I have been reading an interesting book by John Stott called The Living Church. He used a term in his chapter on evangelism that is intriguing to me - "holy worldliness." He said that no one exhibited this better than Jesus. Jesus was holy and never compromised His holiness while at the same time being fully present with all kinds of people. He invested Himself fully in the world for the sake of others who were far from God. In order to follow Jesus' example, according to Stott, we must do the same. We must be like Jesus in our character and countenance, doing what He did and saying what He said, and yet being fully present with those in the world.
Stott writes:
"Mission" arises, then, from the biblical doctrine of the church in the world. If we are not "the church," the holy and distinct people of God, we have nothing to say because we are compromised. If, on the other hand, we are not "in the world," deeply involved in its life and suffering, we have no one to serve because we are insulated. Our calling is to be "holy" and "worldly" at the same time. Without this balanced biblical ecclesiology we will never recover or fulfill our mission. (pg. 54)
What do you think of this term and his use of it? Is it a good lens to see the subject of mission through or do we need to use a different lens?
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Holy Worldliness. What's that? However, taken that it is meant to convey the idea to everyone that participates - to be practical and holy in spreading the good news.
ReplyDeleteNo one has a better formula than the one used by Jesus, the greatest disciple and role model of all time. During God's foreordaining of Jesus, there was a charge for Jesus to relate the good news to the masses. To-day's evangelists would do well to follow in Jesus' foot steps - with gusto.
Great thought, just have to adjust the lens as "worldliness" was used in a different way a few years ago. Yesterday, on a leading station, a news person talked about having a "heart to heart" with his son. He said, like the kind you have when one is going away to college. Said he told him that a person is only as good as the people he runs with. I thought about Stott's remarks in this article. Is it possible that age and the level of maturity as a Christian play into all of this?Think that as we look at John 15:2, "Every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away", we realize that we must be holy to bear fruit,and it is the people of the world that we are to reach. Have to conclude that the article is right on target.Do continue to wonder about the questions posed above about spiritual maturity and the association with some things that might be involved in witnessing. Good article, in any case.
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