How Did The Early Church Engage With Their Culture?
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Main question
Has God called the church to fix the world in order to make the world THE BEST place– God’s Kingdom?
Focus for this week
Exploring God’s plans and God’s blueprints for this better place as seen all throughout the New Testament. Specifically, how does the Bible describe the role of God’s chosen people when it comes to our relationship with one another?
Embrace
How do we embrace God’s Mission and God’s Kingdom?
As Ambassadors, Christians are called to represent God’s Kingdom in our actions and in our lives. We are called to live in a way that the world will see a new, better way of living through our treatment of one another.
We must live in a way that these truths are evident:
We have already entered into a new era in world history (Matt. 4:17, 2 Tim. 4:1, Luke 17:20-21, Gal. 4:4-5, Heb. 4:3, 10-11, Luke 12:54-56)
We have already entered into a new world reality (1 John 2:17, 1 Cor. 7:29-31 2 Cor. 5:17, 1 John 2:8, James 1:18)
We have already entered into a new life (Rom. 6:11, John 5:24, John 3:15-16, John 10:10, John 4:10, 1 Pet. 1:23)
We have already entered into a new social reality and a set of Relationships (2 Cor. 5:16-18, Eph. 2:1-17, Gal. 3:28, Eph. 2:11-15, 1 John 1:7, Eph. 1:13-15)
We have already entered into a new way of living (John 15:3, 1 John 1:7, Col. 3:9-11, Gal. 3:27, Titus 3:5, 2 John 1:2, 2 Cor. 4:16)
Does this sound too good to be true? Why?
Display
Who are we called to love? Are we called to love everyone in the world? Or are we called to love one another according to how the Bible’s descriptions?
Did the early church feel responsible for the overall direction of society as a whole? Or did the early church feel a responsibility towards one another and to fellow believers all across the world?
Read these passages and think about who is being talked about and who we should prioritize with our love:
o John 13:34-35 John 15:12-13 John 15:17-19
o Rom. 12:9-10 Rom. 14:15 Gal. 5:13-15
o Eph. 1:15 Eph. 4:1-3 Eph. 4:15-16
o Col. 1:4 Col. 3:14-15 1 Thess. 4:9-12
o 2 Thess. 1:3 Phlm. 1:4-5 Heb. 6:10
o 1 Pet. 1:22 1 Pet. 2:17 1 Pet. 4:8
o 1 John 3:23 1 John 4:7-12 1 John 4:17-21
Our main priority should be toward The "brothers and Sisters," "one another," those "among us," "all the saints," and the people of the church.
Consider this...
What is the difference between saying "We are called to prioritize a group of people" vs "We are called to ignore a group of people" ?
Does this model of loving "one another/each other/ the brothers and sisters in Christ," mean we should ignore the world? No! In fact it is on behalf of the world that we live this way. Prioritization should not be confused with isolation from or rejection of the world in which we reside.
Steps for next week
Next week, we will talk about some potential counterexamples. We will examine different Bible passages and see if we are called to Love Everyone Everywhere or if we are called to do something else.
Before next week, try to find examples in the Bible where it tells us to Love EVERYONE EVERYWHERE.
Think of passages like "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22: 37-40), or "Love your enemy" (Matthew 5: 43-44).
Find as many as you can and we will talk about them next time.
Copyright © 2016 John Nugent. All rights reserved. All credit for this material belongs to Dr. John Nugent at Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing, Michigan.
Nugent, John C. Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2016.