:: M squared T ::

:: Saturday, March 22, 2003 ::

Part 2 of 2:

What's the connection? If we have in fact been crucified with Christ so that it is no longer we who live but Christ living in us, then Christ is our very life. We have no other life outside of him. Thus, for the disciple, this passage in Mark could speak to our lives in Christ! Thus, our life is our salvation.

Perhaps "believing in Jesus so that we can go to heaven when we die" is a good starting point for a life of Christian discipleship, but it is not fully the way of the cross. It still operates in the "self-protection" mode. It is risk-averse discipleship. It is also self-centered. Instead, the Christlike love of God and others in the discipleship of the cross lives in a way that is willing to forego communion with God so that someone else can.

Perhaps one of the reasons my evangelism has been so ineffective is because I am not willing to risk my own salvation for the sake of those in my community. Due to the perspective of the Christian subculture, many kinds of evangelism are not even tried because they might risk our perceived "saved" status within the Christian community.

But the words of Brother Lawrence echo in my head... "whatever becomes of me, whether I be lost or saved, I will always continue to act purely for the love of God." (Second Conversation, 2nd paragraph. Spire Ed., p. 18)

So now, tell me, what do you think?

:: Matt 3/22/2003 11:30:00 PM :: permalink :: ::
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