Some time ago I began thinking of the detrimental way much of the Church in these days share the gospel. We seem to have adopted a bare minimalist approach where we share slogans ( which we think are a clever distillation of the gospel); and what we say is all about getting folk to be saved. A quick rehearsal of the Alphabet of Commitment ( Admit Believe Confess) and Bob is not only your uncle but safely ensconced in the Kingdom!
Now I am never going to deny the foundational truth that we all need to be justified before the holy God. But justification is just the first conversion we all must have.
You see, there is a second conversion that God wants to work in us: that of transformation. And this transformation has three parts:
1) to grow in holiness and conformity to our Glorious Lord and Saviour;
2) to minister like Christ in word and deed, in the power of the Spirit through signs and wonders, and to be committed to the poor through merciful lives and giving;
3) to grow in wisdom and discernment of God’s Word written and to know his kindly Shepherdly guiding.
This is the transformation that the world has to see in the Church - the very company of men, women and children who not only know their sins forgiven, but whose lives are so full of life and love and light that they instantly attract.
If you doubt the truth of what I am saying and the depressing situation we are in … compare our methods with that of the Wesleys. It’s shocking to see how much more they taught and expected from those who had become Christians.
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