You Belong to Me

I was travelling down the M4 last week when I saw a man on a motor bike. Not particularly unusual until I saw what was written on his leather jacket. Accros the back of his jacket in bold letters was written, 'If you belong to Christ then you belong to me.'

As Christians our relationship with one another should not be determined by a host of secondary issues but by our relationship to Christ. If a person 'belongs to Christ' then they are part of the people of God, we have become part of the same family and are heirs together.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29

I have recently become disturbed by the prevelence of comments, tweets and various posts amongst Christians that seem to forget this truth. It doesn't mean that doctrinal issues that devide us are not important it is just that they should be dealt with in a way that first recognises that we 'belong to one another.'

Riddled with Grace

Riddled with grace

Pervaded by compassion

Infested by beauty

Punctured by self-sacrifice

Polluted by freedom

Besieged by forgiveness

Entangled with reconciliation

Subverted by blessing

I would rather have atheism or agnosticism than graceless Christianity

Whoever....

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever (rich, poor, male, female, black, white, Muslim, Hindu, gay, straight, atheist, theist, agnostic, communist, politician, banker, drug user, drunk, child abuser, wife beater, anorexic, slave, slave trader, old, young, nice, horrible, intelligent, reformed Calvinist, non-reformed Arminian, Israeli, Palistinian, raped, rapist, homeless,) believes in him shall not perish but have eternal Life  

John 3:16

Followers of Jesus

Right after Jesus proclaimed for the first time 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near' he called the first disciples:

[Matthew 4:18] As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. [19] “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” [20] At once they left their nets and followed him.

Come

follow me

Jesus said

and I 

will 

make 

you 

fishers of men

The following was written by someone, somewhere (I cannot find out who it was ) who understood the call to follow Jesus

"Jesus did not come to give us programs.  He came to give us life.  Jesus did not call us to a set of rules.  He calls us into a living relationship with him.  Jesus did not call on us to try harder.  He calls on us to trust him completely today.  Jesus did not call us to plant churches.  He called us to make disciples.

Jesus said, “Come follow me.”  He still calls. 

When we follow Jesus…

We follow a person not a set of teachings.

We depend on Jesus in the same way he depended on the Father.

We listen to Jesus and allow him to interpret and apply his teachings in our lives.

We make disciples.  We help others become followers of Jesus.

We do what we see Jesus doing.

We gather with other believers to understand, honor and practice obedience to Jesus.

Now, how do we move beyond platitudes to practice?"

The final line asks a tough question, one that has huge implications for all followers of Jesus, one that I need to grapple with myself. Being a Christian sounds far more nebulous than being a follower of Jesus. Being a Christian can almost sound like a lifestyle choice rather than the pursuit of a person. Interestingly, Jesus never told us to become a Christian, he simply told us to follow him. 

Continue in what you have learned...

As Paul languished in a Roman jail, he knew the challenges that would face Timothy. There was no promise of financial support, no guarantee of additional ministry partnerships, no certainty that jail would not be Timothy's future, no clarity on how the church would develop. Everything was uncertain, nothing was obvious, the only firm promise was that the risen Christ would remain with Timothy through the presence of the Holy Spirit

It was to this situation that the aging apostle wrote to his younger apprentice, to my 'dear son.' Paul had run his race and knew that his end was not a long, distant expectation but was to be a soon occurring reality. He longed for Timothy not to give up, not to compromise, not to forget who he was and the plan that God had for his life. Paul wrote many things to Timothy including this great exaltation, But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it 2 Timothy 3v14

It was as if Paul was crying out to Timothy. 'You have learned so much, you have been convinced of this wonderful gospel, don't give up now! Don't throw away everything that you have fought so hard to achieve.' 

This verse has been important to Alison and I over many years! it has come to us a number of different times as a reminder to ensure that we don't slide back into compromise, that we don't give up on the principles that we have been pursuing over many years. God in his grace has opened up to us important truths regarding church life that we have tried to live out, recognising that to do so must be in the context of the Christian community. We cannot be true followers of Jesus unless we are walking in fellowship with others who are seeking to walk on the same path

Looking back on our lives, there are a number of truths that we have become convinced of. Principles relating to the corporate body of Christ, that if we gave them up, would mean that we would become less than the people that God made us to be. Below I have listed some of the issues that have become so important to us:

• A simplicity of church life
• A closeness of relationship
• A passion for prayer
• A growing unity in the local church
• A worldwide vision
• A place for all
• A reality of God's presence
• A love for the lost
• A freedom from unreality

I hope that we can continue to pursue these principle together with others on the same journey

Marks of a Movement

I listened recently to a very interesting podcast by Australian Steve Addison called 'Marks of a movement' in which he outlined five key points that mark a Christian movement. Not just principles that would see a church or ministry grow but ones that mark a movement of rapid development that multiplies quickly. He used the Methodist movement under John Wesley in the 18th century as an example, similar principles were seen in the ministry of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands during the same period in Wales. 

The five principles were as follows:

1. White hot faith
2. Commitment to a cause
3. Contagious relationships
4. Rapid mobilisation
5. Flexible methods

Having been struck by these principles, I looked into Scripture to find support for each of the points 

1. Matthew 22:37 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. No half-hearted commitment 
2. Matthew 28:19,20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you
3. John 4:39-42 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.               John 1:40-42 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.  The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.                           Also Cornelius in Acts 9
4. Luke 9 Jesus sends out the twelve and Luke 10 Jesus sends out the seventy-two. Both happened within two years of Jesus starting his ministry.                                                                             Mark 5:18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Also John 4 as above shows the Samaritan women being mobilised quickly
5. Different ways that the gospel spread demonstrating flexible methods
1. Acts 3. People respond to an individual healing at the temple
2. Acts 5. Many healed and people impacted
3. Acts 8. People scattered through persecution and preached wherever they went
4. Acts 8. Philip sent to one man - the Ethiopian
5. Acts 9. Saul converted with no human involvement                
6. Acts 9 Tabitha raised from dead and impacted whole of Joppa
7. Acts 10. Cornelius has a vision and then gathers his family and friends                                                                                         

Marks of a stationaryment (opposite of movement!)

1. Luke-warm faith
2. Either commitment to the status quo or no commitment to a cause
3. Either non contagious relationships or lack of relationships
4. Slow or non existent mobilisation
5. Inflexible methods

It is difficult, when you are in an environment of long-term decline as in the church in Wales, to find faith for God to do something as wonderful as initiate a movement. We long for God simply to halt the seeming inexhaustible decline in the churches, let alone do something that would see this trend reverse. The question perhaps that I need to ask myself is not so much is God willing, but am I willing to play my part?

Note

Steve Addison's podcast is called 'Movements with Steve Addison' and can be found on iTunes

Other Voices

The Bible, particularly the Gospels, is full of 'other voices.' Voices not of The Father nor the Son, but of ordinary people interacting with the divine story. There is space in the narrative of salvation to hear how other voices interact with His-story. In fact it appears that the story of the unfolding drama of redemption is only complete when it is over laid with our own story. The voice from heaven can be more clearly heard when it is seen involved with and in contrast to, our own voice