I have been working on a post about my frustration with churches that do not want to fund what we do because we are not ‘evangelizing’ enough. It is awful hard to do so and still be loving and encouraging, so this post has not yet been written. However, Larry James in Dallas has similar problems and wrote an excellent response.
“Cutting to the chase let me say this to church folks who are struggling with this very artificial distinction:
. . .stop talking about being redemptive, bring redemption;
. . .stop talking about salvation and insert a saving moment into the life of just one struggling person;
. . .stop preaching a message of reconciliation and become reconcilers;
. . .stop worrying about your message and live a message that produces hope.
I could go on, but I’ll stop here.
I am convinced that things of the spirit that turn out to be eternal will always begin rooted in the here and now of the pain of people whom God hears, acknowledges and cares about. The church needs to save its breath and act redemptive.”
Go read his whole post, and subscribe to his blog. Lots of good stuff there.