A Living Witness-A Response….
Introduction
Normally….whatever that means….I keep my mouth shut and try to follow the party line…what ever that means also….oh yeah…my wife is glaring at me…the correct term is showing respect to those in authority over me. (My wife is laughing now….) I challenge authority more than I respect it….I can’t help it I like asking the question why? way to much.
With my recent paradigm shift (thanks to my case manager Noah introducing me to the whole Emergent Thinking stuff which led to me to missional thinking and discovering the writing of Mark Driscoll , Matt Chandler , Ed Stetzer , Anthony Bradley , and the whole gamut of resources available through Resurgence.
So Sunday, after having had surgery, I went to Church….hoping for a quiet peaceful worship experience where I would walk away without having my brain go into a state of over drive..But NOOOOOO….my Pastor has to go and preach a complicated sermon on witnessing…what made it more complicated was lifestyle witnessing.
So now I have to answer…..
Bringing Shalom
Shalom means peace
Honestly….we have a warped view of what evangelism and witnessing is.
When I was in Bible School my evangelism professor defined witnessing in a way that we had to slam dunk the person with the gospel when we encountered them.
There was a problem with his method….
Unless you were equipped to debate on an apologetic level you would get your butt kicked every time you did this.
And I got tired of debating….
Although I was pretty good at it….
The approach I had taken was pretty warped…
Jesus called us to show love for each other (John 13:34-35). How loving is it to look someone square in the eye and tell them that they are “damned and going to hell” for whatever reason? I know…I know…you think I am going liberal…hear me out? What is more important? Getting people to listen to the message or getting people to be scared?
Listen to what Anthony Bradley Said….
“The fall destroyed the reign of shalom (the Hebrew word for “peace”) on the earth. Jewish theologians understood shalom simply as the way things ought to be. Cornelius Plantinga says that biblically speaking shalom is “the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, harmony, fulfillment, and delight.” Sin and evil vandalize shalom. We have all been complicit in vandalizing shalom in our relationship to God, with other people, and with his creation. The good news is that Jesus came to inaugurate the final restoration of shalom as he “reconciles to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross” (Col 3:20).
Jesus followers, empowered by God himself, are people who bring shalom wherever shalom is needed. This might take on the form of evangelism, going to sit with the “loser” kid at the lunch table, manufacturing products that improve people’s lives, creating good music, picking up trash in your neighborhood, caring for AIDS patients, teaching science well, baby sitting for your neighbor’s kids, letting your son’s friend from a broken home move in with your family, rescuing children from forced prostitution, and so on.” (Anthony Bradley, Toward A Missional World view: Life’s Not Supposed To Suck, http://theresurgence.com/ab_blog_2006-07-21_toward_a_missional_worldview–sin , Accessed: 9/6/06))
The Great Commission is that a mission…an assignment.
