Why mission must be more than just words:
1. This is the model of God, who sent us a person rather than an email. Jesus communicateds, not only by words (which had a critical place) but by experiencing life on earth (Heb 4:15), by including the excluded (Mat 8;20), and responding to very practical needs (Mar 5:34).
2. We are asking people to make a whole of life and rest of life commitment. They hae every right to ask for a demonstation of what the Christian life is, not just a theorethical outline.
3. Word only communication makes discipleships look like a merely intellectual exercise - assent to a set of propositions. This kind of discipleship will not change the world.
4. That actions were critical to the proclamation of the gospel was never an issue for the early church (Jam 1:27).
5. Even in the era of Christendom, the church was a major social support provider.
6. The enlightenment started Western society on a very analytical track. Everything was divided into its parts. On top of this was the idea that human technology and achievement was growing at a rate that would soon solve all the problems of humanity. Some theologians suggested this might be the vehicle of God bringing in the new age. There was an extreme reaction to this extreme view = fundamentalism. So for the last 100 years we have forced everyone to be a fundamentalist or a liberal. We need to reclaim the both/and ground.
7. The world isnow changing - people realised that everthing is connected to everything else. The physical, social and spiritual parts of our being are not easily divided. So we need to be wholistic to be relevant.
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