Musing about Salt and Light

I reference the Living Church by John Stott once again in my blog for two reasons. First, it is taking a while for me to read it as I am only reading snippets at a time. Second, Stott’s snippets are better than tons of tomes by most other writers.

In a chapter entitled, “Impact” Stott gives four very brief implications of the call to be salt and light. He addresses salt and light as both an evangelistic impact and a cultural impact.

1. Christians are radically different from non-Christians.

No one confuses light with darkness or preserved food with rotting meat.

2. Christians must permeate non-Christian society.

And do it more effectively than a mouse permeates a cat!

3. Christians can influence and change non-Christian society.

Retired Berkeley professor, Robert Bellah says that "the quality of a culture can be changed when 2% of its people have a new vision."

4. Christians must retain their Christian distinctiveness.

This is demonstrated through greater righteousness (Matthew 5:20), wider love (Matthew 5:43-44) and nobler ambition (Matthew 6:31-34).

May your community be different because of His church this week.

John Stott Musing About Ministry

A few more words from The Living Church by John Stott.....

Discussing Acts 20:28 Stott addresses ministry to the sometimes more difficult people we encounter, in his words the unlovable.

Only, I think, by remembering how precious they are. They are so valuable that the three persons of the Trinity are together involved in caring for them. I find it very challenging, when trying to help a difficult person, to say under my breath: "How precious you are in God's sight! God the Father loves you. Christ died for you. The Holy Spirit has appointed me your pastor. As the three persons of the Trinity are committed to your welfare, it is a privilege for me to serve you."

I must admit that are not always my first thoughts in those moments. But in those moments my call must impact my character.

Books I'm Reading -- The Living Church

I am currently reading The Living Church by John Stott. I appreciate the subtitle -- Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor. (I am far more interested in what he is certain of than the things he may still be wondering about. I am grateful to read about his convictions.)

A couple of things struck me today from his chapter on evangelism. Stott borrows a concept from Alec Vidler called "holy worldliness". By creating this unlikely pairing of words the church is challenged to remain true to set aside to God and at the same time to be sent out amongst a world that rejects that very God. The church must be both things.

This is particularly probing for me in this week, as I have just passed a second Mardi Gras in the community that I minister in. Our small town has achieved some notoriety for its distinct brand of revelry. The question before us is how do we express "holy worldliness" in this setting?

Maybe some of that answer comes from another quote in the chapter. This one comes from John Poulton. "Christians....need to look like what they are talking about." The one key to "holy worldliness" is the authentic and consistent faith of those who believe.

May our ministries grow and model these kind of Christians.

Books for the New Year

Just this week, a good pastor friend asked me if I had any books on my reading horizon for the coming year. At the time, I did not have anything in mind.

But a quick trip (my family might say not so quick trip) to the somewhat local Christian bookstore can fix that rather easily. It is unlikely I will match my kids in their reading this coming year, but here goes.

The books that found themselves in my cart today centered on two areas of ministry that is on my heart this year.

First, I am thinking about discipleship. This has been an area of my library that is actually quite thin so I look forward to some time thinking about this critical aspect of ministry.

I hope to be reading The Disciplemaking Pastor by Bill Hull and Authentic Spiritual Mentoring by Larry Kreider. I love the subtitle of the second book, "nurturing younger believers toward spiritual maturity". Sign me up!

Second, I am hoping to lead our church to have a greater spiritual impact on our community. As one of the stronger evangelical churches in our small town, I really want to see our church take some leadership in this area.

I am looking to the following books to sharpen my thoughts in this area. The Church of Irrestistible Influence by Robert Lewis (with Rob Wilkins), a small book by Group entitled Field Guide to Neighborhood Outreach and what appears to be a fairly new release The Most Loving Place in Town (A Modern Day Parable for the Church) by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges.

I picked up one other book, The Living Church by John Stott. Again it was the subtitle that got me, "convictions of a lifelong pastor". When that lifelong pastor is the leading evangelical mind of the second half of the twentieth century (sorry about that Mohlerites) I am interested.

Now, if I could only get on the same kind of schedule my kids have, I might get these all read in a reasonable time. (I can tell you from reading his first chapter, Stott still has it.)

So, what is on your reading horizon?