Foundations for Christian Mission, Student Workbook, SW04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

for them, including such things as the harvest and gleaning stipulations of the Law, justice in the courts where all matters, measures, and transactions were to be done honestly and rightly, and resources of the people were to be shared in the Sabbatical year, with the poor being provided a share of the produce of the fields and vineyards. The implications of these standards for God’s covenant community are plain: God’s people were in all their actions to reflect God’s identification with the poor, informed by God’s deliverance of them at the Exodus, and were to demonstrate the Lord’s shalom in all their relationships and dealings with others. Jesus is both the founder and Head of the Church, God’s new covenant kingdom community, which is called to demonstrate God’s shalom in the midst of the people of God today. Jesus identified himself as the Messiah of the OT prophets and promise. He inaugurated his Messianic ministry with acts of healing the oppressed and preaching good news to the poor, authenticated his Messiahship to John the Baptist through works of justice and preaching to the poor, verified and confirmed the salvation of others by their treatment of the poor, and identified without reservation to the “least of these” (i.e., the hungry, thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner). The Church is God’s kingdom community. It is called to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom to the poor, to act as the body of Christ with one another, and to give evidence of the life of the Age to Come in its display of justice in the world. In the life and mission of the Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the shalom of God’s OT covenant community is enjoyed and displayed. As Christ’s body in the world, the Church is called to be an advocate for the poor, which is a hallmark of authentic Christian mission. Regarding urban mission, the Church is called to proclaim the Good News to the poor, which includes respecting them as chosen by God and those with whom Christ identified. We are never to patronize them but deal with them justly and compassionately, confident of their ability to be transformed and to contribute to the Kingdom’s advance. We are not merely to meet surface needs, but to strive to impact structures and relationships that will lead to a more just situation, living the true “prosperity Gospel,” which is to seek justice and equity on behalf of the most vulnerable among us.

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