Another thing I like about the Anabaptists

As I read through The Anabaptist View of the Church, one of the things I am struck by and that is mentioned over and over by the author is that the majority of the Anabaptists had, at least in doctrine, the right balance between the world and the church. The church was separate and regenerate and was to go out to the world to proclaim the Gospel. A serious discipline was coupled with what we would call a missional worldview. The church was serious about being the church and was also serious about proclaiming the Gospel. Much of the hostility leveled at the Anabaptists stemmed from their missionary efforts. Instead of being primarily a theological danger, the Anabaptists were a threat to the church-state symbiotic relationship and people in love with power will do almost anything to retain power. In many ways their fervor led to their persecution. Our lack of persecution in the Western church says a lot about our general lack of fervor. Anyway, just a few thoughts for this evening. I have a lot more I have written about this topic of the church as separate and distinct and yet proclaiming the Good News to the world in the days to come.