Sunday, May 22, 2005
UPDATE - YOUR INPUT WELCOMED!
I was sharing about my trip to New Zealand yesterday at my friends' wedding (congrats, Chun and Jennifer!) when I was asked if I was planning on proselytizing the people that I was building the house for. When I replied that my main objective is to help a family break free from the clutches of poverty substandard housing, I was short of being reprimanded for not carrying out the supposed obligations I have to convert others since I claim to bear the “Christian” label. How was I to distinguish between being a Christian and being "just a nice person"? Mmmm. This is an interesting question that deserves more discussion than the “pat” answer found in the “Answers” section of this website (CLICK HERE to read this, under "Are you going with a church group? Is this a missionary trip? "). I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Click on the “Comments” section at the end of this update to post a response. Or if you prefer to send me a private response that won’t be published, email me at: duffshot@gmail.com
Some interesting facts about New Zealand that I’ve discovered:
* The head of government is Prime Minister Helen CLARK (since December 1999) and the Prime Minister before her was Jenny Shipley (1997 to 1999)
* Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, is the world’s most southerly capital city
* The most popular sports (by club membership) in New Zealand are: golf, netball (similar to basketball), soccer, rugby, cricket
* NZ has the worlds largest flightless parrot (kakapo), the oldest reptile (tuatara), the biggest earthworms, the smallest bats (the only native land mammals), the heaviest insect (a weta), some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.
Some interesting facts about New Zealand that I’ve discovered:
* The head of government is Prime Minister Helen CLARK (since December 1999) and the Prime Minister before her was Jenny Shipley (1997 to 1999)
* Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, is the world’s most southerly capital city
* The most popular sports (by club membership) in New Zealand are: golf, netball (similar to basketball), soccer, rugby, cricket
* NZ has the worlds largest flightless parrot (kakapo), the oldest reptile (tuatara), the biggest earthworms, the smallest bats (the only native land mammals), the heaviest insect (a weta), some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.
# posted by Duffshot @ 12:19 PM 
Comments:
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Hi T,
Here are some of my thoughts about what I think "faith" in God encompasses. The age old question: which is more important ... evangelism (i.e. verbal proclamation of God's love) or social action (i.e. proclamation of God's love via deeds)? I think that we are asking the wrong question here! First of all, we all have our own definitions of what "proclamation" means, it is based on our past/present experiences and what we have been influenced by - mainstream evangelical subculture or liberal/postmodern subculture, etc. Perhaps in our quest for black and white and clear cut answers to ease our discomfort with uncertainty and ambiguity, we have forgotten that we been charged to EXPRESS God's love, whether it is by word and/or by deed. God himself chose to express His love to us by becoming flesh in the person of Jesus: "the word became flesh". Honestly, what are the odds of someone believing that God loves them merely by hearing about it versus actually seeing love in action right before their eyes (e.g. much needed shelter built for them by volunteers)?
I will always remember from the Perspectives course, a story about a missionary who had gone to serve in the poorest area of Kenya. He worked tirelessly to help the community improve it's conditions: shelter, clean water, agricultural practices, healthcare, etc. One day a pastor who was visiting the area reprimanded him for not proselytizing and sharing the gospel with these dying people, i.e. not converting them to Christianity so that they would be saved. The missionary then responded by saying: "I don't think that they would be in any condition to hear the gospel if they were all dead!" I would add onto that by asking the question: how do we define "the Gospel"? Does it not mean the "good news"? What would the "good news" be to you, when you are dying of malnutrition, disease, living in a 4x4m cardboard box exposed to the elements day after day, sold as a prostitute at the age of 9 in order to provide for your family's basic needs? Was the missionary not indeed proclaiming the gospel by "being" Christ to these people?
"Let your light shine before me that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matt 5:16)
One of my favorite verses is from Isaiah 58
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -
when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard."
I am sold out for the "good news" that will bring true wholeness and if that means starting by giving them a mere hand (or a "hand up" as in your title), so be it. I truly believe that you are being the 'incarnational' Christ by going to NZ! That is what faith is all about ... it transforms!
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Here are some of my thoughts about what I think "faith" in God encompasses. The age old question: which is more important ... evangelism (i.e. verbal proclamation of God's love) or social action (i.e. proclamation of God's love via deeds)? I think that we are asking the wrong question here! First of all, we all have our own definitions of what "proclamation" means, it is based on our past/present experiences and what we have been influenced by - mainstream evangelical subculture or liberal/postmodern subculture, etc. Perhaps in our quest for black and white and clear cut answers to ease our discomfort with uncertainty and ambiguity, we have forgotten that we been charged to EXPRESS God's love, whether it is by word and/or by deed. God himself chose to express His love to us by becoming flesh in the person of Jesus: "the word became flesh". Honestly, what are the odds of someone believing that God loves them merely by hearing about it versus actually seeing love in action right before their eyes (e.g. much needed shelter built for them by volunteers)?
I will always remember from the Perspectives course, a story about a missionary who had gone to serve in the poorest area of Kenya. He worked tirelessly to help the community improve it's conditions: shelter, clean water, agricultural practices, healthcare, etc. One day a pastor who was visiting the area reprimanded him for not proselytizing and sharing the gospel with these dying people, i.e. not converting them to Christianity so that they would be saved. The missionary then responded by saying: "I don't think that they would be in any condition to hear the gospel if they were all dead!" I would add onto that by asking the question: how do we define "the Gospel"? Does it not mean the "good news"? What would the "good news" be to you, when you are dying of malnutrition, disease, living in a 4x4m cardboard box exposed to the elements day after day, sold as a prostitute at the age of 9 in order to provide for your family's basic needs? Was the missionary not indeed proclaiming the gospel by "being" Christ to these people?
"Let your light shine before me that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matt 5:16)
One of my favorite verses is from Isaiah 58
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -
when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard."
I am sold out for the "good news" that will bring true wholeness and if that means starting by giving them a mere hand (or a "hand up" as in your title), so be it. I truly believe that you are being the 'incarnational' Christ by going to NZ! That is what faith is all about ... it transforms!
# posted by 
: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 12:58:00 AM
: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 12:58:00 AM << Home
