What’s Important in Christianity
2 May 2008, me @ 1338

A little while back, I received the following response from my post Is Evangelism unAnglican?:

I just discovered your blog this afternoon.  Haven’t explored it much yet, but I feel comfortable here already.  Currently, I remain a traditional Anglican (Episcopal Missionary Church) who came to Canterbury by way of Constantinople (altough brought up as a vaguely Protestant Army brat).  My daughter, baptized Greek Orthodox, and exposed to Anglicanism along her journey, now attends a Serbian Orthodox church.  My granddaughter is being reared in that tradition.  My husband is a very-lapsed Presbyterian with more than a nodding acquaintance with evangelicalism (Christian and Missionary Alliance).  Our small family practices many varieties of Christian expression, and I personally have learned to respect all of them. (Close Catholic friends round out the picture.) Your inclusion of Anglicans ("Is Evangelism unAnglican?" posted 9 April) is very gracious.  Thank you for your charity, and clarity.

Such a mixture of traditions and institutions isn’t uncommon these days.  It makes a lot of people in Christianity nervous.

With my own broad background, I think that three questions are central in sorting out the real value of people’s spiritual situation:

1. Are they really different as a Christian than they would have been otherwise?  That’s the essence of being "born again," that the change makes you into a new person.
2. Is that change centered on the person of Jesus Christ, and made possible (both in this life and in eternity) by Jesus Christ?  (If you’re not sure of what that entails, click here.)
3. Is the church you’re in making it possible for you to fulfil God’s purpose for your life as described in the Holy Scriptures?

Evangelical churches are successful primarily because they make it relatively simple for people to come to the place where they can answer all three questions, "Yes!"  But two things need to be kept in mind:

• Evangelical churches do not have an exclusive franchise on this kind of success.
• If they fail in this task, God will find someone who will do it.

And that realisation should cure a lot of triumphalism.



3 Comments a “What’s Important in Christianity”

1. Positive Infinity » Blog Archive » The Endless Personal Conflict Between Anglican and Catholic — 2 July 2008 @ 0918
   

   [...] What’s Important in Christianity [...]

2. Positive Infinity » Blog Archive » Reply to Alan Munday on “The Traditional Anglican Communion considering swimming the Tiber” — 11 July 2008 @ 1617
   

   [...] What’s Important in Christianity [...]

3. Jonathan CHM — 11 May 2010 @ 2014
   

   To the question that is raised regrding whether evangelism makes unanglican. To my opinion, I have a high preference to please God rather than men. As mentioned in Matt 28 at the latter part of the chapter mentions that Jesus commanded to make disciples. As Jesus’ mission for us is to evangelize, we have to obey His instruction to preach the Gospel.

   To me, I feel that we have to respect God’s decision. For instance, if God demands to divert His plan to allow other people that are capable to perform His task, we have to respect His decision to give Him the full support. We have to acknowledge that our God is omnipresent and He is capable to locate those people that are capable to carry out His task.

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