Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Hanging with the Heathens

I apologize for accidental words of anger in this post, as I watching the Mariner's and their starting pitcher sucking very badly at the moment.

At the recent Dwell event in NYC, I had the opportunity to see Darrin Patrick speak on Dwelling with non-Christians. The following is a basic Cliff Notes version of what he had to say.

It is clear from the Scripture that we are called to "...make disciples of all nations...". The question remains how do we do this? In what way should we do this?
One of the key aspects in doing this is figure out what you like about the culture.
This can involve attending community events. Such as a Phillies game, a concert, a beer festival, etc. As a church we need to create events that attract the community. Some ideas that have passed around at our church are having a skate park, showing the UFC fights in our church, Madden tourneys, holding concerts,etc.
In doing this we need make sure we have a good feel for the community, in a way that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
The necessity of doing this is spelled out in 1 Thessalonians 2:8. In doing this, we need our friends to how much we are like them, more importantly our friends need to see how much we aren't them. For instance, if you enjoy fine beer at a Pub as I do(not the Satanic Lite beers), you need to show your enjoyment of the fine beverage in a Godly manner, not a drunken sinful manner.
These are just a few thoughts. Most importantly, when discerning how to effectively spread the gospel to the lost, we must be sure that whatever we are doing our actions will be Christ-honoring and spreading the gospel mission.