In UC, we continue to think about how we can be both compassionate and speak words of life and light. Over the past year or so we have focused primarily on the compassion part because that was our weakness.
The thief on the cross was like the worker in Mat. 20 who was hired last, only worked an hour, but received the same pay from the landowner as those that worked all day. Presumably, the thief on the cross lived a selfish, Godless life. Then at the last hours of his life he had the fortune to met Jesus and by the end of the day, he was with him in paradise. Whew! Good for the thief! But is this model a goal for evangelism?
In addition to getting to be with Jesus in paridise, for a few hours the thief got to experience a different way of living. I can think of worse ways to spend hanging on a cross. Too bad for the thief, though. What was unfortunate was that he presummably lived an incomplete life up until then. He suffered through it like most of us schmucks. In contrast, like the brother of the prodigal son, the workers who worked all day for the landowner were able to live a different kind of life. A life that we were made to live. One that has the potential to make us complete and joyful.
Do you think that to live as a Christian non-disciple (assuming there is such a thing) is like being the thief on the cross? Yes, you get to go to heaven - as incredible and gracious as that will be - but you miss out on life - as incredible and gracious as it can be.
As I think about William and struggle with how to speak words of life and light to him, I am thinking they ought to include both. It seems the good news that Jesus would have for him would include that God is accessible to him now. He can reconsider how he has been living and what he has been trusting. He can take up apprentiship with Jesus and learn to live a different kind of life. One that turns the conventional wisdom on its head. One that will let him experience complete fulfillment and joy in the midst of his suffering. And guess what, if he does this, he also gets to be with Jesus in paradise when he dies.
That seems to be a robust gospel. I have to learn to stop separating the two in my mind. The great commission doesn't.
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