擁抱世界Embracing the World
[每日靈修] 10/23/2018, 駱鴻銘編譯
馬丁路德宣稱，一個剛成為基督徒的人必須暫時抽離世界，但在達到屬靈成熟之際，他必須擁抱世界，把世界作為救贖活動的場所。他所傳講的信息是：「要和那些逃避現實世界、以虔誠掩蓋他們懦弱的懦夫離得遠遠的。」
我們今天最大的需求或許是去行銷耶穌基督。教會必須成為市場銷售的專家，不是以一種狡猾的「麥迪遜大道」風格的方式，而是以一種積極進取、卻有尊嚴的方式。市集是我們該去的地方。在那裏可以找到有需要的人。教會在她的大門上掛一個「歡迎」的標誌是不夠的。我們不應當只等著世界來找我們。
上帝從未打算讓基督徒社群成為貧民窟。教堂不是一塊保留地。然而，現代福音派的普遍風格是保留地或貧民窟。我們可以爭辯說，把我們放在那裏、並讓我們留在那裏的，是世俗主義的主張。但這樣的論點是行不通的。我們之所以在那裏，是因為在那裏是安全的、舒適的。
世俗主義者討厭真光，卻非常願意為了這光而給我們一個量器（bushel；和合本作：「斗」）。當我們購買客製化的量器卻欣然地將蠟燭放在它們下面，我們應當感到羞恥。隱藏這光或將其限制在保留地之內，是對福音施暴，並使聖靈擔憂。
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
你是否將你的光藏在量器底下？反思今日閱讀的結論：「隱藏這光或將其限制在保留地之內，是對福音施暴，並使聖靈擔憂」。
進一步研讀：
太五14～16 你們是世上的光。城造在山上是不能隱藏的。 人點燈，不放在斗底下，是放在燈臺上，就照亮一家的人。 你們的光也當這樣照在人前，叫他們看見你們的好行為，便將榮耀歸給你們在天上的父。
Embracing the World
Martin
Luther declared that a new Christian must withdraw from the world for a season,
but upon reaching spiritual maturity he must embrace the world as the theater
of redemptive activity. His message was, “Away with the cowards who flee from
the real world and cloak their cowardice with piety.”
Perhaps
the greatest need for our day is the need to market Jesus Christ. The church
must become expert in marketing, not in the slick Madison Avenue style but in
an aggressive, yet dignified way. The marketplace is where we belong. It is
where needy people are found. It is not enough for the church to hang a welcome
sign on her door. We dare not wait for the world to come to us.
God
never intended the Christian community to be a ghetto. The church is not a
reservation. Yet the pervasive style of modern evangelicalism is that of a
reservation or a ghetto. We can argue that it is the secularist agenda to put
us there and keep us there. But such arguments won’t do. We are there because
it is safe and comfortable to be there.
The
secularist hates the light and is quite willing to offer us a bushel for it.
Shame on us when we buy custom-made bushels and willingly place them over our
candles. To hide the light or to restrict it to a reservation is to do violence
to the gospel and to grieve the Holy Ghost.
Coram
Deo
Are
you hiding your light under a custom-made bushel? Reflect on the closing
statement in today’s reading: “To hide the light or to restrict it to a
reservation is to do violence to the gospel and to grieve the Holy Ghost.”
Passages
for Further Study
Matthew
5:14–16