Our Goal
A couple of weeks ago, one of my readers pointedly asked me what our goal here is. He made it abundantly clear that he did not appreciate when people tried to convert him from his church. He believes in God and in the saving power of Jesus, and though people have tried to show him what is wrong with his church, he does not see that any other church is any better.
So what is our goal here? Answering this question on a public blog requires candor – I cannot give one answer to my readers and another to my supporters. However, there is no need to be evasive. Our goal is twofold: to help people to improve their English, and to share our faith in Jesus with them.
The latter part of this goal is obviously related to my reader’s concerns; however, this goal is much different than conversion to another church. If my goal were to convert people, then I would first need to take the position that the church I represent is superior to any other. This position seems arrogant to me. The sad fact is that all churches consist of imperfect people, and therefore fall short of perfection.
The goal of sharing faith, however, does not require any premise that my faith is superior to anyone else’s. Indeed, some of my readers have faith that surpasses mine in certain ways. As a result, we can share our faith with each other, so that all of us may grow. Sharing faith in this way does not imply any kind of coercion to the acceptance of any particular beliefs, but does provide an opportunity for God to lead all of us to a deeper faith and fuller obedience.
In fact, what are most important are God’s goals, not ours. Again, I don’t want to be arrogant enough to presume that I know all of God’s goals. I am convinced, though, that at any given time, his immediate goals are different for different people. For some, his immediate goal may be that they come to a belief that he is real. For others who believe that he is real, it may be that they make a public statement of faith in Jesus and be baptized in his name. For some, it may be that they become a part of the church we represent, Christ’s Church in Rwanda. Whatever the case may be, we want to be a part of the growth process, but only God changes hearts.
So what is our goal here? Answering this question on a public blog requires candor – I cannot give one answer to my readers and another to my supporters. However, there is no need to be evasive. Our goal is twofold: to help people to improve their English, and to share our faith in Jesus with them.
The latter part of this goal is obviously related to my reader’s concerns; however, this goal is much different than conversion to another church. If my goal were to convert people, then I would first need to take the position that the church I represent is superior to any other. This position seems arrogant to me. The sad fact is that all churches consist of imperfect people, and therefore fall short of perfection.
The goal of sharing faith, however, does not require any premise that my faith is superior to anyone else’s. Indeed, some of my readers have faith that surpasses mine in certain ways. As a result, we can share our faith with each other, so that all of us may grow. Sharing faith in this way does not imply any kind of coercion to the acceptance of any particular beliefs, but does provide an opportunity for God to lead all of us to a deeper faith and fuller obedience.
In fact, what are most important are God’s goals, not ours. Again, I don’t want to be arrogant enough to presume that I know all of God’s goals. I am convinced, though, that at any given time, his immediate goals are different for different people. For some, his immediate goal may be that they come to a belief that he is real. For others who believe that he is real, it may be that they make a public statement of faith in Jesus and be baptized in his name. For some, it may be that they become a part of the church we represent, Christ’s Church in Rwanda. Whatever the case may be, we want to be a part of the growth process, but only God changes hearts.
posted by Rod | 11:57 PM
1 Comments:
Thank you Rod, well said and extremely refreshing. A great reminder to me that perhaps, just perhaps the Body of Christ might possible be a little bit bigger than my parameters. I really like the part of sharing our faith together. Cool
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