COUNT NIKOLAUS LUDWIG VON ZINZENDORF (Part 3)

Zinzendorf’s Vision of True Christianity

Through nearly forty years of Christian ministry, Zinzendorf was revered by some people for his deep love of Christ, and reviled by others for his unorthodox ways of demonstrating that love. To Zinzendorf, the true church was an invisible body of believers hidden behind denominational barriers. Life in Christ was not what happened in the organised church; instead, it was a “Christianity of the heart.”

Three Vital Expressions of Christianity

Zinzendorf expressed that kind of Christianity in three vital ways. First, it was essential that all believers embrace a deep, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Second, all true believers must learn to live and worship together. “There is no Christianity without community” was his personal motto. Third, every Christian was called to help spread the message of Christ’s sacrificial death and redemption to the unreached world. “Missions, after all,” Zinzendorf wrote, “is simply this: Every heart with Christ is a missionary, every heart without Christ is a mission field!”

The Cooperative Missionary Effort

Whether a believer was sent to a foreign land or worked to support the one sent, to Zinzendorf, the missionary enterprise was a cooperative effort, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that could change the world for Christ. Zinzendorf did change the world, revolutionising the worldwide Christian community with his missionary zeal, taking his place in history as one of God’s greatest missionary generals.

A Prophetic Prayer and Noble Heritage

Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born into a family of Austrian nobility on May 26, 1700, in Dresden, Saxony. He was the only child of Count Georg Ludwig and Countess Charlotte Justine von Zinzendorf. For generations before his birth, the Zinzendorf family had enjoyed a high rank among the Austrian nobility, serving in the court of Austria’s emperors. As the Reformation spread throughout Europe, Nikolaus’s grandfather, Count Maximilian von Zinzendorf, became a Lutheran, embracing faith in Christ alone for salvation.

To be continued…

Tale Tuesday 096

Date:   17th September, 2024
Title: :  COUNT NIKOLAUS LUDWIG VON ZINZENDORF  (Part 3)
Source:  God’s generals- The Missionaries
Author: Roberts Liardon