Quote of the Week: The Conversion of the Church

  Little White Church 
  Originally uploaded by J.H.C.

I shared this quote in a message I gave just a couple of weeks ago, entitled Two-Way Conversion, where I talk about the concept of conversion.  William Willimon put it this way: “A church which has no quarrel with Caesar’s definition of peace and justice, a church enabled by its culturally accommodated preachers to lessen the gap between the gospel and the status quo has no need to preach conversion.  In such a church Theophilus will be told stories of people who overcome personal anxiety, who found security in conventional truth, who kept with their own kind and stayed safely home.  No one needs religious conversion or cultural detoxification to be down to this church.  But if the church hopes for more, for a new heaven and a new earth, for people who know the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay, then as Hans Küng says,

“We are to preach metanoia.  We must entice people from the world to God.  We are not to shut ourselves off from the world in a spirit of asceticism, but to live in the everyday world, inspired by the radical obedience that is demanded by the love of God.  The church must be reformed again and again, converted again and again each day, in order that it may fulfill its tasks.”

Comments

[john santic]

JR, that is a great and profound quote. thanks for sharing. The more I venture down the road of understanding, the more I see that the above is true. For if we skip along this life with the church and never once challenge the status quo: or worse yet, see that anything is wrong, then we have been successfully anesthetized to never see that we are in fact worshiping the false gods of empire.

[JR Woodward]

John,

So right. I would love for you, if you have the time, to check out the teaching that I did on this topic and let me know what you thought about it.

Hope all is well.

[John Santic]

Cool, I'd love to check it out. I sent you an email.

[Chris Garner]

Hi mate :)
Thanks for the great quote - and especially for linking us to your latest mp3!

Its been a while and great to hear you teaching again, love your heart bro!
Chris

[JR Woodward]

Chris,

Thanks buddy. I always appreciate your encouragement. Life is full, how are you doing?

[Chris Garner]

Jr :)

Really good mate, thanks! 2008 is definitely proving to be a great year for us - especially with the good things God is doing among so many of us here...a year of process!

From your posts so far it seems you had a good time with God on your time out! I continue to pray for your refreshing time with Him between all the busyness!
Bless you bro - you inspire so many of us here and,I'm sure, in Kairos!
chat soon :)