Tear Down and Build Up

Prophets Faithfull to God's Covenant Faithful Prophets Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)    Huldah Prophet of Wisdom 2 Kings 23:1-3 New International Version Josiah Renews the Covenant 23 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with Judah's people, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep His commands, statutes, and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. For Reflection The old Mosaic and Davidic covenants were between the households of God's people. Josiah attempted to prevent Jerusalem's catastrophic ruin. He created a pubic reformation, which involved all magistrates, priests, prophets, and ordinary and extraordinary ministers of God. It was a national act to prevent a national judgment. The destruction and restoration in the new covenant of the cross involves God and individual believers. A transformation is a personal act not to prevent judgment but to encourage commitment. One must choose to die to one's old self and be raised into the Kingdom of God. Cleansing the society from all manner of worship of false Gods by banishment (or worse) does not sit well in contemporary settings.  Today we do not evoke a decree. We evangelize. In the past, Christians have been known to assert their self-declared cultural superiority in their attempts to convert. The question is, how do we shape Christian mission work in our culturally diverse and religiously pluralistic world. Traci West* suggests that "For Christians entering cross-cultural encounters, the quality of our witness to Christ is borne out by our method of outreach and the conse­quences of our actions."Perhaps we need to reframe Jesus' question, "Who do you think I am?" into one in which we do not assume the answer *Traci C. West is Associate Professor of Ethics and African American Studies at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. 'Quarterly Review, A JOURNAL OF THEOLOGICAL RESOURCES FOR MINISTRY Volume 22, Number 4 Winter 2002 Pray Pray so that you can sort out your cultural prejudices from your Christian faith. Forward to a friend