Unfinished Business

Una sfida ai credenti Baby Boomer
By Landa Cope
World Christian - Marzo 1999

Nota del redattore: nel mese di ottobre 1988 al primo Forum Finishers a Chicago, Illinois, Landa Cope challenged restless baby boomers to harness the dream of their generation and change the world for Christ during their mid-life and retirement years. This article is adapted from her plenary speech.

In 1965, I was a first-year university student and an atheist. I gave speeches on why not to believe in the Bible. I wanted radical injustice eradicated, corruzione politica esposta, peace rather than war. We wanted materialistic values to be replaced by something meaningful.

Avevamo un sogno, come una generazione, and our dream was that we would change our world. Time magazine told us God was dead and we were eager to fill the void. We were the largest genaration in history and we were a force to contend with.

But our dream was shattered as we wept through assassination after assassination. Shattered as we watched resignations. Shattered by idols dying of drugs. Shattered by a thousand inconsistencies between what we hoped and dreamed for and what we were actually able to accomplish.

Despair and disillusionment drove millions of our generation into the kingdom of God during the 1970s and 80s. E, Ed ecco, Time magazine announced the “Jesus Revolution.“ Megachurches were born. Young people excited about their new found faith were dubbed Jesus freaks. Contemporary Christian music was conceived. The largest missions movement in history was launched.

In missione per conto di Dio
Sono venuto a Cristo 1970, not because I wanted to be a Christian but because I met the God who created the universe and had to bow to the reality of him. I have always been a reluctant Christian, but an eager believer. And after nearly 30 anni di missioni, I still am. I had seen what the radicals of my generation could not produce. I had seen what didn’t work. When I came into the kingdom of God, Ho pensato che, "Ora Gesù ed io sono la maggioranza e stiamo andando a cambiare il nostro mondo."

Il sogno della nostra generazione - un sogno nascere nel cuore di Dio - è stato quello di cambiare il nostro mondo, per renderlo un posto migliore dove vivere, to make truth reign. (Anche quando non sapevamo che cosa fosse la verità, che era il nostro sogno.) God birthed our dream for justice, equità, pace, qualità della vita, verità e significato non così abbiamo potuto solo sperare di raggiungerli, but so we could bring them into existence. It is our destiny to change our world!

And we have changed it. Never has the church been larger. Never has it been more diverse. But our dream has never been to be the largest or the most diverse. If that were our dream, we would enjoy the last part of our lives and relinquish the unfinished task of world evangelism to another generation. Our dream was to change the world, but we’re not satisfied. We’re not satisfied because we have not yet seen our dream fulfilled.

Ho visto uomini e donne di Dio nella storia molto più piccolo cambiamento numeri; they evoke change so powerful even non-Christians noticed. The United States calls itself a Christian nation, ma questo paese non è mai stato più immorale, materialistico, violent and unjust. The church in America has never poured more energy and prayer into any single issue than abortion. And what have we accomplished? Bene, we have family values as a political platform. But what I want to know is, la cui famiglia valori? Statistics show that Christian families are ending in divorce at the same rate as non-Christian families. And we have imparted our “values“ to other nations.

Potenziale non raggiunto
We claim a large percentage of Africa has been evangelized. However most African nations – Malawi, Ruanda, Uganda, Namibia e Ghana, to name a few – did not change for the better even with the arrival of Christianity. Each of these nations remains diseased, violento, ingiusto e devastato.

Non siamo consapevoli che abbiamo parole senza valore? We’re a big generation, lodare Dio, but we’re not deep. We may have the largest church in history, but may also be the weakest and least effective church the world has ever known. Come può essere? Does the gospel have no teeth? Dove si trova il tangibile, prova visibile che Cristo fa nella nostra vita, case, comunità, città e nazioni? How can the fruit of the largest church in the history of the world be so minuscule?

Come possiamo dire che questo è come il regno appare? Every Sunday we pray, "Venga il tuo regno, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.“ Then most of us go home and say, "Gesù, vieni presto perché è disordinato qui. "

It is way past time to transform the church. We must see local churches demonstrating the truth that empowers believers to see their lives changed, a parlare non di tenere insieme le famiglie, but to see the revelation that keeps families together. God wants us to tell a generation of Xers and Busters, che sono spaventato a morte del matrimonio: “Here is what God’s plan was and here’s how to see it restored. Here’s what we didn’t know before, ma quello che sappiamo ora. "

Realizzare il sogno
Our dream was to change our world and we are not satisfied. We are not satisfied because as a generation we have not fully inherited our dream. We are not finished yet, and God is not finished with us. When Joseph was 17, he thought he knew how to inherit the vision. By the time he was 30, he realized he knew nothing and was almost ready. When he was 37, vide la visione di Dio compiuto per mezzo di lui.

We are just about ready as a generation to inherit some of the promises we made when we were 17. We are just about at the end of our tether and ready to say, "Dio, siamo il più grande gruppo di cristiani nella storia, e non abbiamo la più pallida idea!"

We are also a generation that could lose it’s promise. Israel did. God promised them a nation, but they didn’t have a big enouch concept of God or a great enough faith. They said, “No.“ And it took 40 years for the next generation to be prepared. Can you imagine what will happen if we drop the torch now? If we turn our backs on God’s destiny for this generation, può essere 40 anni, fino alla prossima generazione è pronta a iniziare anche! Where will our world be then? This is not about us; this is about God. It was not Israel’s dream to have a nation; it was God’s dream. It is not our dream to change our world; è il sogno di Dio piantata in noi.

Ci è comandato non solo per raggiungere tutte le nazioni, but to disciple the nations – to turn our world upside down as the apostles did. The Roman Empire, il più grande regno di suo giorno, was totally transformed by the lives of these early believers. We’re called to get back the dream we had as teenagers, perché quello era il sogno di Dio per noi come una generazione.

Stand and Deliver
You are not too old. You are not too late. You are just right. Moses was 80 anni quando è stato iniziato! Now is the time for the baby boomer church to begin expressing its creativity and wisdom. Now is the time for a radical church to rise up and say, "Troveremo il modo di portare l'influenza servo per le nostre comunità e le nazioni."

You are on a misison from God. It is a mission yet unknown in the world that we live in. God is not calling us to join things. He’s calling us to change things. And missions needs to be changed. We are reaching the lost, but we are not discipling them as is evidenced in their lives and communities. God said to proclaim the gospel to all creation and disciple all nations. We need to see mission not only as proclaiming, but also as discipling. And we can begin right where you are. I don’t know if you’ll be led overseas. Jesus wasn’t. But you still have a mission. And your mission is not yet fulfilled.

We’re not finished yet. We’re not even close. But we have to fight to give fire to the dream. We have to let this fire spark into flame what we thought we lost forever. Because it’s not too late, he’s still working and he’s been expecting you. You have unfinished business.

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Landa Cope, Fondazione Decano del nostro Collegio delle comunicazioni, Università delle Nazioni, un ministero di Gioventù in Missione, parla spesso sui discepolare le nazioni.