I would say that most of the Christians I know think of the story of salvation like this: Fall, Redemption and Heaven.

In this story, the purpose of redemption is life after this world and the only people who have any value are “saved” people. All efforts, resources, talent, time and money are spent solely for the purpose of evangelism. I think that’s why we’re called evangelicals.

But what if the story goes like this: Creation, Fall, Redemption and Heaven.

It actually becomes a different story.

The purpose of redemption becomes much more then just escaping this world. It actually becomes about renewing it.

The gospel then isn’t just about individual happiness and fulfillment and God’s wonderful plan for my life. It’s about His wonderful plan for the whole world.

It’s a story of God’s kingdom renewing ALL things.

It’s not just Billy Graham. It’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. too.

If we lose the emphasis on conversion then we lose the power of the gospel for personal transformation.
If we lose the emphasis on the corporate (or kingdom) then we lose the power of the gospel for cultural transformation.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 10:44 am and is filed under Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.