Written in early August…
We are twenty-one.
Twenty-one souls.
Twenty-one stories.
We’re bound to butt heads. We’re bound to fight. But each of our hearts are bound together in Jesus. And that should mean something. But what happens when we forget?
I’ll tell you. Screaming arguments. Passive aggressiveness. Ignorance of each other’s needs. A splintering of relationships leading to a breakage of trust. And a crushing of the kingdom.
All because of our forgetfulness of our identity in Christ.
It’s funny because we just learned about who we are at debrief; for five days we explored the fact that we are sons and daughters of God. We took so many steps toward understanding this identity, and so many of us had a breakthrough in this area.
But here we are, only two weeks later. Speaking death. Sinking down to levels only the father of lies has known. It breaks my heart; but even more, our Father’s heart is grieved. Where is this squad that talks about unity, love, and growth? Where did they go, and how do we get them back? The enemy sees the growth that our squad is attaining, and he’s obviously scared. Rightly so. Because as we grow closer to the Father, we push him out a little further.
We had a meeting the other night, the whole squad, talking about how we want to define ourselves, and these are the things we came up with…
personal initiative
trust
vulnerability
growth
deep relationships
reconciliation
unity
joy
My next four blogs will illustrate these goals, two at a time, so that we might explore what it means to be a church and meet these initiatives.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life,appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander,and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised,barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do,whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
— Colossians 3:1-17
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
–Titus 3:1-8
