By Deeds Incarnating the Gospel

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Peter 2:12

Ringma points out that:
"Mother Teresa is quite convinced that service is a powerful form of witness. She prays, "Let us preach you without preaching, not by words, but by our example."

Mother Teresa believes that love in action not only gives us the opportunity to help and bless the other person, but that this also opens the way for the sharing of the good news of the gospel. The deeds of the gospel make way for the words of the gospel.

All of this is not to say that deeds are to have a priority over words. But words that speak of love must find their expression in deeds that reflect love."
In a post-Christendom era when getting across the message of the gospel is increasingly falling on deaf ears, an era where people are said to be 'cynical about many institutions, including the church'. MT may have a point.

For fear stirring up an old hornets nest it really is a challenge to the church per se where-ever it is all mouth and no substance!

Comments

Eleanor Burne-Jones said…
Absolutely! You've got me hooked on this little book as well. I intended to follow it for a year then go to one of his other collections, but I never got to put it away. :0)
7:05 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A bit of sally bashing....

Came across a good bit of Sally bashing over at salvationsoldiers I have to say we try and make sure that everything we raise goes into projects that build local community in Poplar but hopefully if you read this blog you get that sense anyway.
Read more

Lost Voices of Mission...Fred Brown

Image
Along the world famous Oxford street in London's Westend; nestled in among the classy frontage of designer shops there is almost an unnoticeable, unimpressive wooden door. It is more or less alongside The Regent Hall's main entrance onto the busyness of Oxford Street. People pass the wooden door oblivious to the equally unimpressive wooden steps that go up three storey's to what was Regent Hall's youth club. When I was 10 I played on these bare wooden steps totally unaware of the significance behind and upon which I played. Many years later I discovered a university youth work course - as an induction to Youth Work - stopped outside this insignificant wooden door to point out that Youth Work as we know it in the UK started behind this door. ...whether that be the surbanite flower people that flooded the Westend to express their free love; or the hard core drug community this unimpressive wooden door became the 'portal' that blurred encounter between church an...
Read more

'Never waste a good crisis' ~ Winston Churchill

'Never waste a good crisis' ~ Winston Churchill I heard this Churchillian quote this morning while enjoying my traditional 'whatever the weather' porridge. A quick google turned up these interesting words written by Andrew Low for the commercial world. "In challenging times one must question the accepted reality because things are going wrong, rapid answers are needed and the solution may well be found outside the usual compass. In the world of business we are often guilty of not challenging the norm; we are instead satisfied with following procedure and tradition. It takes insight and not a little courage to question your leaders as to why are things done the way that they are? However, in times of crisis there seems to be more latitude to do so – management in fact is actively seeking input it seems. Leading companies nowadays recognise this and cultivate a more open, questioning climate within the office at all times because a degree of co...
Read more