One of my big wow moments (there were a few) in last week's chapter was right at the end when considering the statement: "The weakness of much current mission work and much current preaching is that they betray the sense that what is yet to be done is greater than what has already been done." Make no mistake - our contributions in 2 weeks in South Africa must be considered nothing compared with the work that has already been done in His people there. The roof on the building is not important and pales immeasurably compared to the meeting of God's people and His kingdom already being expressed!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Reflection - Chapter 1 - Workbook
Wow! Just a short note to encourage you to dive in. I am really looking forward to sharing our new discoveries together and hearing of the treasures you have seen that I can learn from. We are not meeting weekly, so this blog is a very important tool for us to grow in relationship and purpose.
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Thanks for the post Dennis! I too was intrigued by the comment you mentioned. I must admit I had a hard determining what the context of the original quote was. What I found was, I liked it better when I looked at it through a theological lens. The greater of the 2 works is the former work - the work of Christ on the cross. The work to be done by us in missions, however difficult, exciting or rewarding pales in comparison to that.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't track down a copy of Mission in Church and State but it would be interesting to see what Forsyth intended the statement to mean.
Yes! That was the same lens I used when considering the statement. We have to remember how much work has been done in the hearts of the KwaMhlanga congregation through Christ's work - in His Words "It is finished!" Then I tied it back to something Dearborn said earlier about discovering treasures. We don't go to bring them, but help discover treasures that are present among the people with whom we serve, and together with them, we praise God for God's great kindness. To me this is strong mission work.
ReplyDeleteI found that paper of Forsyth's online and will email it to you Rich. Here is the context of the quote: "We feel man's need more than Christ's fullness." Its definitely worth reading the whole section to see all that he meant.
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