FIVE RADICAL OUTREACH QUESTIONS

The possibility of a sinful mortal facing the Holy Immortal One in judgment helps one to clean up his act! Purity of heart and life becomes more prominent as death approaches.

God pushes us toward purity. We are told to be holy like God is holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16) We know that if we are impure and act immorally we will not see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14-17) We know that pure religion in God’s sight involves keeping one’s self “unstained by the world.” (James 1:27) We are told to “save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” (Jude 23) Paul sums it up by saying, “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you… beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 6:17…7:1) As Christians, with these Scriptures in mind, we take purity seriously!

However, sometimes, in our avoidance of this stained world and its polluted flesh, we avoid those in the world altogether. Paul tells us that our desire for purity should not result in our avoidance of those in the world. (1 Corinthians 5:9-10) One writer made this insightful comment about this tendency. “Many congregations are cultural islands, isolated enclaves of old friends huddling behind stained-glass barriers for shelter from the winds of change. They hire clergy to serve as chaplains whose primary focus is on the needs of members. They regard people outside the church as strange and threatening, if they think of these people at all.”

Along this line, a recent book, Radical Outreach: The Recovery of Apostolic Ministry and Evangelism, asks some tough questions about how we view people outside of the church. The author says we must answer all the following questions in the affirmative if we hope to reach out successfully. 1. Do we want to know them?  2. Are we willing to go where they are? 3. Are we willing to spend time with them? 4. Do we want secular and outside-the-establishment people in our church?  5. Are we willing for our church to become their church too? Talk about some radical questions! How would you answer them?

          Ronaldo Ricardo Guzmán