Tuesday, March 21, 2006

No Further Burden

“For it has seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no further burden upon you except what is absolutely essential...” Acts 15:28

The Acts of the Apostles is a great little adventure story; it is pretty-much a sequel to the Gospel narratives (Luke’s account, in particular).

It’s worth noting that the Gospel is simplified each time it takes root in a new community. The religio-cultural framework of the sending-people is stripped down to bare essentials. Barriers to faith are removed; space is made to accommodate symbiotic pieces of the receiving-people’s culture into a localized iteration of Christianity.

Evangelism provides senders with an opportunity to reconsider the essentials of faith, from the vantage point of their intended receivers. Preferences and assumptions can be held up to the light once again; perspectives can be realigned to what the Holy Spirit is conveying.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so true. and it makes me think of how much we overlook that in our daily lives- how the way we present/simplify our faith really can and maybe should vary depending on the sub-culture of the people around us.

Scott said...

Exactly!