- Willingness To Grow
- God’s presence – The Kingdom: What is it?
- Positive Attitude
- Healthy Community
The mission of believers/the church is to spread the Kingdom. But what is the Kingdom? Does the Kingdom mean Heaven? The kingdom of God is a reality here and now. Luke 17:20-21 says that “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” God’s people carry his presence. The kingdom can be defined as: the people of God living in the presence and under the reign of God. In Mark 9 Jesus said that some will see the kingdom of God come with power before ever tasting death. In Acts 2 the kingdom comes through the Holy Spirit and empowers his people at Pentecost. With God’s presence He gives us His authority through the Holy Spirit. And the more we obey the small things of God the more authority he will give us through the Holy Spirit.
- Willingness To Grow
- God’s presence – The Kingdom: What is it?
- Positive Attitude
- Healthy Community – Offenses: Disruption to Healthy Community
Jesus said in John 17:23 that the world will know that God sent Jesus by the unity we as believers have among ourselves. Will the world see Christ by the unity between you and your family when you take a family vacation or go out to dinner? My squad is my family over the next 11 months and during this time we will be learning what it means to live in a healthy community. We want to bless each other well by learning to give each other our very best. One obstacle to unity is offenses. Offenses have a chain reaction that look like this:
Offense –> Wound –> Unforgiveness –> Bitterness –> Gossip –> Despise
The thing about offenses is that you can only be offended where you are offendable. For example, you may get two very different reactions from two different people even if you told each of them the exact same thing. Offences are areas in our life for growth. We are responsible for our reactions to offenses. If you don’t resolve your offenses and become bitter, if you continue to live in unforgiveness, the Holy Spirit may discontinue to convict you. Bitterness blocks our discernment from God. Unforgiveness prevents God from forgiving us (Matt. 6:14).
On the race when issues and offenses arise we will be practicing the following method to work through them.
- Check yourself – Why am I offended? How is this an area of growth for me?
- Deal with it biblically – While on the race we are going to follow the biblical example to resolving conflict. If we have an issue with a team member we are to go directly to the offender and lovingly express to them how an act or word made us feel. If the issue is not resolved we will ask a person in leadership to step in to mediate.
- No gossip policy – if anything at all is said negatively about another person on the team our first response is, “Have you talked to him or her about his issue” If they respond with a ‘no,’ then the 24 hour rule is in effect. If the issue has not been discussed between the two with in 24 hours then I (as the third party) will facilitate a conversation between the two (offendee and offender).
- Forgive and move forward
The Bible says not to let a day go by with unresolved anger. The Bible also says that if we are in the middle of worship and remember that we have not forgiven…. To stop worshipping and go resolve the issue. Who actually does this? Who actually speaks with others when something rubs him or her the wrong way? Who actually calls out their brother when he or she is gossiping and holds him or her accountable until resolution? What would it look like for your family or church actually followed these simple steps and fought for the unity among them? Yes, resolving conflict takes a TON of energy and work. And honestly, as Americans at the end of the day, we do not save much cognitive energy to give to investing in real and raw convicting conversations. We give most of what we have to our jobs and save little for our family and friends.
As World Racers, we believe that our relationships are worth investing in. Our relationships are worth making it a priority to lovingly call out each other’s flaws and help one another grow into the greatness God intended us to live out. By cultivating this unity through accountability we will be better able to reflect Christ by the love we have for one another.
What about you? Are your family and friends worth enough to you to give them your very best by helping them reach their full potential in Christ?
