In-N-Out

[Brad Fox]

https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/950845/pages/between-subject-des...

Rob Bell says: "If the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody. And this is because the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. To do this, the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer or nonbeliever. Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those who are the "un" and "non", they work against Jesus' teachings about how we are to treat each other. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor can be anybody. We are all created in the image of God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God. Everybody matters. To treat people differently based on who believes what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone. As the book of James says, 'God shows no favoritism.' So we don't either."

I say: Have you ever heard of an unbounded set? For all my life, most people have considered the church as a bounded set; you're either in or out. Jesus was constantly dealing with this misconception throughout his ministry. People want exclusive boundaries; they want the prestige, security, or peace of mind that goes along with being "in" an exclusive group. God doesn't want to exclude anyone (see Matthew 22:1-14). Jesus pursued demon-possessed people, prostitutes, greedy tax collectors, pharisees, lepers, spiritually unclean people, the blind and mute, the dead, pagans, fishermen, Roman soldiers, paralytics, adulterers, the physically deformed, hostile accusers, and wayward disciples. Apparently, NO ONE was worthy of exclusion, except by their own wishes. Check out the graphics that make the concept clearer. Notice the key words in an open set are "orientation" and "movement." Now, go give yourself away, unconditionally!