tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post2125227279817993059..comments2011-07-27T05:20:41.952-07:00Comments on the latest from art: MY take on Carl Medearis' takeThe Schneidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14002885152893172450noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post-52382054893998550782011-07-27T05:20:41.952-07:002011-07-27T05:20:41.952-07:00Amen Chris! I evangelize weekly and daily unoffic...Amen Chris! I evangelize weekly and daily unofficially. I can sum it up for me: Show and tell.... then get out of the Spirit's way. Keep your eyes on the goal. Don't let little differences get in the way. Satan loves confusion. Its very simple. Jesus is the only way! end of story.<br />John RineerUnlikely Preacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17123518188606268605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post-57190896199143366142011-07-26T22:24:10.752-07:002011-07-26T22:24:10.752-07:00Wow, Chris! I hadn't even thought of that angl...Wow, Chris! I hadn't even thought of that angle, but its so true! I grew up in a church like that as well (and I'm still trying to grow out of some of those mentalities). Thanks for sharing again! Finally! A conversation worth having in Google+! Ha ha! :)The Schneidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14002885152893172450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post-33446699112343981662011-07-26T21:43:57.471-07:002011-07-26T21:43:57.471-07:00I'm not going to have quiet as elegant of a re...I'm not going to have quiet as elegant of a response as either Robbie or Adam but I think I can still share my point of view. <br /><br />I think I read the piece a little differently than others (right or wrong). To me "Evangelizing" comes with a lot of string attached. Maybe that's from growing up in the midwest in the 80's but I guess evangelizing was synonymous with converting someone to your particular denomination. It wasn't good enough if someone was a Christian, they had to be a baptist or presbyterian or whatever. I struggle with that as I don't see that anywhere in the Bible. In fact if you look at Galatians 5:2 you see Paul chastising the early Christians who were trying to say that Jesus wan't enough but you also had to follow the law (circumcision in this case). Paul was making the point that you can't add additional requirements to what Jesus laid out else you do away with salvation by grace. <br /><br />The way I read the piece, the point that was trying to be made was "Don't focus on converting someone to take on an identity you think they should, focus on showing them Jesus and let him convert them to the person he wants them to be". I agree with him that we don't need to try and convert people to a particular religion/denomination, we need to continually share (and more importantly "show") Jesus to others and let grace shape them.Chris Geerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00009437476508648824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post-7765682531082152612011-07-26T14:03:28.288-07:002011-07-26T14:03:28.288-07:00Really enjoyed your article, Adam! The quote from ...Really enjoyed your article, Adam! The quote from D. Bonhoeffer in "The Cost of Discipleship" was perfect! Thanks for sharing the link; I hope others reading this post take the time to enjoy yours as well.The Schneidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14002885152893172450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post-51819833962533576792011-07-26T08:36:16.919-07:002011-07-26T08:36:16.919-07:00I also found myself alternatively nodding and shak...I also found myself alternatively nodding and shaking my head: http://www.adamjeske.com/2011/07/why-evangelicals-should-stop-evangelizing-by-carl-medearis/Adam Jeskehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10748736659390174249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post-12927865782925826802011-07-25T21:53:52.714-07:002011-07-25T21:53:52.714-07:00Awesome thoughts, Señor Reed! Thanks for sharing! ...Awesome thoughts, Señor Reed! Thanks for sharing! If asked to sum up my thougts in 5 words or less, I'd say "Let's not be ambiguous. Pizza."The Schneidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14002885152893172450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4631906882646656570.post-91283197580340865832011-07-25T20:53:49.367-07:002011-07-25T20:53:49.367-07:00In reading this article I decided to wander down t...In reading this article I decided to wander down the path of simply “following the behaviors of Christ”. The thoughts going through my head led me first to think: “What did Christ do in the physical world that is noteworthy, admirable, or worth imitating?” I’ll list a few that came to my mind:<br /><br />- He led and taught thousands of people<br />- He stood against legalistic values and hypocrisy<br />- He gave his life for an honorable and selfless cause (…what an understatement by the way…)<br /><br />Those things are great, but if that’s all Christ’s story boils down to, and if that were all we did, in the end, we are all dead.<br /><br />On the flip side, if we truly examine what Christ did and truly follow in his footsteps we will be humbling ourselves, putting our trust solely in God (and more specifically in Christ), and as a result almost certainly doing the things Christ did. Encouraging people to *Truly* follow Christ is the best thing we can do as Christians. James said faith without works is dead. Interestingly, the inverse is true as well: work(er)s without faith are dead.<br /><br />Paul said “whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” (He’s referring to whatever he may have “received” as a result of his previous “good” actions in life) … Continuing: “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage,” (“Skybalon” in the Greek by the way… look it up) “that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Phil 3:7-9)<br /><br />Now, I have to ask myself: “What is Carl Medearis’s intent in the article?” Is his intent to invite people to follow the physical accomplishments of Christ? Or is it to invite people to *truly follow* Christ? If it’s the former, you could do someone no greater DIS-SERVICE than to encourage them to give their life for a cause only to have led them into eternal separation from Christ by not encouraging them to realize their only hope of salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ. If it’s the latter, then he’s absolutely correct and he’s just talking semantics, methods of bringing people to Christ, and how he feels most comfortable encouraging others to follow Christ.<br /><br />Finally, how do these two similar actions actually sound when talking to a non-believer? The first might sound like: “Jesus was a great man worthy of having his actions imitated. We should pick a worthy and noble cause, encourage others to do the same, and give our lives if we have to… We ought to be like Jesus!”<br /><br />The second sounds like this: “Jesus Christ is Lord and is worthy all praise and worship. He is our only hope of salvation and only source of eternal life. We ought to try to do the things he did to show him and ourselves that we actually believe. And if you don’t know how to do those things, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”<br /><br />I don’t know which of these interpretations Medearis adheres to (or maybe a completely different one), but I appreciate the article on multiple levels. I appreciate his intentions, which I believe are good. Any opportunity a believer can have a healthy conversation with a non-believe about Jesus is a good and well spent opportunity. I also appreciate that his article and ensuing conversation led me to spend two hours digging through bible verses and looking up interpretations rather than wasting time watching TV.Robbie Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00575584227408432026noreply@blogger.com