The Timothy Conference

T H E T I M O T H Y C O N F E R E N C E

C. “Working with the grain of the universe.”

Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder speaks about following the commands of the New Testament even when it runs counter to popular wisdom or does not appear on the surface to be achieving the results that we expect or desire. Yoder speaks about seeing the bigger picture behind the day-to-day battles and failures. He says that when we take the teachings of the New Testament seriously, we are “working with the grain of the universe.” When your teams take the Gospel to the poor, that is exactly what they are doing. They are “working with the grain of the universe.” Your fields are receptive, they are “ripe for harvest.”

Stanley Hauerwas, Remembering John Howard Yoder December 29, 1927 - December 30, 1997 , First Things 82 (April 1998): 15-16.

Key Team Leader Virtue: Open thankfulness that the team’s mission is in a spiritually receptive field.

II. Is Our Team’s Mission to the Poor Rooted in Our Understanding of Jesus?

We are not in mission on our own initiative, rather we are ambassadors who act and speaks as those representing someone else. Our mission is simply the continuation of Jesus’ mission. Or to put it another way, Jesus’ example and teaching are the standard for evaluating our claims to know and represent God’s message.

(John 14.23-24) Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. [24] He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

(1 John 2.4-6) The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. [5] But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him. [6] Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

For Jesus the Messianic mission was defined primarily as preaching liberating news to the poor and oppressed. The Gospel was the good news that the Kingdom had come to those who had no hope. We serve as representatives of Christ only to the extent that our mission conforms to his.

A. Jesus identified himself with the poor.

(2 Corinthians 8.9) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

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