{"id":102,"date":"2010-04-15T08:41:08","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T13:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/?p=102"},"modified":"2010-05-19T17:34:45","modified_gmt":"2010-05-19T22:34:45","slug":"does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do we get off the road?\u00a0 How do we join the earliest disciples in their journey, for which a single change of clothes and the greatest possible trust in God was enough?\u00a0 How do we do this together, so that we don’t play generations or theological stances or ways of doing church off against each other, adding to the divisions o\"\"<\/a>f Christendom?\u00a0 Let’s try some basic ideas.<\/p>\n

First, let’s get some clarity on mission.<\/strong> The Bible talks about the church in many different ways: herald of good tidings, a people sent, an attacking army (remember that line “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”?), the cosmic body of Christ, God’s household, and other things.\u00a0 The church is not a dispenser of goods and services, but a body of praying and serving people.\u00a0 We don’t point to ourselves, but to God living in us.\u00a0\u00a0 Selling the church as such is almost the worst thing we can do.\u00a0 We “sell” the story of God’s redemptive work in us and beyond us.<\/p>\n

Second, let’s shift from an idea of the church member as consumer to the member as seeker of God.<\/strong> All of us are seekers, and all of us are trying to grow in our love of God, our faith in God’s promises, and our hope for a better life for everyone.\u00a0 A lot of my friends want us to get rid of the idea of church membership altogether, because they think it’s unbiblical (which, technically, it is) and, more seriously, unhelpful.\u00a0 It reinforces divisions (insiders and outsiders) that don’t quite make sense.\u00a0 I’m not sure I think we have to get rid of the language altogether, but my friends have a point.<\/p>\n

Third, let’s think small. <\/strong> Now, I’m not criticizing big churches.\u00a0 That’s not the point.\u00a0 Healthy big churches work hard on building relationships in small groups, and they use their size to accomplish things that small churches usually can’t pull off.\u00a0 The problem is not size as such, but anonymity.\u00a0 Let me give an analogy.\u00a0 When I was a little kid, I used to love to go to my grandpa’s service station.\u00a0 It had two gas pumps and a garage for a mechanic.\u00a0 And it was a gathering place where people had relationships.\u00a0 If you couldn’t pay for your gas this week, Grandpa Sullivan would put your name in his little book so you could pay next week.\u00a0 Contrast that with the chains I buy gas at now.\u00a0 They’re quicker, more efficient, probably more environmentally responsible, and they sell more of the junk food we like on long trips.\u00a0 But relationships?\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 In our increasingly fragmented world of people bowling alone, churches have to think pretty carefully about community.<\/p>\n

Fourth, to tie all this up, let’s talk about stakeholding. <\/strong>In other words, are there people in our churches whose absence we would not miss, whose opinions we do not consult, whose faith we do not consider, and whose wisdom we don’t draw on?\u00a0 My guess is that the answer is yes.\u00a0 Think about the incredible waste of that situation.\u00a0 How do we give more people more of a stake in what happens in our congregations?\u00a0 This especially applies to the young and the old, but it applies to all of us.<\/p>\n

These are some thoughts.\u00a0 I’d welcome your comments.\u00a0 Next time, I’ll try to talk about the intellectual\/theological issues we face today.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mark W. Hamilton<\/a>
\nAssociate Professor of Old Testament and
\nAssociate Dean
\nACU Graduate School of Theology<\/a>
\nAbilene, TX 79699
\nEditor, The Transforming Word<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do we get off the road?\u00a0 How do we join the earliest disciples in their journey, for which a single change of clothes and the greatest possible trust in God was enough?\u00a0 How do we do this together, so that we don’t play generations or theological stances or ways of doing church off against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3538,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64075,64080,609,1300,64076,64082,64081],"class_list":["post-102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bible","tag-church","tag-community","tag-mark-hamilton","tag-ministry","tag-mission","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2) - ACU Graduate School of Theology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2) - ACU Graduate School of Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do we get off the road?\u00a0 How do we join the earliest disciples in their journey, for which a single change of clothes and the greatest possible trust in God was enough?\u00a0 How do we do this together, so that we don’t play generations or theological stances or ways of doing church off against […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ACU Graduate School of Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-04-15T13:41:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-05-19T22:34:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Hamilton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Hamilton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Hamilton\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/person\/d2dc7d7077423050634fd2d6052bdb6b\"},\"headline\":\"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2)\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-15T13:41:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-05-19T22:34:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":619,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bible\",\"Church\",\"Community\",\"Mark Hamilton\",\"Ministry\",\"Mission\",\"Theology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/\",\"name\":\"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2) - ACU Graduate School of Theology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-15T13:41:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-05-19T22:34:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/\",\"name\":\"ACU Graduate School of Theology\",\"description\":\"Join us as we grow in knowledge and understanding, in greater service of the church.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ACU Graduate School of Theology\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2017\/12\/GST-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2017\/12\/GST-Logo.png\",\"width\":1422,\"height\":703,\"caption\":\"ACU Graduate School of Theology\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/person\/d2dc7d7077423050634fd2d6052bdb6b\",\"name\":\"Mark Hamilton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fec853793053602bdf74f0b33d23997825add7742a7f1a8c3dd3a316a5d1d76c?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fec853793053602bdf74f0b33d23997825add7742a7f1a8c3dd3a316a5d1d76c?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Hamilton\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/author\/mwh00c\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2) - ACU Graduate School of Theology","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2) - ACU Graduate School of Theology","og_description":"How do we get off the road?\u00a0 How do we join the earliest disciples in their journey, for which a single change of clothes and the greatest possible trust in God was enough?\u00a0 How do we do this together, so that we don’t play generations or theological stances or ways of doing church off against […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/","og_site_name":"ACU Graduate School of Theology","article_published_time":"2010-04-15T13:41:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-05-19T22:34:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Mark Hamilton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Hamilton","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Mark Hamilton","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/person\/d2dc7d7077423050634fd2d6052bdb6b"},"headline":"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2)","datePublished":"2010-04-15T13:41:08+00:00","dateModified":"2010-05-19T22:34:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/"},"wordCount":619,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg","keywords":["Bible","Church","Community","Mark Hamilton","Ministry","Mission","Theology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/","name":"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2) - ACU Graduate School of Theology","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg","datePublished":"2010-04-15T13:41:08+00:00","dateModified":"2010-05-19T22:34:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2710\/4319304821_e7bdb80b84_m.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/does-the-gospel-sell-itself-part-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does the Gospel Sell Itself (part 2)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/","name":"ACU Graduate School of Theology","description":"Join us as we grow in knowledge and understanding, in greater service of the church.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#organization","name":"ACU Graduate School of Theology","url":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2017\/12\/GST-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/files\/2017\/12\/GST-Logo.png","width":1422,"height":703,"caption":"ACU Graduate School of Theology"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/person\/d2dc7d7077423050634fd2d6052bdb6b","name":"Mark Hamilton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fec853793053602bdf74f0b33d23997825add7742a7f1a8c3dd3a316a5d1d76c?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fec853793053602bdf74f0b33d23997825add7742a7f1a8c3dd3a316a5d1d76c?s=96&r=g","caption":"Mark Hamilton"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/author\/mwh00c\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions\/160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/acugst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}