Sunday, February 17, 2008

Mars Hill Sermon: Rivalry

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i know… blackberry photos don’t look so hot

I’ve been skeptical of short term missions, especially when the cost of the plane tickets alone could have done so much for the mission. But when Mars Hill explained that their short term missions to third world communities included analysis for generating long term solutions to water contamination and poverty - solutions such as chemical wells and microfinancing, I saw a bit of the business sense behind it. In a sense, the cost of the trips were like startup costs for a new business project. After all, consultation and meetings frequently fill the schedules of new business owners, right?  I haven’t thought this through completely yet, and I still remain somewhat skeptical of short-term missions.  However, its impact on people, especially those going on the trips, is certain.

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my church buds being attentive

Rob bell was away today, so another speaker came to continue the series on Philippians. It’s funny how the sermon can sometimes be exactly what you’ve been thinking about. Our speaker spoke about rivalry within the Christian community and between Christians and non-Christians, and how rivalry wasn’t Christlike in any way. In Philippians, the apostle Paul heard that others were spreading the Gospel with the wrong motives, yet his reaction was not of hostility and anger, but of acceptance. To Paul, the only thing that mattered was that Christ was being preached; so what if people had the wrong motives?

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rivalry exemplified by the jesus fish and darwin fish

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talking about short-term missions (i like those guitars)

This brings up a tension I’ve been thinking about.  On the one hand, I shouldn’t judge anyone, because who am I to take God’s place as judge?  So even if people have wrong motives, who am I to condemn them?  I am not called to condemn, but the love, just like Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save it with His love.  On the other hand, I’m called to confront those in the church who are deviating from The Way, just like how Paul wrote letters to churches that were straying.  In a sense, when Paul wrote those letters, he was judging those churches and determining if they were right or wrong.  How can I reconcile this tension?

I don’t have any answers yet, just questions, but I’ll be sure to bring it up to my mentor or some of my religion professors sometime in the next few days.

Posted by Nehe555 on 02/17 at 12:27 PM
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