Guest preacher today

[Editorial Note: This post appeared on my other blog on 10/30/11.  I'm just moving it over here to put all posts that are a good fit for this blog in one place.]

Contrary to sentiments earlier in my life, I've decided I usually like to be at the church service when we have a guest pastor, because he will have something interesting to say that deviates from my usual expectations.  This week was certainly unusual.  I'm not really sure what to think of this guy - and I mean that in a non-judgemental way.  I think sticking by one's firm convictions is great and I probably would disagree with him on plenty of points, but I still recognize that God put him there so I could be convicted and learn something.

So this fellow - I've already forgotten his name, so that's no good - has traveled the world doing some sort of missions work and/or church planting.  But he shows a distinct preference for operating outside of conventional norms and models that churches use to undertake missions.  To which I say, great, as long as we're focused on bringing people to Christ and on scripture and what it says about how to do that.  He started the sermon quoting a number of texts from scripture about how God's love is meant for the whole world.  (I thought to myself great, another postmillenialist!  But that's beside the point.)  Then he dived into what it means to be a Christian, focusing on some of the basic commandments Jesus gave as a starting point.  Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Proclaim the gospel to all nations, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So that was the convicting part.  Do I really do any of those things well?  Sometimes I think I'm not doing them at all, honestly.  Somewhere in there he also mentioned that Jesus will grant us anything if we ask in his name.  So this part of the message compelled me to search my heart and ask Jesus to work in me and do whatever it takes to empower me to do those things.

At the end of the message was a rather eclectic list of pitfalls to avoid.  His definition of legalism was confusing, as it seemed like he was defining it both as works righteousness and as emphasizing faith alone to the detriment of works.  He also stated it is important not to confuse legalism with obedience--sounds great in theory but his extrapolation on this point was so confusing I can't really remember it.  So at that point I feel my response is to focus on what scripture teaches about the subject as it can't be any more confusing than this message.  Also in the list was libertarianism.  I'm not sure why, thought that was an odd one to pick out (and I don't call myself a true libertarian), since it was the only item in his list with political implications.

So, you can pray with me that this week I will learn to love God, love others around me, and preach the gospel and make disciples in whatever capacity I can this week.  And after that too, for that matter.