Old Testament and Attractional/Institutional?
This is going to sound odd, I know, but I was laying in bed tonight trying to sleep and this thought began buzzing through my head. And I may be pushing the comparisons way too far. But let me process it.
When I was in seminary, I was told that God perfectly placed Israel (the promised land) right at the heart of major trade routes from East to West and into Africa. It was a purposeful location that would see the world brought to their doorstep. If this is correct, we have the situation where the world came to the people of God.
In the New Testament, however, we see God in missionary mode. He sent his Son. He used persecution to drive the Christians out of Jerusalem to the world. He sent Paul, et al, on missionary journeys. In the New Testament, the people of God went to the world.
In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel focused on themselves, a warped view of their role. Religion was institutionalized and rules based.
In the New Testament, the church was more organic in form and focused on becoming what God said Abram’s descendants would became: a blessing to all nations.
This is just something to chew on as you awake this morning.
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Old Testament: New Testament. Attractional: Missional.
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July 28th, 2008 at 9:17 am
David,
I’m a bit hesitant to bite on this one. I see a couple of problems. First, while the history of Israel as a nation may have become self-focused, you yourself mention God’s Old Testament calling of Abram/Abraham – it was driven by God’s desire to bless all nations. And while trade routes might have brought the nations to and through Israel, we can’t forget that there were times of exile, when Israel was “sent” out.
Second, in the whole attractional vs. missional tension, we tend to think of attractional in negative terms, and that it’s inferior to missional. But the Old Testament is neither negative for us, nor inferior. It’s just a different part of the story, one that gains completion with the New Testament.
If you want to make an attractional/missional comparison between Israel and the early church, that’s one thing, but IMHO it’s pushing the categories a bit too far to say OT/NT like this.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Steve,
I would agree with you…I was just thinking about this and thought I would through it out and see what others think. There is more to it than what I simply expressed in the post.