What strikes me is that (like Peter, James John etc) Z. responded to jesus’ call straight away …. he however didn’t move out of his neighbourhood but rather jesus ate with him in his home -along with his ‘friends’ who also were ‘outsiders’ (sinners, publicans, tax collections)
gives a glimpse of the incarnational principles …. that we too can apply in our lives
instead of pulling people out of where they are – into church – more and more I’m convinced we take church out into their lives. Their testimonies won’t make much differences in our inherited churches (quite frankly at many levels I think we’ve become indifferent) but imagine what an impact being set free from alcohol, drugs, s-xual addictions etc would have in the hostels, in the homeless ‘ghettos’ and in the br*thels especially if Christians move into that neighbourhood and help disciple those converts and help them stay on the road with Jesus!
No wonder Jesus didn’t want to remove himself from the realities from which Z was freed – no wonder he didn’t focus on staying ritually clear – no wonder it’s as challenging for us today as it was for the Pharisees back then.
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What strikes me is that (like Peter, James John etc) Z. responded to jesus’ call straight away …. he however didn’t move out of his neighbourhood but rather jesus ate with him in his home -along with his ‘friends’ who also were ‘outsiders’ (sinners, publicans, tax collections)
gives a glimpse of the incarnational principles …. that we too can apply in our lives
instead of pulling people out of where they are – into church – more and more I’m convinced we take church out into their lives. Their testimonies won’t make much differences in our inherited churches (quite frankly at many levels I think we’ve become indifferent) but imagine what an impact being set free from alcohol, drugs, s-xual addictions etc would have in the hostels, in the homeless ‘ghettos’ and in the br*thels especially if Christians move into that neighbourhood and help disciple those converts and help them stay on the road with Jesus!
No wonder Jesus didn’t want to remove himself from the realities from which Z was freed – no wonder he didn’t focus on staying ritually clear – no wonder it’s as challenging for us today as it was for the Pharisees back then.
just sayin’