Comments on: May I Rant a Bit, Part II http://wanderingpriest.com/2010/06/16/may-i-rant-a-bit-part-ii/ Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:50:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Steve Burris http://wanderingpriest.com/2010/06/16/may-i-rant-a-bit-part-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-137 Steve Burris Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:31:51 +0000 http://testsite3.cmfmissionary.org/?p=347#comment-137 We need a careful exegesis of Rev. 7:9 to determine the true meaning in the context of the Revelation of John. Question: The church is commissioned to think globally regardless when the Lord returns. The phrase in Rev. 7:9 is a stress on the global community but not necessairly saved from every single nation that has ever existed since the first century. What does John intend? We need a careful exegesis of Rev. 7:9 to determine the true meaning in the context of the Revelation of John.

Question: The church is commissioned to think globally regardless when the Lord returns. The phrase in Rev. 7:9 is a stress on the global community but not necessairly saved from every single nation that has ever existed since the first century. What does John intend?

]]> By: Steve Burris http://wanderingpriest.com/2010/06/16/may-i-rant-a-bit-part-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-136 Steve Burris Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:24:07 +0000 http://testsite3.cmfmissionary.org/?p=347#comment-136 So, if every mission organization is concerned primarily about a specialty then it is possible to walk by the sick, the hungry, the hurting on our way to announcing the Kingdom of God in our own narrowly defined specialization? The glaring weakness to the unreached people group approach has been that the most zealous have been able to ignore a world of need while engineering the latest statistics to show what the church should be doing now. While many of us have found the emphasis on unreached peoples a helpful paradigm, it is time to come back toward a more holistic approach. Yes, reaching the unreached is still the priority but not to the exclusion of the other ministry needs that come into focus along the way. If we are to be biblical Christians then we must follow the example of Jesus in all areas of ministry. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That was and is the primary goal of the work of the church. But he also commanded the church to "teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." While doing social action type ministries is not an excuse for ignoring the unreached, neither is a focus on unreached an excuse for ignoring the glaring human needs that exist in our world today. We need to do away with the totally false, and bordering on heresy, of social action vs. evangelism. So, if every mission organization is concerned primarily about a specialty then it is possible to walk by the sick, the hungry, the hurting on our way to announcing the Kingdom of God in our own narrowly defined specialization?

The glaring weakness to the unreached people group approach has been that the most zealous have been able to ignore a world of need while engineering the latest statistics to show what the church should be doing now. While many of us have found the emphasis on unreached peoples a helpful paradigm, it is time to come back toward a more holistic approach. Yes, reaching the unreached is still the priority but not to the exclusion of the other ministry needs that come into focus along the way.

If we are to be biblical Christians then we must follow the example of Jesus in all areas of ministry. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That was and is the primary goal of the work of the church. But he also commanded the church to “teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” While doing social action type ministries is not an excuse for ignoring the unreached, neither is a focus on unreached an excuse for ignoring the glaring human needs that exist in our world today.

We need to do away with the totally false, and bordering on heresy, of social action vs. evangelism.

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