|
 Foreword by
Richard Bliese
If you sense that there is more to
living the Christian life than constantly striving for a balanced
lifestyle between all the various demands on you at work, home, in
your community, and in your congregation, you’ve come to the right
book.
Jack Fortin leads us away from the
myth of “the balanced life” to one that is centered in Christ. The
shift from “balance” to “faithfulness” lies at the heart of this
book’s message. Discipleship, therefore, involves ministry in daily
life. And ministry in daily life means making the important
connection between Sunday and Monday.
If you sense that there is more to
living the Christian life than constantly striving for a balanced
lifestyle between all the various demands on you at work, home, in
your community, and in your congregation, you’ve come to the right
book. Jack Fortin leads us away from the myth of “the balanced life”
to one that is centered in Christ. The shift from “balance” to
“faithfulness” lies at the heart of this book’s message.
Discipleship, therefore, involves ministry in daily life. And
ministry in daily life means making the important connection between
Sunday and Monday.
This book represents a major
commitment by Luther Seminary to teaching ministry in daily life.
Jack Fortin, who has directed Luther Seminary’s Centered Life
Initiative since 2001, has led the charge to map out concrete ways in
which the local congregation becomes the place where Christians not
only discover their callings in the world but are equipped to fulfill
them. Within a world of fragmentation, many feel that they are losing
control. Christians long for answers and lives that count for
something worthwhile, both inside and outside the walls of their
congregations. They want to know what God is doing in the world and
what their role in this plan is. The Centered Life Initiative at
Luther Seminar in St. Paul, Minnesota, provides a framework for change
for congregations that strive to teach their people about their
callings in daily life. Lutherans have lamented the fact for five
hundred years that Luther’s insights into the priesthood of all
believers has been neglected by our congregations. Now is the time to
do something about that. This book points the way forward.
The major emphases of the Reformation
were twofold: justification by grace through faith, and vocation. A
local congregational mission strategy that strives to be faithful and
effective must build on both dynamics. Luther left his monastery and
entered the world, thus starting a religious reformation. A major
goal of this book is to address the unfinished reformation in American
congregations. It is time for Christians in North America to leave
their own monasteries as well. A new reformation awaits them.
Wonderful examples, anecdotes,
concrete suggestions, and biblical directions fill every page
concerning living a life of belonging, identity, and meaning centered
in Christ. This is a book that you will want to read over and over
again – and one that you will want to discuss with your friends and
your small-group members.
Once you start reading this book in
your congregation, watch out! God will use this book to initiate
change. That is its purpose. The more centered in Christ we become,
the more we are opened to God’s mission in the world. Thanks be to
God for Jack Fortin’s commitment to call us all to lives centered in
Christ.
Richard Bliese
President, Luther Seminary
St. Paul, Minnesota
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