Here is another challenging read from Rob Bell and Don Golden - Jesus wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008).
This book traces the story of the Old Testament from Egypt to Sinai to Jerusalem to Babylon - a journey that we read of many times and a journey that Christians continue to make today - although of course not literally.
Egypt is that place of slavery - whether addiction, anger, hate, prejudice, ego, lust, dishonesty... And Salvation is what happens when we cry out in Egypt, the cry that leads to God's intervention, to rescue, to redemption, to grace.
And this takes us to Sinai, the place where we find purpose and identity, the place where we join the God of the oppressed in doing something for our broken world.
And then we come to Jerusalem, which raises questions. What will we do with our blessing? What will we do with all that God has given us? Will we remember Egypt, or will we lose the plot?
And on the times we lose the plot we end up in Babylon, in exile, an exile which sometimes is so subtle that we don't even realise we are there.
An exile which means that in a world where people are still slaves, still go to bed hungry, still commit suicide, still die of AIDS...the church is irrelevant.
This book is a challenge to recognise our exile and to cry out again, to once again join God in doing something for our broken world. It is a challenge to hear the cry of others and allow that cry to change everything, because then we're with God, the God who will say 'Go' - a going that will take a multitude of forms.
