There is a conversation going on on Phil Laeger's blog which was continued from Larry's blog. Stephen makes a comment that The Salvation Army is engaged in a real war and not just using military metaphor.
I don't think it matters as much to me if we are in a real war or if we are using warfare metaphor to describe the life that we live as Christians. What matters to me is that we are called to share the gospel with millions of people who do not know Christ. By using military terminology we are hurting our opportunities to share the gospel with millions of people who have seen Christians over the centuries abuse power to try and spread the gospel through physical, military force rather than the force of love. Whether we are in a real battle or a metaphoric battle, we should drop describing our actions in battle terms because it is ineffective and hurtful to our purposes.
What do you think?
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1 comment:
i think that the war mentality can hurt our relationships with people, especially if that's the church's main public face. because people will distance themselves, will not want to enter into community, if they think we're just trying to "conquer" them for Jesus rather than loving them like Jesus.
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