intersections

Journey to the Cross

A week or so I wrote that I was struggling with Lent. Well, 23 days in I discovered a resources that is simply amazing. You simply must visit www.journeytothecross.org. See if this doesn't lead you deeper into the experience of repentance, surrender and death. You can also check out the latest book added to my reading list on the right, Reflecting the Glory: Meditations for Living Christ's Life in the World, by N.T. Wright.
Sabbath Peace!

Community of God's Friends

What does it mean to be God's people? What does it mean to be a spiritual person?

Our culture has trained us to answer these questions from a position of individualism. that is, I am God's person and I am a spiritual person by the things I do (or don't do). We are far less comfortable answering this question by saying, "I am God's chosen by being part of His people." Or, "I grow spiritually, at least in part, by being joined to Christ's body." This is far more than just being in a group  with others who are also trying to become individually spiritual people. Rather the vision of the church is a vision that says we become spiritual people together, in community. The church, then, could be considered a communal gathering of a particular kind of people in a particular relationship with each other.

Community is about identity and belonging. To truly live in community with others is to be bound to them by ties that are infinitely stronger than the usual contractual ties we know in world today. These are not temporary connections or relationships of convenience. Rather, in Paul's words, we belong to one another. This belonging becomes our identity. We are Christ's. We are connected to His body and belong to the other members of His body. This is the bond of true friendship, which has led some people to speak of the church as a community of friends. We are a community of God's friends. We befriend each other in God's name because God has first befriended us in Jesus Christ.  This is the root of our identity. Jesus said to His disciples, "I no longer call you servants.... Instead, I have called you friends..." (John 15:15). Can we envision ourselves as a community of the friends of God?