Making the world love us

"I long for a ‘third way’ in the way the church can engage culture, perhaps it is being the kind of polis that the Scripture describes–a holy and loving people."

Not judging the non-Christian society around them, letting their praxis be taken as their logo, uncompromising in matters that cannot be compromised, undemanding in matters indifferent, avoiding argumentation, promoting the bare Word of God without comment, inviting to and helping those abandoned or helpless, intolerant of deliberate immorality, but pardoning and overlooking human weakness, and showing patience and forbearance with all—this is not a third way, as if there were options—this is the way of the true Church, in whatever time, place or denomination it can be found.

"A people who love God, neighbor, and each other. A people who are attractive to the culture because of their holiness, wholeness, and love."

A people who live love but do not preach it in words and proclamations, even so, that Church will only ever be attractive to those who are already part of her without knowing it, as for the rest of the "culture," it will never find the true Church attractive, but will always find fault, always find reason to try to drive it out of the world. If Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, perfect Man (and to us true God) could not be found attractive by the "culture," how can we poor copies of His nature do anything that will make us attractive to the culture of sin and death? For what else can "culture" be, despite its false beauty, fame and fragrance?