This unit represents a thoughtful exploration of the issue of how we should act as Christians, given the fact that we have committed ourselves to be disciples of Jesus Christ. If we have entered into the joy of the Master and become the beneficiaries of his salvation, what responsibilities and obligations does that commit us to? In the words of the 1960’s theologian, Francis Schaefer: “How then should we live?”
The underlying commitment of this unit is that being a disciple of Jesus Christ has specific implications and measurable outcomes for how we behave as people in the world. This has a direct impact on how we, as ministers of the gospel, and as leaders of Christian communities approach the social and spiritual issues which apply in contemporary Australia. The Christian church ought to be God’s “shop window” to the world, representing the character and values of the Kingdom of God in 3-D sound and colour.
But, so often, the issues become clouded and the church so confused that its leaders can lose both their bearings and focus on what is important. This unit provides a fundamental reorientation back to the grounds from which the Christian faith sprang. As such, it seeks to provide strong encouragement for students to discover reasons WHY they should incorporate ethical behaviours and impulses within their own lives and ministries, and seek to inculcate these into the Christian communities to which they belong and often lead.