p>\n 2) Especially we younger evangelicals have to give a more sober and careful hearing to our fathers in ministry when they warn us with historical examples of when the church\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s deeds eclipsed, or became, her gospel.<\/strong><\/p>\n ….Read Machen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0Christianity and Liberalism<\/a><\/em> every five years. Read the work of George Marsden, especially\u00c2\u00a0Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism<\/a><\/em>, which chronicles the missteps of both fundamentalism and left-wing evangelicalism in the last century. Surely we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think our generation or our camp is so sharp, so vigilant that we are above repeating such mistakes. So perhaps we young, mission-impassioned, ambitious types need to do a little less eye-rolling and a little more prayerful listening when others\u00e2\u20ac\u201despecially those more historically astute and\/or experienced\u00e2\u20ac\u201dseem more cautious and suggest more careful nuance about the relationship between\u00c2\u00a0deeds<\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0gospel<\/em>.<\/p>\n 3) Partly influenced by the need to protect the gospel, but mostly based on the Bible itself, it seems to me that there is warrant for prioritizing gospel proclamation over other important commands Jesus gives his followers.<\/strong><\/p>\n Again, visit Kevin’s site<\/a> for the whole article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n