Kraybill on Mission's false dichotomy...

"Sweet, spiritualized syrup ... denying the incarnation ... prostituting biblical truth" Donald Kraybill says it hard - 'either/or', non-holistic mission centred on a blindspot that is non-existent in Jesus' life and ministry probably isn't the way to go!
"This false split between spiritual and social leads to a warped reading of the Scripture. It tempts us to turn Jesus' hard sayings into sweet, spiritualized syrup. This dilutes his teaching, making it harmless. We marvel at the atoning death of Jesus but forget he also demonstrated a new way of living....

... Any gospel which isn't social isn't gospel. God's love for the world produced social action. God didn't just sit in a great theological rocking chair and muse about loving the world. God acted. God entered social affairs --- in human form. Through Jesus, God lived and interacted in a real social environment. Jesus, in essence, disclosed God's social habits. In the incarnation, the spiritual became social". Pp29

"The genius of the incarnation is that spiritual and social worlds intersect in Jesus Christ. To separate them is to deny the incarnation. Social and spiritual are inextricably woven together in the Gospels' account of Jesus' life". pp30

"In true biblical fashion, the Jubilee integrates spiritual and social dimensions. It weaves religion and economics into one fabric. Pulling the two apart prostitutes the biblical truth. Refusing to participate in the economic turnover constitutes flagrant disobedience". Pp99
Kraybill, D (1990) The Upside-down kingdom. Herald

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