Reflections for Ragamuffins

Reflections for Ragamuffins by Brennan Manning is my kind of devotional. If you have never had the opportunity to read his book, "The Ragamuffin Gospel," I would highly recommend it. I was flipping through Reflections for Ragamuffins the other night, and read this one and thought, "ouch."

Regarding the topic of evangelization, he writes:

The fundamental mission of the church is preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. But there has been a loss of faith in the power of the Word. We feel it won't be effective if we say it as it is. It will turn people off: let's rebuild the temporal order first.

But there is a startling discontinuity between human reasoning and what God's Word says the priority is. War, loneliness, world hunger, abortion-these are rooted in man's rebellion. Putting a Band-Aid here and there on this or that moral problem is not the answer. Evangelization hits the core: man must submit to Jesus Christ and repent. He must renounce his autonomy and self-sufficiency. Personal appropriation of the death and resurrection of Christ is the one foundation for Christian community and world peace. Failure to act on the gospel imperative to evangelize has resulted in holding to the form of Christianity while denying its power. Beautiful liturgies; mass; regional, national, and international meetings; crusades against immorality are good and have their place, but none of them is an adequate substitute for dying to self.

I am such a weakling, that even typing this excerpt proves difficult :) I am so much more comfortable advocating for social justice issues than I am telling people that a life with Jesus is the only kind worth living. Here's to doing both :)

Love,

Kate

Galatians 1:10 Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.