We don't like to die. In fact, we avoid the end of life like it could kill us. But the core of the gospel message is that death is not the end, it is the beginning. The central moment of Christ's life isn't his triumphal entry into Jerusalem or his feeding of the 5,000, but his lonely death on the cross.
Why is this moment the climax of the gospel? Because it exhibits a love that is eternal, victorious, and powerful. By laying down our lives, we will find eternal life. Jesus puts it this way in John 12: "24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Do we believe this? Do we actually believe that if we try to survive we'll actually die and that if we lay down our life we'll actually live? Such a paradox takes tremendous faith in a God that we cannot see. Jesus had this faith with his own life and ministry. And his faithfulness was rewarded with the Resurrection. He laid down one life to take up another life. He had faith that dying was the gateway to living.
I believe the modern church has come to a time when it must choose to die if it is going to live. The mainstream institutional church must give up its current form and die if it has a chance of living in a new form down the road. But we must not die because it is our only way to live, we must die because we have a savior who died and He is also our Lord, Master, and Guide. We must die not just as individuals but as a church if we are to follow in the way of Jesus.
It will take tremendous faith for the church to realize that the most successful action it can take in the eyes of God is to lay down its life. We think that by avoiding death and preserving the church as we've known it is honoring God, but it is actually an act of faithlessness.
We must die to church being about us. We must die to a church with walls and beautiful buildings. We must die to a church that exists to meet the needs of the saints rather than equipping them for the work of ministry in the world. We must die to churches that are refugee camps for a people who are still fighting for a Christian culture rather than an alternative Kingdom. We must die to spending our money and energy on things that make us comfortable. We must die to the very way of doing church that many of us have come to call home over these last centuries.
But I believe that if we die to ourselves, we will find eternal life and the gospel will go on in ways we could have never imagined. The church that dies is the church that is resurrected. Do you believe in the Resurrection, Church?
Monday, June 4, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Failure of the Pastoral Role
I don't doubt that there are biblical and Godly reasons why certain persons should be in certain types of leadership in the Church. I've come to terms with the fact that hierarchy can be holy. But the way that the modern church has turned the office of a "Pastor" into a kind of all inclusive Christian role is simply wrong. Pastors and lay-persons are both responsible for maintaining this problem. For many who grow up in church in America, the pastor is expected to do a lot of things that I believe all Christians are supposed to do. In our modern institutional churches in the west, the pastor is expected to do the work of the church rather than lead the church. This distinction may seem insignificant, but I believe it is largely responsible for the disengagement and low commitment level of many congregations. Let me give you an example. "Pastor, why haven't you visited Mary in the nursing home yet? No one from our church has seen her since she arrived at the new facility." Visitation of the sick, dying, and bereaved has NEVER been a biblical role reserved for Elders in the body of Christ. If anything, it is a responsibility of all Christians. "I've stopped coming to Church because the pastor would just walk by me like I wasn't even there. She only greeted me once a month before worship." Keeping up personally with each individual in a large church is impossible for one person, but I have found people countless times who become inactive or leave the church altogether because "the pastor didn't really reach out to me". Aren't all Christians supposed to reach out to one another? Since when is it the expectation of one person to do what all Christians should be doing. Let me be clear, my issue is not that Clergy persons have too much to do (in fact I think we can get pretty lazy sometimes). My issue is that by taking on so many responsibilities that belong to the whole church, Pastors give everyone else excuses NOT to be Christians in their daily life. When I do the "rounds" at church, greeting persons and introducing myself and learning something about their life, I'm not trying to be a good pastor, I'm trying to model Christian behavior that we should all embody. When I visit the sick or comfort the grieving I'm not filling the tasks of an ordained elder, I'm showing other Christians how they too should care for their own. When I teach from the scriptures the truth of the gospel I'm not imparting some secret knowledge to a group of students, I'm exemplifying that a knowledge of the bible and its message is available to all. When Pastors are expected to do the work of the church (be the body of Christ by themselves), they become products for a needy people and eventually those churches will die. The only biblical and sustainable model for pastoral leadership is one where everyone is empowered to do the work of the church and no one person is expected to do it all.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
The Sunday Squash
Lately on Sunday mornings, I've been feeling like I'm trying to squeez the universe into a thimble. I want all of the transforming power and redeeming grace of God to be realized and avaliable during one hour of corporate worship. I want people to catupult into a life of faith that will leave them changed forever. I want to make disciples that will be agents of transformation in the world. This needs to happen between 11:00am and 12 noon on Sunday. "I may not have another chance! This is it! Most people who come will not have another time during their week (or month, or year) to spend an hour intentionally focused on Christ and their faith in Him. If it doesn't happen now, it won't happen." So my mind thinks as I come to worship each week.
But does God want me to feel this way about Sunday morning worship? Sure, I know that corporate worship is a holy time that holds great power for all who attend. I know lives can be changed in a moment and that coming together as a community is biblical. But I have a sense that I shouldn't be putting so much emphasis (and presure) on what turns out to be only one aspect of the Christian life. And it dawns on me, maybe the reason the extent of many people's Christian life is Sunday morning is because they've learned, like I have, that this is the moment of the week when "God Happens". What if the pressure to change lives and make disciples wasn't put so overwhelmingly on Sunday worship? What if that burden was shared properly among the other aspects of the life of faith that scripture and tradition charges us with? What if we made it clear each week during worship that it wasn't the most important part of being a Christian and that it wasn't the only (and primary) way to relate to Christ's Church. What if Christian leaders spent the time they spent on planning worship on gathering people into missional activity in their communty. What if the pinnical of our week wasn't Sunday but the days when we are building small groups and fostering one-on-one discipleship? What if we allowed Christian worship to be Christian worship and didn't try to make it evangelistic preaching or apostolic teaching? What if we didn't try to represent every element of community in that one hour? Would people look for more? Would they start asking for other ways to get involved if we stopped giving them the reader's digest version of everything? More likely, we have work to do. Work to emphasize disciple making and world-transforming rather than worship spaces, professional muscisians and excellent preaching. Maybe our work as Christian leaders is not to get more people to have a cursory encounter with God in a large group but to guide them, one by one, into meaningful and life-altering relationships with Christ through other people. Maybe we give up having the best show in town and instead work on making the best disciples and the most living church.
But does God want me to feel this way about Sunday morning worship? Sure, I know that corporate worship is a holy time that holds great power for all who attend. I know lives can be changed in a moment and that coming together as a community is biblical. But I have a sense that I shouldn't be putting so much emphasis (and presure) on what turns out to be only one aspect of the Christian life. And it dawns on me, maybe the reason the extent of many people's Christian life is Sunday morning is because they've learned, like I have, that this is the moment of the week when "God Happens". What if the pressure to change lives and make disciples wasn't put so overwhelmingly on Sunday worship? What if that burden was shared properly among the other aspects of the life of faith that scripture and tradition charges us with? What if we made it clear each week during worship that it wasn't the most important part of being a Christian and that it wasn't the only (and primary) way to relate to Christ's Church. What if Christian leaders spent the time they spent on planning worship on gathering people into missional activity in their communty. What if the pinnical of our week wasn't Sunday but the days when we are building small groups and fostering one-on-one discipleship? What if we allowed Christian worship to be Christian worship and didn't try to make it evangelistic preaching or apostolic teaching? What if we didn't try to represent every element of community in that one hour? Would people look for more? Would they start asking for other ways to get involved if we stopped giving them the reader's digest version of everything? More likely, we have work to do. Work to emphasize disciple making and world-transforming rather than worship spaces, professional muscisians and excellent preaching. Maybe our work as Christian leaders is not to get more people to have a cursory encounter with God in a large group but to guide them, one by one, into meaningful and life-altering relationships with Christ through other people. Maybe we give up having the best show in town and instead work on making the best disciples and the most living church.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Each One Sent
I've been talking about a dream for the church in which EACH person experiences the transforming power of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Each one Known
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Today I'll talk about the last element, Each one Sent:
When people are known by God and their family of faith and when they are fully accepted and loved in genuine relationships they begin to understand their value, giftedness and unique call by God. Upon the moment that such a call is heard and accepted, the natural and immediate result is for that person to be sent to fulfill it. Just because someone knows they have a calling, doesn't mean they have accepted the authority and responsibility of carrying that calling out. I've met many people who know what God has called them to do in life but have never been sent by the church to go and accomplish that calling. This may seem insignificant until we think about people's insecurity, hesitancy to act alone, and fear of seeming crazy ("God told me so!") or arrogant ("He wants to use me because I'm especially special!"). Believe it or not people need permission, affirmation, and authority to go and be who they are.
Once someones call is understood and accepted, it is the role of the Body of Christ to send (commission) that person to act and to covenant to support them in the living out of their call. Our concept of this is extremely limited in the mainstream church and it is a huge factor in why lay-leadership is such a problem in the local church.
To send someone is to do several things. First it tells the person that his/her calling is not just about him/her. Its about God and His mission in the world taking place through His people, the church. Secondly, sending someone tells them that they are a living, important, and unique part of that mission. Thirdly, sending people gives them the permission to act with the authority of a community behind them. It allows them to take risks, but also provides them accountability and support when the calling is not easy to live out.
Think about this, the very identity of the 12 disciples was defined by the fact that Jesus sent them to accomplish His mission in the world. The word "apostle" simply means "one who is sent". Who are we? We are the ones who are sent! We aren't the ones who came up with this mission or calling on our own but we come on behalf of one who holds unending love and power for the world that is here at our disposal through grace! The point of becoming a Christian is to become an apostle (lower case "a") and to be sent out to accomplish the mission of God in a unique way by using your own gifts, calling, and environment.
As the church we must Send people out and empower them to be all they are created to be. Every worship service should have a commissioning of "regular" Christians - A mother who is sent to be an apostle to her family and the mother's day out she works for. A retired man who is sent to be an apostle to his breakfast group, golf buddies, and grandchildren. An accountant who is sent to be an apostle to his firm, clients, and industry.
When we are known and loved we can be truly called and sent. This is one of God's dreams for the church!
Each one Known
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Today I'll talk about the last element, Each one Sent:
When people are known by God and their family of faith and when they are fully accepted and loved in genuine relationships they begin to understand their value, giftedness and unique call by God. Upon the moment that such a call is heard and accepted, the natural and immediate result is for that person to be sent to fulfill it. Just because someone knows they have a calling, doesn't mean they have accepted the authority and responsibility of carrying that calling out. I've met many people who know what God has called them to do in life but have never been sent by the church to go and accomplish that calling. This may seem insignificant until we think about people's insecurity, hesitancy to act alone, and fear of seeming crazy ("God told me so!") or arrogant ("He wants to use me because I'm especially special!"). Believe it or not people need permission, affirmation, and authority to go and be who they are.
Once someones call is understood and accepted, it is the role of the Body of Christ to send (commission) that person to act and to covenant to support them in the living out of their call. Our concept of this is extremely limited in the mainstream church and it is a huge factor in why lay-leadership is such a problem in the local church.
To send someone is to do several things. First it tells the person that his/her calling is not just about him/her. Its about God and His mission in the world taking place through His people, the church. Secondly, sending someone tells them that they are a living, important, and unique part of that mission. Thirdly, sending people gives them the permission to act with the authority of a community behind them. It allows them to take risks, but also provides them accountability and support when the calling is not easy to live out.
Think about this, the very identity of the 12 disciples was defined by the fact that Jesus sent them to accomplish His mission in the world. The word "apostle" simply means "one who is sent". Who are we? We are the ones who are sent! We aren't the ones who came up with this mission or calling on our own but we come on behalf of one who holds unending love and power for the world that is here at our disposal through grace! The point of becoming a Christian is to become an apostle (lower case "a") and to be sent out to accomplish the mission of God in a unique way by using your own gifts, calling, and environment.
As the church we must Send people out and empower them to be all they are created to be. Every worship service should have a commissioning of "regular" Christians - A mother who is sent to be an apostle to her family and the mother's day out she works for. A retired man who is sent to be an apostle to his breakfast group, golf buddies, and grandchildren. An accountant who is sent to be an apostle to his firm, clients, and industry.
When we are known and loved we can be truly called and sent. This is one of God's dreams for the church!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Each one Called
Each one Known
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Many churches have a strong emphasis on creating a "family feel". Kind of like the opening to "Cheers", church is a place where everybody knows your name. As the mainstream church, there is often some emphasis on knowing one another. Churches also seem to have a fairly healthy sense that they should love one another. We could do a lot better at this, but it is something I think most churches value to a great extent. These next two elements though are very under-valued and under-emphasized in the institutionalized church. This week I will look at the third element to a dream for the church. Let me talk a little about divine calling.
Every baptized member of the church universal has a divine call upon their life. Every person who has entrusted themselves into the care of Jesus Christ is called to full time ministry. Every Christian, every believer, every one who calls Jesus "Lord" is called by God to the work of realizing his Kingdom in their lives and in the world around them. Calling is not limited to vocation - job - career. A person can live out their calling in any job, setting, or environment. This calling emerges from the transformed life that results through conversion and discipleship. It is a calling that in many ways is common among all believers as far as its values and priorities. We are all called to love, to serve, and to live humbly. But each person has a unique calling that is tailored to use their passions, gifts, and personal relationships for the purpose of furthering God's Kingdom. Many Christians assume that a calling is some kind of anomaly reserved only for a select few. This is simply not true. Our Christian calling does not depend on our extra-ordinary talent or time availability. Every Christian is called by God to a life of service and love for God and their neighbor through everything they do.
One of the biggest obstacles for many Christians in realizing God's call on their lives is a sense that they are not worthy of being called. The mainstream church has recognized the call of Clergy persons and vocational ministries to such a degree that most "regular" Christians can't imagine that they too are called by God to full time ministry. Another obstacle is that many Christians don't feel like they know what it is they are called to. They cannot discern who God is calling them to be in the midst of their everyday lives. But I believe that if we seek in faith the reality that God is calling us and if we are open to hear that call in our lives through our own heart and through the community of faith, we will undoubtably hear the call.
We must encourage one another as Christians to understand and know that we are called. We are gathered as a community to affirm one another in our giftedness and passions. I believe that the body of Christ (the church) is not functioning properly unless each member is fully engaged in their calling. What if you are the leg that is not walking? What if you are the eye that is not seeing? What if you are the heart that is not beating?
Each one Loved
Each one Called
Each one Sent
Many churches have a strong emphasis on creating a "family feel". Kind of like the opening to "Cheers", church is a place where everybody knows your name. As the mainstream church, there is often some emphasis on knowing one another. Churches also seem to have a fairly healthy sense that they should love one another. We could do a lot better at this, but it is something I think most churches value to a great extent. These next two elements though are very under-valued and under-emphasized in the institutionalized church. This week I will look at the third element to a dream for the church. Let me talk a little about divine calling.
Every baptized member of the church universal has a divine call upon their life. Every person who has entrusted themselves into the care of Jesus Christ is called to full time ministry. Every Christian, every believer, every one who calls Jesus "Lord" is called by God to the work of realizing his Kingdom in their lives and in the world around them. Calling is not limited to vocation - job - career. A person can live out their calling in any job, setting, or environment. This calling emerges from the transformed life that results through conversion and discipleship. It is a calling that in many ways is common among all believers as far as its values and priorities. We are all called to love, to serve, and to live humbly. But each person has a unique calling that is tailored to use their passions, gifts, and personal relationships for the purpose of furthering God's Kingdom. Many Christians assume that a calling is some kind of anomaly reserved only for a select few. This is simply not true. Our Christian calling does not depend on our extra-ordinary talent or time availability. Every Christian is called by God to a life of service and love for God and their neighbor through everything they do.
One of the biggest obstacles for many Christians in realizing God's call on their lives is a sense that they are not worthy of being called. The mainstream church has recognized the call of Clergy persons and vocational ministries to such a degree that most "regular" Christians can't imagine that they too are called by God to full time ministry. Another obstacle is that many Christians don't feel like they know what it is they are called to. They cannot discern who God is calling them to be in the midst of their everyday lives. But I believe that if we seek in faith the reality that God is calling us and if we are open to hear that call in our lives through our own heart and through the community of faith, we will undoubtably hear the call.
We must encourage one another as Christians to understand and know that we are called. We are gathered as a community to affirm one another in our giftedness and passions. I believe that the body of Christ (the church) is not functioning properly unless each member is fully engaged in their calling. What if you are the leg that is not walking? What if you are the eye that is not seeing? What if you are the heart that is not beating?
Monday, April 16, 2012
Each One Loved
In the last post, I talked about a dream for the church in which each individual would be known in a real and holy way. Here are the four parts of that dream together:
Each one known
Each one loved
Each one called
Each one sent
Today, I'll talk a little more about what I mean by "each one loved".
It is one thing to have every person known in a real and holy way within a community of faith. It is another thing to have each one loved. Knowledge is a powerful thing. To know somone and to be known is actually quite awesome. Intimate and personal information, when it is known, can either be used for good or bad. Love is the law of the church and it insists that knowledge of a person be used to build that person up in faith. When we say that each one must be loved for a truly Christian community to exist, this doesn't mean that we have a warm feeling of favor and affection for each person at all times. Rather, each one loved means that we have as our culture the practice of love and respect for every person in the community. This love, at its height results in mutual affection and brotherly love as Paul puts it. This love is the new commandment given by Christ by the example of washing His disciples feet. Love sometimes means that boundaries and guardrails be placed in someone's life and in their relationships so harm cannot continue to be done to that person or others. Love does not mean always giving a person what they want or always making sure they are happy, love is seeking the best for each person in the wisdom of God.
The way that love can be shared among the family of God stems completely from the way we are loved by God first. If we do not have a strong sense of God's constant, everlasting, and powerful love for us, how can we have any source to love our neighbors? Only when we are standing on the reality of God's grace can we offer that grace to others without exausting our own emotional resources. The Christian community should have as its first priority a meditation and singular focus on God's love for each person. When we know that we are loved and when we know that our brother or sister is loved, it becomes natural and even easy to love others and be loved by them.
The other important emphasis of "each one loved" is that we cannot only love those who are easy to love. The scriptures are clear that if we only love those who love us, we are no better than the pagans. But if we love our enemy and those who are most difficult to love, it will be a testament that God's love is true and higher than human love. If you cannot honestly say that you are able to love your enemy or those whom you do not like, what power does God's mercy, forgiveness and grace have in your life? In the community of faith there will always be people we do not like who are not easy to love. These are the ones we focus on loving the most by praying for them, meditating on God's love for them, and remembering God's great love for us in the midst of our struggle with that person.
Each one known
Each one loved
Each one called
Each one sent
Today, I'll talk a little more about what I mean by "each one loved".
It is one thing to have every person known in a real and holy way within a community of faith. It is another thing to have each one loved. Knowledge is a powerful thing. To know somone and to be known is actually quite awesome. Intimate and personal information, when it is known, can either be used for good or bad. Love is the law of the church and it insists that knowledge of a person be used to build that person up in faith. When we say that each one must be loved for a truly Christian community to exist, this doesn't mean that we have a warm feeling of favor and affection for each person at all times. Rather, each one loved means that we have as our culture the practice of love and respect for every person in the community. This love, at its height results in mutual affection and brotherly love as Paul puts it. This love is the new commandment given by Christ by the example of washing His disciples feet. Love sometimes means that boundaries and guardrails be placed in someone's life and in their relationships so harm cannot continue to be done to that person or others. Love does not mean always giving a person what they want or always making sure they are happy, love is seeking the best for each person in the wisdom of God.
The way that love can be shared among the family of God stems completely from the way we are loved by God first. If we do not have a strong sense of God's constant, everlasting, and powerful love for us, how can we have any source to love our neighbors? Only when we are standing on the reality of God's grace can we offer that grace to others without exausting our own emotional resources. The Christian community should have as its first priority a meditation and singular focus on God's love for each person. When we know that we are loved and when we know that our brother or sister is loved, it becomes natural and even easy to love others and be loved by them.
The other important emphasis of "each one loved" is that we cannot only love those who are easy to love. The scriptures are clear that if we only love those who love us, we are no better than the pagans. But if we love our enemy and those who are most difficult to love, it will be a testament that God's love is true and higher than human love. If you cannot honestly say that you are able to love your enemy or those whom you do not like, what power does God's mercy, forgiveness and grace have in your life? In the community of faith there will always be people we do not like who are not easy to love. These are the ones we focus on loving the most by praying for them, meditating on God's love for them, and remembering God's great love for us in the midst of our struggle with that person.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Each One...
The next four posts will be about a dream I have for Christ's church. Actually, I don't think its my dream, I believe its God's dream revealed in scripture and put in my heart. The dream is simple but tremendously challenging: that EVERY believer who makes up the body of Christ would experience, practice, and embody 4 things...
1. Each one Known
2. Each one Loved
3. Each one Called
4. Each one Sent
1. Each one Known - I believe what sets the church apart from the world is that people are known and seek to know others in a real way. This begins with our primary relationship - the one with the Lord. If we were to intentionally focus on how deeply we are known by God each day, it would radically alter our attitudes and behaviors. God knows us because God made us inside and out. 1 Corinthians 13:12 describes heaven in this way - we will know fully, even as we are fully known. There will come a day when we will know God as deeply as God knows us! It is important to be in communication with the God who knows us far better than we know ourselves - this is how we constantly grow in self-awareness of our needs, our gifts, and our short-comings.
Being known doesn't stop with God. I believe that it is God's intention that we be known by others. By "being known" I don't mean recognizing an acquaintance, I mean being known deeply and personally by another human being. Most will only have a hand full of people who truly know them. Some people feel like no one ever really knows them. The community of Christians is built upon the premise that we will actually be known by other people outside our blood relatives and spouses. This is a scary prospect for many people. What if someone knows us and violates us? What if someone knows us and doesn't accept us? What if someone knows us and shares with others who we are before we want them to? These are all reasons (among a host of others) why we don't want people to know us. But I believe we cannot truly experience church the way God intended it until we are in a community where people knows us as we truly are. We are called to be real, be honest, and be vulnerable about who we are with people we can trust in faith.
Being known means we have to know others. It means that we have to have actively pursue with patience and compassion a deeper understanding and knowledge of other people with whom we share a faith covenant. The flip side of being known is knowing someone else. We often overlook the gravity that comes with truly knowing another person. When you know someone, their lives become unified with yours. When you know someone, you are compelled to care and be involved in their lives. When you know someone, you are entrusted with a part of them that is extremely valuable and fragile. But God intends us to know one another in the context of Christian community.
In order for the "Each one Known" element to work there must be communities of tremendous trust, care, sensitivity, and compassion that are built on the foundation of God's knowledge of each one of us. The only way we can be known and know others is by first understanding that we are known by God.
Are you in Christian fellowship in such a way that you truly know others in Christ and are known by them? Do you realize how well God knows you and are you actively seeking to know Him more?
1. Each one Known
2. Each one Loved
3. Each one Called
4. Each one Sent
1. Each one Known - I believe what sets the church apart from the world is that people are known and seek to know others in a real way. This begins with our primary relationship - the one with the Lord. If we were to intentionally focus on how deeply we are known by God each day, it would radically alter our attitudes and behaviors. God knows us because God made us inside and out. 1 Corinthians 13:12 describes heaven in this way - we will know fully, even as we are fully known. There will come a day when we will know God as deeply as God knows us! It is important to be in communication with the God who knows us far better than we know ourselves - this is how we constantly grow in self-awareness of our needs, our gifts, and our short-comings.
Being known doesn't stop with God. I believe that it is God's intention that we be known by others. By "being known" I don't mean recognizing an acquaintance, I mean being known deeply and personally by another human being. Most will only have a hand full of people who truly know them. Some people feel like no one ever really knows them. The community of Christians is built upon the premise that we will actually be known by other people outside our blood relatives and spouses. This is a scary prospect for many people. What if someone knows us and violates us? What if someone knows us and doesn't accept us? What if someone knows us and shares with others who we are before we want them to? These are all reasons (among a host of others) why we don't want people to know us. But I believe we cannot truly experience church the way God intended it until we are in a community where people knows us as we truly are. We are called to be real, be honest, and be vulnerable about who we are with people we can trust in faith.
Being known means we have to know others. It means that we have to have actively pursue with patience and compassion a deeper understanding and knowledge of other people with whom we share a faith covenant. The flip side of being known is knowing someone else. We often overlook the gravity that comes with truly knowing another person. When you know someone, their lives become unified with yours. When you know someone, you are compelled to care and be involved in their lives. When you know someone, you are entrusted with a part of them that is extremely valuable and fragile. But God intends us to know one another in the context of Christian community.
In order for the "Each one Known" element to work there must be communities of tremendous trust, care, sensitivity, and compassion that are built on the foundation of God's knowledge of each one of us. The only way we can be known and know others is by first understanding that we are known by God.
Are you in Christian fellowship in such a way that you truly know others in Christ and are known by them? Do you realize how well God knows you and are you actively seeking to know Him more?
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