Russ did a great job getting our Free! series started at Church At The Grove yesterday. The entire morning was great and I hope you enjoyed it like I did (by the way, how 'bout David and the band?). Afterwards, we got into some discussions about the attitude behind what we're teaching. We don't want to be disrespectful just to be disrespectful, but we do want to stay true to the text, the culture, and the attitude behind the text. As I've been studying for this coming Sunday, I've also been reading some of Paul's other letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians). Russ was absolutely right to say that Paul was angry when he wrote Galatians. In fact, Paul was probably much angrier than we described. Paul wrote, "But these leaders saw that I had been given the work of telling the Good News to those who are not Jewish, just as Peter had the work of telling the Jews" (Gal 2:7). He had a mission... to tell "disconnected" people that they could be free through Christ. In the process of trying to do what God called him to do, other people were getting in the way ("They came in like spies to overturn the freedom we have in Christ Jesus" Gal 2:4). Paul was ticked off because God's grace and faith in Christ were being offered as part of a salvation package (grace of God + faith in Christ + follow Jewish law = being accepted by God).
Paul was working hard to tell people about being Free! and others were working hard to keep people contained and under control. Paul was angry and that attitude comes through in his letter. I think that attitude may have come across in Russ' message, too. Church At The Grove is designed to connect with people that live far from God. That is our mission field... God will hold us responsible for how well we do at connecting those people to him. Along the way, we wrestle with the attitude we have toward those that believe differently than us. As I said, we don't want to be disrespectful just for the sake of being disrespectful. We also want to be teachable, humble, and true to God's word. In Romans 14, we are warned about "condemning" believers that act differently than we do... and we want to be cautious about our bad attitudes toward believers that may be more "traditional" than us. On the other side, though, we are called to reach a particular group of people in this community and we are not willing to allow anything to get in the way of our mission... what do you allow to get in the way of your mission?
1 comment:
I wasn't there so I can't comment on if Russ came across angry. But Jesus got really angry about religous leaders that led people into dead orthodoxy. So we have a precedent to be anry and sin not! Keep up the good work and let the chips fall where they may. Be assured that when they fall some will crash like thunder as the establishment is challenged.
Post a Comment