God as Judo Master

SOURCE: http://www.freshministry.org
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"Chad Hall, lead Pastor of Connection Church in Hickory, North Carolina says, "We believe glimpses of God can be found in culture, even those parts that are seemingly opposed to him. We envision God as similar to a great judo master, one who uses the opponent's energy to his own advantage."

--Leadership Journal, Fall 2004, p. 42

It is one thing for a church to be culturally relevant, but quite another to leverage culture for the gospel's advantage. Or to put it the way Hall does, to use the opponent's energy to our advantage. The goal is not to get the culture as a whole to act more like Christians, or to get the church to act more like the culture as a whole, rather it is to use whatever means necessary to proclaim the gospel so that people may be radically transformed by the gospel.

Romans 1:16 (NIV) "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."