According to Tim Keller:
The purpose of redemption is not to help individuals escape the world. It is about the
coming of God's kingdom to renew it. God’s purpose is not only to save individuals, but also to
make a new world based on justice, peace, and love, rather than on power, strife, and
selfishness. If God is so committed to this that he suffered and died, surely Christians should also
seek a society based on God’s peace and love.
Thoughts? Agree, disagree, or indifferent?
(I don't understand the strange breaks in the formatting of this quote as it appears on the blog. I guess copy and paste doesn't always mean copy and paste?)
Agree. My hangup is - how does the Christian accomplish this rightly? I think its something I'm quick to say - "I can accomplish that in my flesh...let me do a-b-c-d". What role does the Holy Spirit play in renewing the spirits of men and women - accompishing spritual redemption - in order to accomplish right and God glorifying works here on Earth? I wouldn't want it to be said about me - as was the Galatians - Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected in the flesh?
ReplyDeleteGood post.
I think the Spirit's work in renewing individual hearts is absolutely essential in this type of work. But that is the same no matter what kind of work we are doing for the Lord, whether it be evangelism or justice-seeking.
ReplyDeleteI think Keller is encouraging Spirit-filled Christians to think seriously about what all of life ought to look like under Christ's lordship, and then go out in His strength to try to act as a signpost of the future Kingdom.
I love the heart you have for the Compassion Ministry, which I think is a ministry that embodies the kind of activity Keller is calling for. But I'm sure you know that Compassion is impossible to pull off apart from a Spirit-ignited longing to make much of Jesus in word and deed.
I just wonder if we really know what the Spirit-filled Christian is. Is there a Christian that is not Spirit filled? Or is it that Christians don't understand their position in Christ? Just questions I was asking before I tell someone - go out and serve....
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be interesting. Christians (myself included) can live this way.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32106010/ns/tech_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/
I check my Smile-O-Meter without checking to make sure my Spirit is in line.