Chapter 4 – the Role of the Insider
Continuing on a synopsis of Petersen's book, "The Insider":
[Jesus] is saying, “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness how will people taste godliness? … You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.”We are in the world to reveal Christ to the world. He is saying, Let it show!
While some people are called to drop whatever they are doing to follow Christ, most people are given instructions like the man cured from demon possession:
Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.As a rule, we are called to follow him back into our own communities.
Paul, as an outsider, would go into a community and reach a few. But the success of his mission depended on the “insiders” who would then turn around and carry the message “back into their networks of relationships… The success or failure of the Apostles efforts… rode on the believers responding to this challenge.
KEY QUOTE:
Are you looking for your calling, wondering what God wants you to do? Paul is saying, open your eyes and look! You’re surrounded! You’ve spent thirty years relating to your family, your community, and your work situation. Some of your relationships are good, some ar bad, but they all have potential for new meaning now that you’re a citizen of the kingdom of God. Live out that citizenship—“hold out the world of life” within this unique world of yours! That’s what it means to be an insider.”
Note: Petersen is still dealing with background reasoning… the practicalities are still to come!
