ALAYMAN said:
rsc2a said:
You don't even see it....
A common habit of yours is to attempt to compare both of these instead of realizing that both are functions of the other. You cannot separate these and weigh one against the other.
Please demonstrate/articulate how you'd use the passages you cite to verbally relate the gospel in a real life gospel presentation/encounter with a lost person.
Alayman -
Your reductionist arguments regarding how one should present the gospel are false
because of their reductionism. You keep trying to break everything down into the smallest parts and call it the whole.
Tire + Brake + Wiper + Radio + Hood ≠ Car
How would I "present" the gospel? Let me give you a few examples of what I (and my family) do or have done...
- I would host a get-together. I would spend a lot of money on very good food, and my wife and I would wake up with the sun and spend half the day preparing it. We would invite many neighbors and a bunch of church members over (because it is vitally important that "the church" and "the world" engage one another, both for the sake of the world
and for the sake of the church). I would make it a point to invite people who were considered odd or who rarely left their homes. I would invite the ones who wouldn't look out of place at a fancy restaurant, and I would invite those who probably didn't own clothes "suitable" for church.
Before we got down to the actual "meal" part of eating, I would say a few words. I would say how everything in life is a shadow of that which is to come. I would mention how eating great food with those we love is practice for a wedding feast that many of us plan on being at. I would mention how God created foods with certain tastes, the smell of the grill, and the sound of laughter so that we would be reminded of Him and be led to worship. Then I would thank God for the company, for the meal, and for His goodness.
While we were eating (and after), there would be lots of conversation. It would be conversation about what the church is doing, how the Braves look this year, how so-and-so is expecting a new baby, how God is moving in someone's life, and how much some of us like fishing, especially from a boat where the water is salty. We would talk about music, kids, and how our neighbor's new job is going.
- I would intentionally try to get lunch from the same places. I would get to know the staff. They would see my reading the books I generally read (including my Bible). I would ask them about their day, their week, their family. Some would discuss their faith and I would discuss mine. When the cashier gets pregnant, we would discuss her pregnancy, her plans, and I would let her know I would be praying for her, her husband, and their new baby.
Now what you will notice is not that I "use the passages *I* cite to verbally relate the gospel" but that I recognize a variety of things I talk about frequently: how all things are designed by God to remind us of God, how you cannot separate "verbal" and "lifestyle" evangelism (because they are interdependent), how God wants us to be His ambassadors for the restoration of all things....
The Bible (and its various passages) is not something that you proof-text here or there to fit into your own personal theology. The parable of the sheep and goats has real meaning. Salvation isn't just about the human soul. Jesus spent a lot of time asking questions and telling stories, not giving a textbook course on theology. (Ever thought about the meaning behind that?) You'll find thousands of verses explicitly discussing the caring for the poor, a bare handful that could possibly be applied to abortion (an act I find reprehensible). We show our love for God by our love for others. The word for "alms" and "righteousness" is the same in the Hebrew. (So is the word for "worship" and "serve".)
Starting to see why you cannot compartmentalize the things of God? Does systematic theology have its place? Absolutely - but only as long as it points to the whole.
