Eric Hausler is the pastor of Christ the King, an OPC Church in Naples, FL. A couple of years ago we had a great interview with him on Outward OPC. Many in the OPC appreciate Eric’s labors for the church in general and also in particular for his labors in outreach and evangelism to the lost. Last year, Eric did a conference for the Presbytery of Ohio that ended up having to be done virtually. Recently, the Presbytery of Ohio released that conference video for which we will all benefit.
That conference was over a half of the day, but we are going to do a series of shorter, more targeted posts with excerpts for the benefit of the Outward OPC audience. We are thankful for the Presbytery of Ohio making this conference happen, and in particular for their willingness and encouragement for us to use these excerpts for Outward OPC.
In this first post, we have 3 short videos to lay the groundwork for Eric’s topic. Recently, two contributors to Outward OPC quoted Eric and both quoted the same idea–that Eric has a great illustration of seeing people in our lives as “landscape.” Eric developed this idea right at the outset and we share these excerpts to give you the main thoughts in just 10 minutes.
In this first clip, Eric fleshes how Paul’s idea of “regarding no one according to the flesh” should shape and change how we view people in our lives.
Next, Eric digs deeper biblically into how the gospel shapes our view of people:
Finally, Eric brings things home by discussing how we view Christ shapes how we view people in our lives:
Questions for Thought or Discussion:
1) Think about your life over the last couple days or week. Can you think of people that just blend into the landscape and that you don’t really think of as image bearers with souls to whom you have been sent? Make a list of them. Or maybe pay attention the next few days and make a list in your phone when you recognize an example.
2) There are lots of ways that we could regard someone “according to the flesh”– meaning we evaluate them in our lives based on worldly parameters. Think about people in your life for whom you desire to bear witness of the gospel. Which ones are the people that “make sense” (according to common conventions) for you to be seeking to bear witness to and which ones “break the mold” and aren’t “logical” connections that you have. In other words, who on your list is inside the box and makes total sense that you would be trying to reach them, and who is outside the box and only makes sense in the gospel? What do the lists say about your pursuit of evangelism with those around you?
3) What stands out from Eric’s discussion of the Bible and the portrait he paints of how we should view people in our lives? What would you tell a friend in 2 minutes to summarize what you liked and learned from these short videos?
