Peter mixes the powerlessness of his readers, who were resident aliens and temporary residents \u2014 a social descriptor, with the challenge of bringing God\u2019s redemptive work in Christ to Asia Minor and he begins by exhorting them to do God\u2019s work in God\u2019s way. And now he tells the same folks to be benefactors of the community. Yes, that\u2019s right. Benefactors. Peter mixes the powerlessness of his readers, who were resident aliens and temporary residents \u2014 a social descriptor, with the challenge of bringing God\u2019s redemptive work in Christ to Asia Minor and he begins by exhorting them to do God\u2019s work in God\u2019s way. And now he tells the same folks to be benefactors of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1736],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emerging-movement"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThey are to be people of \u201cgood conduct\u201d (2:12a \u2014 first word in Greek) among the Gentiles and people of \u201cexcellent deeds\u201d. Bruce Winter, at one time Warden of Tyndale House (I don\u2019t know if he still is), wrote an important book on this topic and it is called Seek the Welfare of the City<\/em> and his central claim for us is that what Peter is speaking of here is acts of benefaction in a community, done by the Christians to demonstrate that they were good citizens, good people, and worthy of trust. This theme dominates 2:13\u20133:12: be good people; maintain a good reputation \u2014 but Peter\u2019s strategy is not overwhelmed by the honor-seeking of the Greek and Roman worlds but by glory-reflecting to God. Here\u2019s a quotation from p.21 of his book:
\n\u201cThe observation of their high-profile good works would not only be an eloquent defence of ill-founded allegations against Christians accused of being evil-doers, it would also be the mean by which critics became converts who glorified God \u2018in the day of visitation\u2019 i.e.<\/em> the day referring to personal salvation.\u201d
\nHere\u2019s a commentary on what Peter was urging the Christians to do, and it comes from Embracing Grace<\/em> and it comes from the first draft of that story, one that applies a little more here:
\nNorthBridge
\nTucked into a public building at the corner of highway 173 and 83, in Antioch, Illinois, is a burgeoning church. The pastor is Mark Albrecht and the worship leader is his wife, Michelle. Michelle\u2019s brush with cancer led both Mark and Michelle to a deeper level of commitment to gospel ministry, and so, with the blessing of their mother church, Hawthorn Hills Community Church, in Libertyville, Illinois, Mark and Michelle, and a couple dozen others decided to plant a church in Antioch.
\nBut, instead of spending all their energies raising funds to raise another church building, NorthBridge Church\u2019s families decided that they want to make a difference in their community. Consider these facts: the percent of money given to local churches is nearly exhausted by building expenses, salaries, and fees, with very little (if any) left for the community in which those communities live. What I mean by \u201ccommunities in which they live\u201d is clear enough: I mean the \u201cneeds that arise in the community,\u201d and not just evangelistic or mission events. This helps explain why only 44% of American non-Christians think positively of the clergy, why only 32% think positively of \u201cborn-again\u201d Christians, and why only 22% think well of evangelical Christians.
\nKnowing these figures, Pastor Mark Albrecht and his team leaders are exploring a new paradigm for NorthBridge. When Mark, along with other church leaders in the area, heard about the financial crisis in the Grass Lake school district, he approached the Superintendent Jim Beveridge and asked what they, as churches, could do. Jim informed Mark that an old school building was out of code, no longer usable, but that it would cost over a quarter of a million or so to rehabilitate. Mark and the leaders convened, prayed, and came up with a plan: they decided to fix the building, but not by hiring it out, but with volunteer labor from the churches. Together \u2013 something local churches often struggle with \u2013 they fixed that old building, and the costs were about a tenth of expectations because of the volunteer labor poured into the project.
\nChurch work and community help, gospel ministry and social ministry got all wound up into one effort and both benefited \u2013 and the gospel was heard. Instead of pouring scorn on the local school administrators, instead of yanking their kids out of under-funded schools, instead of raising funds for another private Christian school, these churches entered the public square and did what they could to help \u2013 and they got \u201cnothing\u201d out of it.
\nThey also got nothing out of ShareFest, another community event organized by Pastor Albrecht and NorthBridge Church. The community had a bundle of needs, mostly undone and lower on the priority list of things that would be done anytime soon, so ShareFest was organized. Some people painted fire hydrants, others painted a public works building, some winterized senior citizens\u2019 homes, while others worked in the local wetlands. There was a clothing and food drive as well as a musical performance. Albrecht was quoted in the local Antioch Press: \u201cWe went out and asked, \u2018How can we help?\u2019 It was kind of revolutionary.\u201d
\nPastor Albrecht is not doing this by himself; he does not want the credit or the glory or the attention. He wants to see the gospel embodied at NorthBridge Church, and he wants to be part of it. It is an exciting work, and many churches throughout the world are catching a new vision of the gospel today.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"