Faith works

I've been reading Brian McLaren's Generous Orthodoxy as of late. I got a bit bogged down in the introduction, as he basically does his level best to talk you out of reading the book. I got his point, but it got really tedious, really fast. I'm here to tell you that if you are reading the same book and are thinking of putting it down...push through. Or, just skip the stupid intro bit. And maybe the first chapter, or chapter zero...whatever he calls it.

After that, it can only go uphill, and that it does. Rather than give an entire review, there are some aspects he touches on that I think are vitally important for the church to take note of.

One of the two things was his view of how to do missions work. He commented that most of the church thinks of missions as what happens outside of the doors of the church, and ministry is what happens on the inside. However, he said that perhaps we should think of it less as two separate things, but rather as one extending from the other. Work done outside the church should simply extend naturally from the work done on the inside of the church. Since the mission of the church should be to extend God's love, regardless of whether a person is a Christian or not, then there's no division. One flows from the other.

McLaren's point takes the obvious division of 'us and them', 'Christians and non-Christians', and simply puts us all in one category, 'God's children in need of love'. This inclusive gospel de-emphasizes hell as a converting tool (where heaven, ultimately, just becomes a matter of fire insurance), and focuses instead on heaven, and experiencing the Kingdom of Heaven here and now.

The chapter I just finished builds on this idea, as its on evangelism. All of a sudden, I feel more likely and energized to evangelize than I ever have before. No longer is evangelism a means of forcing religion on people with threats of hell and guilt trips, but rather it is a matter of pointing them to God. Granted, my skills do not lie in the direction of talking to people I don't know (contrary to popular belief, I'm not particularly outgoing), so I never really was able to do that. So, now, I still realize that I am pushing the boundaries of the Kingdom farther, just simply by living a life of love.

This view of life and Christianity has challenged me, however, in that McLaren makes the point that religion should also not focus on me, or you. It should focus on others. If we attract people to the church by their selfish desires (I don't want to burn in hell, therefore, I become a Christian), then why are we surprised when no one shows up to a ministry project that requires self-sacrifice?

So, I find myself once again on the narrow path. Not by my own works, but by those of others who have gone before me. Jesus, namely. St. John Chrysostom. Martin Luther. John Wesley. Brian McLaren. Each person calls me from my selfish little world, whose every whim is dictated by my ever fickle desires.

My faith should not just be a matter of me and Jesus (how many times have I preached that?). It must include all of humanity, and even all of Creation. Love and compassion are the tools to redeem, and God uses them through us, in us, with us to cleanse us from our myriad sins.

So, you who say you have faith, show me your works. Please. And allow me to join you in them, because I need the challenge and the push just as much as anyone.