A Living Alternative

Once, a theologian approached St. Francis and asked him how he understood the following Scripture:

"When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life." -Ezekial 33:8-9 (NASB)

Here is his response (my paraphrase):

"The life of the Christian should be burning with such a light of holiness that by their very example and conduct, their life will be a rebuke to the wicked."

We must remember that St. Francis was a missionary who functioned largely within a Christian context. In otherwards, as missional as he was (and acknowledging his few trips abroad), his vocation was to call the Church to Christlikeness. The church of his day had many, many faults, which Francis was clearly aware of. However, so deep was his love for God and His Church, that he chose not to approach that vocation with prophetic reproof, but by embodying that which he was convinced was the way of Christ.

I believe that this represents a powerful and essential model for the church today, especially for those of us who believe that the Body of Christ desperately needs to rediscover what it means to be the incarnational, missional community we are called to be. While there is certainly space (and even the need) for articulated critiques and prophetic cries for change, these will only authority if the come secondarily to the daring example of lives lived differently.

What are you most passionate about seeing change in the Body of Christ today? In what ways can you embody this more intentionally, both as an individual and as a community?

St. Francis Missional