What Holds Us Together?

Even though there is so much that separates us from one another, I continue to believe that it is jesus who holds us together. The body of Christ is very diverse, and our diversity often leads into unhelathy conflict that keeps us from truly engaging one another. So, when we come from different backgrounds, cultures, races, and theological perspectives, can the gospel truly be the unifying agent in the church?

For most of my ministry, I have practiced the discipline of reading through the Bible in a year. This year I have changed the discipline just a bit; I am reading through the gospels. I read through a gospel a week, so that once a month I read through all four gospels. This has been an amazing experience of seeing the more complete picture of Jesus. When I have a tendency of seeing Jesus one way, this discipline has revealed the many different aspects of Jesus. He both encourages and challenges us. But I have the tendency to want to see Jesus as encouraging me and challenging the people not like me.So, again, can the good news hold us together?

I was speaking at a presbytery event on the connection between discipleship and evangelism, and I said that our starting point for the journey is the love of God in Jesus Christ. I talked about how this love of God is what brings us our deepest sense of meaning and satisfaction. When we get down to the basics of life, this is the yearning that's in all our hearts. We desire to be loved and fed. We want to know that life works out. The church is the place in which we experience the profound beauty of God's love.

After the event, a woman introduced herself to me by thanking me for breaking a stereotype. I was introduced as the Coordinator for Evangelism, and she said that she started "checking out" because she did not believe that I would have anything to say that would be helpful to her. However, she went on to say that the way I approached the gospel was very meaningful to her.

So, what if we had more conversations around God's love in Christ: that we are loved as we are, but loved way too much to be left there?

Comments

[Dave Burgess]

Dear Ray,

My name is Dave Burgess and I am midway through the Gospel and Culture sequence at CTS. I was curious to learn more about the Tangible Kingdom class you are teaching in February. I cannot find your email address, so I thought I would leave a message on your blog.

My main interest is church revitalization and I believe it is where God is calling me to be. I am not sure if this class deals exclusively with planting. I am hoping to find some time to touch base.

Thanks!
Dave

pastordaveburgess@yahoo.com
334-695-6201

[adan.mairena@gmail.com]

Ray, I met you in Atlanta at "The Big Tent" and attended your workshops this summer. I'm glad I found your blog. I'm an NCD Pastor in North Philadelphia although I feel like it's also a revitalization project because we are out of a former PCUSA church. It's a good thing for us though because the building is in front of a park, the building is a huge asset. You have to see it in order to know what I'm talking about. Enough about the building. Your blog, especially your statement about "the starting point" reminds me of what one of my leaders shared with some of Presbytery Associates-my bosses. He said, "Adan, is showing me God--and you (meaning Presbytery Associates) are showing me the church." I took it as a compliment but then wondered about the other side if the coin. "Am I not showing the church?"