quote

It is a great mistake to think of the gospel as purely spiritual in nature. There are spiritual religions, but Christianity is not one of them. Throughout Christian history there has been concern for bodies as well as souls. There has been almost as much emphasis upon hospitals as upon places of worship, and the feeding of the hungry, including those formerly known as enemies, has been a marked feature of the modern Christian age. This effort to minister to the whole person, rather than merely to spiritual needs, does not represent a departure from the Christian genius, but is deeply rooted in the original gospel. Elton Trueblood
Someday I want to preach a sermon: on being materialistic christians

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Comments

Anonymous said…
I think 'materialistic Christians' speak all too loudly for themselves!

Does the expression 'there is and elephant in the room' have any meaning?
6:50 AM
Anonymous said…
thanks for this quote. judging by what you write on your blog, i think i would like to read some of your sermons...have you ever considered posting them online?
10:19 AM
oncoffee said…
ah, but I want to use materialistisc in a totally different way. I want to talk about the biblical mandate to be in the world, and that the same time be owned or possessed by it. i.e. we, in contrast, to other world religions, are called to live materialistically... but not in the way we often think of materialitic - possession oriented; rather, we live out and God births and forms what he is doing in us, in the specific, sometimes nasty places where we live: living in Egypt or at the P.O.
10:46 AM
oncoffee said…
dude, thanks for your kind words, we are hoping to mp3 up on our website sometime in the future - probably not until the fall
10:47 AM
Anonymous said…
We eat excellent leeks and garlic at P.O. - I have come to the realization that their are much worst gigs than P.O. - treated even worse and compensated less. At the end of the day it is all a mission field.
10:57 AM
Anonymous said…
Would the mp3s be on this website? I'll make sure to check back...

I like the idea of materialistic Christians being a positive thing. I often think about how to talk with people about the goodness of creation and how we are supposed to be creation-affirming people as opposed to super-spiritual. using the language of "materialism" with a positive spin would get people thinking...at least it has got me thinking.

peace
12:45 PM
Anonymous said…
live 365 might be an option..radio programming free..
3:27 PM
Anonymous said…
You don't know how long I spent trying to figure out where the PO is. I have heard of being P.O.ed but not the PO. Anyway I think I finally figured out that it has something to do with stamps and mailboxes.

My question is if we need to live as more materialistic christians (in the sense that Mike interprets it), how does that tie with our current views on roles for Pastor's in our churches.

I think in a lot of churches, the pastor is looked at as the spiritual sheppard. The person who can lead the flock in the ways of spirituality. Hence they spend a good portion of there time in the spiritual element (i.e. religious study) and or directing events that help others become more spiritual.

Conversely, Pastors are somewhat removed from some of the areas where we likely need to be practise being materialistic and helping people.

The vast majority of their contacts are made up of Christians who they spiritually minister to and hence they don't get the same opportunity for non-christian connections in the work place or the people needs outside of the sanctuary.

Anyway I realize I'm over generalizing here, but just looking to see if there's any reaction to these random PO thoughts.
4:57 PM
Anonymous said…
maybe we need to redfine 'spiritual'...or at least enlarge our idea of what is 'spiritual'. it seems like this whole sacred/secular divide causes a lot of problems that don't need to be there.
5:45 PM
Anonymous said…
Scott you nailed it. P.O. is Canada Post. It is indeed a unique mission field for this boy who just grad from Tyndale with an MTS.
7:56 PM
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