Traditional Church People Enter Relationships and the church this way:
1. Believe
2. Behave,
3. Belong
We expect people to believe & behave like us before we will ever consider letting them belong with us.
Post Moderns Will only Enter this Way:
1 Belong.
2. Behave
3. Believe
It's been reversed! The Church missed that the last 25 years. We have to spend time with them and love them where they are. We must juninly accept them where they are so that they "really" belong. Over time they may begin to behave as we rub off on them. As they see the kingdom life lived out by being friends with us, they will catch a glimpse of Jesus's way. Then they will come to believe.
What this means is that up front - no strings attached relationship is the starting point. Can we just love them and enjoy them, and value our relationship with them, even if they never, ever choose join the church, the assembly of the redeemed, in Jesus?
"Remember, there’s one thing that is just as important as truth, and maybe even more important. That is whether or not someone is willing or ready to receive truth. An environment of discovery is the only way we’re going to help people experience an alternative opportunity. Helping them make a personal “preference” for Christ and his life will always be more powerful than bashing their values. This doesn’t mean we don’t get to speak and teach truth. It just means we're better missionaries if we letthem experience it before we start debating it."
(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 66. 2008, Jossey-Bass)
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