Travel light

This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"

Found through Mike Todd, who found it through Rob at SacMission:

Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge: "Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously. "Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light." (Matthew 10:5-10 The Message)

Some good lessons for the dying church here?

Comments

[Mike]

Pretty simple instructions. So where did we run off the rails?

[Darryl]

I guess some would say it started with Constantine.

[Jared]

I love it--it brings us to question our entire approach to fundraising for "missions" (though maybe we've strayed a bit from what that is), which of course infects and begins to disable the whole of our western practice of sending people to far away lands to "boldy evangelize" (whatever that means) for a couple weeks, and then come home. I love the language Eugene uses, and I think there may be much in those words we can learn from as we rediscover missional life.