Quotes

Voices of Transformation

Session 2
Homework
 “e task given to the church in the Great Commission was nothing less
than to disciple the nations. If the church does not disciple the nation, the
nation will disciple the church.”
- Darrow Miller, Leader with Food for the Hungry International, USA

“Nothing short of the general renewal of society ought to satisfy any

soldier of Christ.”
- William Arthur, Methodist Preacher of the nineteenth century, England

“e tragedy of our times is that while many Christians have confidence in
the power of the Lord to return and change the world, many of us do not
have confidence in the power of the gospel to transform society now… Yet,
if Jesus is Lord of this universe, then He must be made the Lord of the
whole of our lives and society; His will must be done on earth, as it is in
heaven.”
- Vishal Mangalwadi, theologian and development practitioner, India

“We Christians have often fallen into the trap of preaching a truncated
and narrowed version of the gospel in which salvation deals with the
interior self but not with all of life.”
- Bob Linthicum, Executive Director of Partners in Urban Transformation,
USA

“e idea that ‘more Christians means a better society’ glosses over the fact
that believing people may have their blind spots… e much-publicized
renewal of the Filipino church has yet to yield evidence of having
contributed to greater justice in that country. It is wishful thinking to
blithely assume that more religion and a few more sermons on love will do
the job of breaking up glacial structures of injustice… It is precisely
because the Church has retreated from the world that the Gospel now
lacks a context. We have allowed the world to become secularized, and the
Church’s influence to be narrowed within the four paltry walls of the local
church.”
- Melba Padilla Maggay, Executive Director of ISACC , Philippines

“e presence of God must be perceptible not only in the individual

conscience, but in social structures as well.”
- Jacques Ellul, Sociologist, France

The Integral Mission of the Church 2 Living the Story Series

 “Christianity has been little more than a belief system for us, not a way of
life. It has been an institution, not a mission for our lives. It has made us
nice people with confidence in heaven after this life, but not world-
changing revolutionaries with hope for justice and peace in this life. It has
given us the identity of religious people, not the identity of courageous
rescue workers and change agents.”
- Brian McLaren, writer and leader in the Emerging Church Movement, USA

“We have preached only a salvation message—how to be saved, born

again, shout hallelujah—and not a Kingdom message where we learn how
to bring all of life— personal, marital, sexual, economic, political—under
the kingship of Christ, so that wherever Christians are in any sector of
society they are making a godly difference regarding how things actually
function.”
- Michael Cassidy, South Africa

“A Gospel that proclaims only one aspect—spiritual, physical, or social—is

narrow, weak, and disobedient. It dishonors the Father. e world—
especially the part of the world that is physically, socially, or emotionally
broken—has a difficult time understanding God's compassion unless it
hears and experiences God's love, wherever it feels the hurt of brokenness.
us, churches and Christians who want an effective witness must be
churches and Christians of the "whole" Gospel.”
- Bob Moffitt, Executive Director of ‘e Harvest Foundation’, USA

questions and applications

Read and prayerfully reflect on ‘Quotes” from men and women of God
from several cultures.
• Which of their statements most impacts you? Why?
• Is God’s will done in heaven? To what degree?
• If God’s will were done on earth as in heaven, what changes might you
expect in your life, your family, your community, your nation, and the
world?
• Brainstorm! How could you promote God’s will “on earth as it is in
heaven”? What are specific ways that you as individual could put this
lesson into practice this week?

Write your answers and thoughts into your Application Journal and be
prepared to share your findings in the next class session.

The Integral Mission of the Church 3 Living the Story Series

 application journal

The Integral Mission of the Church 4 Living the Story Series