Evangelism – Page 13 – The Gospel First

Loving the City?

Urban Ministry and Urban Living often attract those who are infatuated or flirtatious with the mystique of the city and even some who profess to love the city. Some of us simply love the gospel and the density (crowded neighborhoods) and diversity (economic, ethic, educational, cultural, and age differences) of people who are found in the city – offering an opportunity for a strategic advance of the gospel.

We should be cautious about the phrase ‘Loving the city’ because it can be no more than a cliché of those who either do not know the city or those who have come to believe that it is mark of spiritual achievement when you can say, “I love the city.” Continue reading “Loving the City?”

The Politics of Jesus and Peter (1 Peter 2:13-25)

A Christian living in the first century faced the challenge, as we do, of how to live as a Christian in a non-Christian world. Those whom Peter addressed in Asia Minor were mindful that they were aliens of the dispersion, i.e. their loyalties belonged to the kingdom of Jesus, yet they were temporality dwelling in this foreign world as His people.

The Roman government was not a model of justice and increasingly it became oppressive toward Christians. The institution of slavery, though having a legitimate legal purpose for the payment of debts owed to society, had also become exploitative and oppressive. Even the husband-led structure of marriages had degenerated to the abuse and oppression of women.

Christians found themselves in situations where the natural response of the heart would be to either overthrow the institutions of society which had become corrupt or escape from these institutions to a safer place.

Strikingly, Peter offers direction to believers that overturns human expectations, opening up a new way of thinking and acting. Continue reading “The Politics of Jesus and Peter (1 Peter 2:13-25)”