Thank you for articulating this the way you did. Fundamental to ministry is our understanding of the gospel, and this was incredibly helpful in connecting it all together. Thank you!
"How can we expect to see the body of Christ become healthy and fruitful in coming generations if we allow them to be pew sitters and passive observers when their Lord calls them to be his hands and feet and voice?"
The author's question contains 2 mistakes. It suggests it is up to us to "see the body of Christ become healthy and fruitful," (an Erasmian free will error) when it is the Holy Spirit alone who provides for the health and fruitfulness of the body of Christ (his church). It also assumes that we must cooperate with the Spirit "when the Lord calls us," (again free will, "decision theology"). It is not we who decide to act but God who causes us to act according to his will saying in Isaiah 55:11, "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." The person God has called couldn't remain passive even if they wished to.
Thank you for articulating this the way you did. Fundamental to ministry is our understanding of the gospel, and this was incredibly helpful in connecting it all together. Thank you!
"How can we expect to see the body of Christ become healthy and fruitful in coming generations if we allow them to be pew sitters and passive observers when their Lord calls them to be his hands and feet and voice?"
The author's question contains 2 mistakes. It suggests it is up to us to "see the body of Christ become healthy and fruitful," (an Erasmian free will error) when it is the Holy Spirit alone who provides for the health and fruitfulness of the body of Christ (his church). It also assumes that we must cooperate with the Spirit "when the Lord calls us," (again free will, "decision theology"). It is not we who decide to act but God who causes us to act according to his will saying in Isaiah 55:11, "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." The person God has called couldn't remain passive even if they wished to.