Thinking about the identity of the church

(Multiply Archives)
Last night, I watched Courageous with a friend's church.  In discussion afterwards it was brought up that it should be construed as a challenge to all Christians to live up to a higher standard.
In Sunday school this morning the Westboro “Baptist Church” was brought up.  Media identifies the church with stuff like that--it’s sensational, negative news--but where should we find our identity?  What are we?  
            I was copying out of Revelations this morning and this verse stood out:
Revelations 1:9 “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”  

Do we consider ourselves partners in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance that are in Jesus?  Do we think of tribulation and patient endurance as part of our existence in Jesus Christ?  After all, we are called to live in Him, right?  

So I looked up how the letters are addressed in the New Testament.  I did not include all (some said basically the same thing) but it occurs to me as I do this that a whole lot can be learned about who we are and what we should look like just from the greetings, blessings, and conclusions of the letters.  There is a lot packed in there.  But here we go.

Acts addresses “Theophilus” which means “lover of God”
    It could be an individual, but we should all love God--that seems a necessary part of being part of His church.

Romans begins, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” and is addressed, “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (v.7)
The end of Romans refers to the believers using terms like, saints, church, brothers, fellow workers . . .
    So we are saints, loved by God, called to be saints . . .

I Corinthians: is addressed, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:” (v.2) end refers to them as saints, fellow laborers, brothers, church
    We are sanctified (made saints, made holy) in Christ Jesus, we are the ones who call on the name of our Lord Jesus,

Phillipians:  “To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:”
    Ah, look, faithfulness is part of our identity . . . and still “saints”  so where does all the, “I’m just a sinner” crap come from?  That should no longer be our identity.

Philemon: “To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:”  (v1,2)
    We are loved, we are fellow workers, fellow soldiers . . . that sounds like we should be living out a mission . . .

II Peter: “To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” (v.1)           beloved
    we obtain faith by the righteousness of God  . . . I don’t understand all that, but I realize an implication of my faith not being dependent on me but on God’s righteousness and the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  

I John 5:1-2:  “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”
brothers, children . . .
II Jn. 1-2, 4: “The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: . . . I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.”
III Jn.  fellow workers for the truth

I’m going to do these together:  We believe that Jesus Christ was born of God--He is divine, not mere man who became God.  If we are born in the spirit (see John 3) of God, we will love Him and keep His commandments.  We should live in the truth, we should work for the truth.  Jesus identified Himself as the Truth (John 14:6).  

Jude: “To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:” (v.1)
    As the church, we are called, we are loved, and we are kept for Jesus.

    As the church, we are called to be saints--called to be holy, set apart.  We are loved by God, and we should live in love toward one another.  We are not merely called to be saved, but we have a mission, we have something to do down here.  We are part of a kingdom, and we should be advancing that kingdom.  Our king is God.  Our allegiance to His kingdom should supersede all other allegiances.  
Because this kingdom is under attack within and without, we should expect suffering, tribulation, if you will.  We need to walk faithfully, confident that God himself is the one who keeps us.  We need to live out His love and live in truth.  There is no room for lies.  Satan is identified as the Father of Lies (Jn. 8:44), that should not be where our identity is.
The church should be identified by love, faithfulness, truth, holiness.  We should have our identity in God, in Jesus Christ, and from Him should come our mission, our marching orders, if you will.  

    This is just a beginning.  I need to keep looking at this more, and I invite anyone who wants to to take up the identity of the church as a study to dig in and share. 

Pax Vobiscum

(Multiply Archives)
A couple of Sundays ago, I realized that I missed Wednesday, but thought well, I guess it's a good thing, because this has been an amazing weekend.  I kept on running into peace in the midst of everything.  Peace when the enemy attacks in Amos, peace in the midst of storms with Jesus (forget which gospel), and knowing the Peace Speaker (in song).  It really stood out that if our trust is in Jesus, even if we do not know what on earth (or sea) is going on, we can be at peace and confident, and if He has said that we are going to the other side, we are going to make it to the other side no matter how unlikely that seems in the moment.
So, it was Wednesday again.  Then Tuesday came and I knew what to write for Wednesday.  See, Micah has this piece (ch 7) where it basically says that you cannot trust anyone.  Then it says starting in verse 7, "Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.  Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.  I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness."
(emphasis added by me).
It comes back to trusting God.  Even when I know I've messed up, I can confidently turn back to God, because He is my light.  He even pleads on my behalf.  He brings me forth to the light and I behold His righteousness; and when that happens, I cannot help but be moved to desire to be purer, more like Jesus.

So, I'm sleepy, nothing new.

I'm sitting here processing the day in a loose sort of way.  Big Sleep and Case Study and Baptism and Info Tech fun-ness.  RFID.  What does that make you think of?  What comes to mind?  Do you have an emotional response?

What about Baptism?  Is it a singular occurrence, or is it something that can be repeated depending on circumstances?  Example: random person, raised Catholic, strayed from faith, decides to commit life to Christ, wants to be baptized.  Does the infant baptism count for something?  Is it a "questionable" practice?  Is a second baptism a good or bad idea?

That's all for this week.

Yes, I am going to make the effort to post once a week.  Oh, the baptism question was inspired by a conversation that I overheard in the library.  It was interesting.

Who'd have guessed?

From way back at Bethel

So, I sat down to supper with some cool people (Jocelyn, Mary-something?, and Kelsey Collins) and skittles was the topic.  We had a serious discussion about the order in which skittles are eaten and the flavours.  Jocelyn commented that it was the best discussion she'd had all day.  I thought to myself, "I just had an even better discussion in class--WAIT!  That was an education class!"  That never happens.  I should say "almost never happens," but this class is different.  We are not required to read the text book.  Dr. Able talks with us about the exceptionalities in a practical sort of way and encourages a lot of class discussion.  Today we were talking about gifted students and ways to help them.  I really think those students I have a particular passion for helping to learn beyond the curriculum.  Anyway, we discussed compacting of lessons.  (Give a pre-test, those who score above a certain level get to skip the grind work and do a related "enrichment" project instead).  After class, I talked with the teacher a bit more.

Here is the thing I think people should realize, giftedness is not necessarily just an inborn trait, it can be developed through an encouraging environment.  I think if more parents or other adults spent more quality time with young folk, working with them, playing with them, teaching them, they would develop the attributes associated with giftedness--intellectual curiosity, analytical and creative faculty, asking the questions, discovering answers, designing, researching, inventing, leading . . .

(I still think "giftedness" can be developed, as a teacher I see some students grow from seeming to be backwards at everything, to developing talents in particular areas, to doing well in much.)

What doesn't kill you . . . :-)

(Multiply Archives)

Recently, I finally finished a sort of “homework assignment from God.”  I felt led to read, reread, copy, reread I Peter.  It was a pretty big disciplining experience as well as an enlightening one.

One of the verses that strengthened my resolve in life said: “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

Here is the thing–”if necessary.”  Any difficulty that arises can not only be used for good(i.e. an opportunity to grow) they are necessary in life.  That awareness along with other verses from the same book (  “. . . Prepare your minds for action . . .” “all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.  . . . For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayers . . .”) Gave a new focus in my life.  I was strengthened in my internal battles against sin, and in my commitment to live for God.  They really go together.  I still trip at times, or become tired and start to drag my feet, but the point is to keep going.

A parallel in the physical world would be my martial arts class that I added on Thursday August 25.  It was hard work getting through the exercises they had us do.  I felt like falling down.  It was, leg lifts, fast as you can go! 20 seconds–10 second breath–drop push ups to the side, as many as you can, 20 seconds–10 second breath before–jump squats back and forward, 20 seconds–10 second breath–jump down sideways, into the air, down the other side, 20 seconds–10 sec. breath–one legged squats, 20 seconds, you can go faster–10 second breath–Do you get the point?  It was hard and fast and they kept us at it for 4 minutes, gave us a 1 minute break and had us going again, and so on until we had gone at least 15 minutes.  The ten second breaks were just long enough to make me realize how weak I was.  They lead us in stretches and then talked with us before dismissing us.  I felt wobbly and amazing, similar to when I realized that the blessing I inherit is the Creator’s personal attention.

Then I realized, I need to keep this up.  If I don’t, I’m going to be a pulp next time.  So Friday morning, I exercised with some roommates a bit.  I was terribly stiff and sore Friday night, but there was still the realization that this was a good thing.  The pain will not last forever, endurance will come.  The same goes for my spiritual life, and that is exciting.

So, now I'm reading Micah (re-reading), and tomorrow will be my second martial arts class.  My legs have just regained approximate normalcy.  Here's to continued growth!