Mark 1:32-34 lectio: the sick and demon-possessed. This was actually a passage I read yesterday, and found the shimmering phrase, but the day got yanked out from under me when I got a call from school saying that Erin had thrown up. So I pondered the phrase in the midst of the day’s demands. Then, sitting in the hot tub last night with Kay, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like a number of different things I’ve been reading on folks’ blogs clicked into place. Here’s the thought:
The starting point for conventional evangelism has pretty much been, “You are a sinner.” That works in a culture that has some understanding of sin. But to my friends, it’s completely foreign.
In the passage, Jesus attracted not sinners, but the sick and demon-possessed. I want to take the passage beyond power evangelism (though I want to see more of that, too) and consider that Jesus attracted broken people. In this context, a possible touch-point for evangelism is, “We are broken.”
Did this post stretch your perspective? Consider subscribing!
what a great thought.
Heyalp!
There’s a lot to unpack in this thought; I suspect that it has the power to create an entirely different and powerful story of what the Good News is. This is going to take more pondering, but I bet many others have gone ahead of me. Heyalp! I know that (like everything else) I have to wrestle with God on this because you can’t have someone else do your wrestling …but I’d sure appreciate any thoughts, ideas, references, examples. Help me get a handle on this!