This is a great illustration of what incarnational/missional ministry is NOT:
To me the most exciting part about the conversation going on in ecclesiology and missiology right now is that we are finding out how to separate the gospel from modern Western culture. We bring the gospel as a seed and plant it in the soil of the culture instead of importing the fully-grown plant and hoping it takes root in the new soil. The gospel-plant will look different depending on which culture you plant it in – sometimes you’ll end up with oranges, sometimes watermelons. But watermelons shouldn’t have to become oranges to follow Jesus.
(ht: Alan Hirsch)
ha! I love this.
Thought-provoking post…
I must admit that at times, I've behaved like an orange. Others times I've felt like a watermelon. Over the last several months, I feel as if I'm being reduced to just a seed…full of organic DNA potential, with everything else stripped away.