Ponderings

In a book I am reading on evangelism, John Stott comments on the challenge and opportunity that all Christians face when striving to make visible the gospel of the invisible God.

This is what he says: 'The invisibility of God is a great problem. It was already a problem to God's people in the Old Testament days. Their pagan neighbors would taunt them, saying, "Where is now your God?" Their gods were visible and tangible, but Israel's God was neither. Today in our scientific culture young people are taught not to believe in anything which is not open to empirical investigation. How then has God solved the problem of His own invisibility? The first answer is of course "in Christ." Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. John 1:18: " No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son has made Him known." "That's wonderful," people say, "but that was 2000 years ago. Is there no way by which the invisible God makes Himself visible today?" There is. We return to 1 John 4:12: "No one has ever seen God." It is precisely the same introductory statement. But instead of continuing with reference to the Son of God, it continues: "If we love one another, God dwells in us." In other words, the invisible God who once made Himself visible in Christ, now makes Himself visible in Christians., if we love one another. It is a breathtaking claim. The local church cannot evangelize, proclaiming the gospel of love, if it is not itself a community of love.' (emphasis mine)

I have a bunch of thoughts pin-balling all over in my brain after reading something like this. Maybe at some point I can make them (my thoughts) coherent, but for now I am just soaking in what Mr. Stott is saying. As I seek to go forth as a gospel-bearer are those that I am engaging able to see a community of love? When I take them back to Jesus' body, is Jesus really Who they are seeing? Or am I going out and bringing them back to something that simply hides who Jesus truly is? By hides I mean, looks good, clean, knowledgeable, but is still seeking what the world seeks- what the Church does for me? Or is love reigning supreme in our local church so that the gospel is visible?

Our church just finished a series on using our spiritual gifts for the edification and unification of the body in love. Now we have moved on to learning what it means, at least in the minds of our elders, to be a missional church. I am very much looking forward to hearing the rest of this series, but as I read this commentary if you will, I hope we will not lose sight (at least that I won't lose sight) of putting into practice seeing the body of Jesus as so important that we would invest ourselves in building it up, by loving our brothers and sisters by using the gifts God has given us for each others good; so that we can out of the overflow of that love be missionaries manifesting that love to those around us and truly bring them into a community of lovers of God and others. You see, I can't separate the previous sermon series from this present one. So at least in my mind they are fitted together and that is where my thinking is taking me as I consider all that I am being challenged in.