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It’s no accident that proponents of applying centered set thinking have been missionaries.  Missions is about bringing the gospel into new territory.  Missionaries are front line people, not rear guard people.  They face many challenges that others don’t face.
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What drives a concern for thinking about set theory?  This is a sub-text in this ongoing conversation.  Maybe set theory is a ruse for being soft on sin.  We don’t want to obey the Bible’s teaching on sin, so we are trying to find a way around it, and set theory is a convenient sin dodge.  The bounded set seems to be driven by a concern for moral rigor or moral purity. Therefore any attempt to consider a different approach must be driven by a concern to accomodate to the surrounding culture when it comes to sin.
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So this is what it looks like: a centered set way of conceiving of categories–in this case the category “Christian.”   Christians are those who are oriented toward the center (Jesus) and are willing to take the next step closer to Him.  Christians, in other words, are followers of Jesus. They start wherever they are (every day), orient toward Him, and move in his direction. Like pilgrims coming to the Holy City from many different points of origin.
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I think we need to introduce another aspect of set theory that missionary Paul Heibert describes in his book, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues. I know, I know, this is not simple and we all want to cut to the chase and look at centered sets.  But it’s necessary, given the questions about “who is a Christian?” that have surfaced in the blog.
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