It will probably take me a little while to process all that was Passion 2013. It was a four day experience crammed with so much... My mom, who does read my blog, has warned me that I have gone against my promise to keep blog entries short. So I hereby resolve to fix that, at least for now.
What did I learn?
First, I must start with the issue of justice and slavery. There are more slaves in the world today than at any time in history. We do not want to be the generation that lets this slide. We want to be able to tell our grandchildren that we fought for the things worth fighting for.
Fighting slavery is a no-brainer. Jesus teaches us to do to others what we want done to us. If I was a slave, I would definitely want someone to come help me find freedom.
How can the world believe that God exists if there are 27 million slaves? Does God care? Yes, he does care. And his people is the means he has chosen to use. He saved us, not so that we could sit fat, happy, rich and religious, but so that we might do good.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
Second, I was reminded of the trustworthiness of God's Word. We can lean on it. Because it is God who has spoken we can trust it as true. As his people, we should tune our ears to listen to him, and we should base our life on his Word. He has guaranteed these promises with his blood. I want to build my house on the Rock.
Third, I was encouraged to pursue justice uniquely in the freedom that comes from trusting God's promises. What holds me back from fully loving others? It is fear and selfishness. It is fear that I will die or that I will lose my comfortable future or that my life will be ruined in some unspeakable way.
But God's Word, which is trustworthy, tells me of a future and reward to look forward to. I am going to be in heaven with Jesus, and I will be given a new resurrected body like his, and I will worship in ways higher and better than I ever have, and the God who created the worlds will lead me into new mysteries, and there will be things to do and people to rejoice with. There will be no more tears, sorrow, pain, boredom, or death. And at the center of it all will be the lion-like lamb who purchased it all with his blood because he is worthy. These are promises I can bank on. These are the promises that free me.
When I really believe these promises, the puny things I live for and trust in pale in comparison. This is faith! I begin to count fellowship with Christ as worth far more than any other imagined gain. Trusting in the promises of God by the power of the Spirit is what sanctifies and frees me from sin. And as I experience freedom from sin and doubt and despair, I become more available and usable in the pursuit of justice and the world-wide sharing of the Gospel. My community group leaders said that the most powerful version of someone is that person fully convinced that God loves them.
Fourth, I do not simply want to do good things. And I don't simply want to know the Bible better. And I don't simply want to aim at believing the Bible. All of these are essential and good. But God is at the center of things. How can I really experience Christ in my life? How can I experience his presence? How can I find my prayer life invigorated and real?
Jesus said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
It is in the context of going and making disciples that Jesus promises his presence. If we do not feel close to God, we are probably not trying very hard to make disciples. Making disciples places us outside of our comfort zone so that we must depend on God to show up. And that is good.
Finally, this is not to be done alone. Community is at the heart of reality because God is a community. God is three-in-one, both unity and diversity, neither overtaking the other. What mystery! The purpose of reality as we know it is to make God known in his goodness and glory. We were created to glorify God. He has made us his image bearers, so that we, in a unique way, show forth God's glory to creation. If God is a community and we are made in his image, community is at the heart of our very purpose and identity - to make his glory known in a Triune and communal way.
Practically, I have found that community also happens best when we have something to do, something to get us going. I am close to people that I have experienced things with. I am close to people I would not have anticipated being friends with simply because we have worked to accomplish something together. Mission creates authentic community. Community as a means of encouragement helps us in the mission. For Christians this makes sense, because we find in the other person the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, so we have a unique power to encourage each other if we will allow it. Especially as we allow the trustworthy promises of God to be what is resting on our hearts and leaving our tongues.
Set free by the blood of Christ, we are a community who has been sent on mission, resting together on God's promises and the reward to come, to proclaim with our lives the Good News of God's Kingdom in all that it means, which includes freedom for those who have been enslaved - both physically and spiritually. Let us live worthy of the Gospel.
Most of those thoughts came from Passion, some from connections in my own head, but I hope you are challenged and edified.
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