Who is a Christian?  What is the Church?

 

“What you present as the gospel will determine what you present as discipleship.”

 

                                                                                                            --Dallas Willard

 

I. Required readings

           

            Psalm 80

            Matthew 5:1-12

            Luke 6:17-36

1 Peter 2:4-12

 

Christian Biography for the Day: Oscar Romero

 

Paul Hiebert, “The Category ‘Christian’ in the Mission Task”
(Copyrighted article through Angel )

  

Chittister, Chapter 4
(“Community: The Basis of Human Relationships”), 39-50

 

 

 

 

II. Quotation for the day

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

Prayer by Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador
Martyred on March 24, 1980

It helps, now and then, to step back
and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about:

We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen

 

III. Journal prompts

 

1. Today’s readings ask us to consider several concepts that are central to how we understand our faith: “Christian,” “church,” and “community."  In what specific ways have your understandings of one or more of these important concepts been challenged and/or enriched by today’s readings?

 

2. Matthew 5:3-12 is often referred to as The Beatitudes.  These verses announce who it is that from God's perspective is blessed.  Write your own version of The Beatitudes from the perspective of contemporary culture.  In your experience, who does the world announce is blessed?  

 

 

IV. Links of possible interest

 

            Dallas Willard, “Why Bother with Discipleship?”  Given what a lot of Christians believe about the gospel, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would bother with the hard work of being Jesus’ disciple.  Willard offers several reasons why we might.

 

 

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