Aldrich: caricatures of Christianity (I)

Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Meditation:
    [Peter:] “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
    —Acts 15:10-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    “Christianity is keeping the golden rule. Therefore, for me to become a Christian, I must try harder.” Hardly good news to someone who has tried and tried and failed and failed. To eliminate this caricature of the gospel, plant this though. Just the other day, my neighbor said to me, “I’m not a very religious person.” I replied, “I’m not either. I was delighted to discover that Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship with a person, Jesus Christ.” That to most non-Christians is a revolutionary thought. If you did nothing more than eliminate that caricature, you have made great progress in your evangelistic enterprise.
    ... Joseph C. Aldrich (1941-2009), Lifestyle Evangelism, Multnomah Press, 1981, p. 215 (see the book)
    See also Acts 15:10-11; Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31; Acts 8:4,25,40; 14:6-7; 27:8; 1 Cor. 1:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your people follow You personally. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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