Transformation - Day 20

"Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone." - Colossians 4:5-6

What's your identity?  Who are you at your core?  When "push comes to shove," when "the chips are down," when you find yourself "in the middle of the storm,"  who comes out?

Paul says 'live wisely among those who are not believers."  Be a positive witness.  There is an assumption on Paul's part with these Colossians.  The whole letter assumes it.  You are Christ's.  You are more Christ's than male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile.  Your first identity is Christian and everything else flows out of that reality.

Would you say this is true of you?

Is your first call to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ? or a Raven's fan? an American? a republican? a democrat, mother? father, white, black? hispanic? asian? heterosexual or gay?  Methodist? Baptist?  When you are at work, does your job description call you to be other than a follower of Christ?

I remember in college and when I was a civilian engineer for the Navy, when surrounding by non-believers, I didn't always "live wisely," times when I compromised my faith in order to fit it in.  Today, my call as pastor forces me to think more about my life in Christ - my ambassadorship - and this is grace to me.  But I still have my moments, when the stress comes or the situation is beyond my control and I don't "make the best of every opportunity."

But I know who I am at my core.  I am a husband, West Virginian, a father, brother, son, former engineer, Methodist, independent, evangelical . . . .  But first and foremost, I am a follower of Jesus Christ and everything else about me, flows out of this reality.  If I have any hope of "living wisely," "making the most of every opportunity," "having gracious and attractive conversations," then I must first be connected to Christ where ever I am, whatever I am doing.  

A follower of Christ at the core.  May that be true of you and I.

Transformation - Day 1

"This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace." - Colossians 1:1-3.

"Chosen by the will of God to be . . " How many of us would make such a bold declaration of identity? I wonder how this would change our lives if we could discern such a calling? Paul was in prison when he wrote these words. He was in prison because God chose him. He could put up with the lousy living arrangements because God chose him. (This from a guy who was, at one point, on the fast track toward the inner political circle in Jerusalem.)

What would your life be like if you truly knew your identity and vocation in Christ?

Jim, chosen by the will of God to be an accountant for Jesus Christ. . .

Debbie, chosen by the will of God to be a teacher for Jesus Christ . . .

Pat, chosen by the will of God to be an engineer for Jesus Christ . . .

or on another front

Stan, chosen by the will of God to be a good husband to Michelle . . .

You get the picture. How would this way of living/thinking change everything in your life and in our world?

Today, as we start this 21 day experiment in Colossians, KNOW that God has called you and is calling you. He is calling you at the very least to be "God's holy person" - a faithful brother or sister in Christ. (note and do not take lightly that this is how Paul addressed the Christians he was writing to in Colosse.)

Reflect on the weight of these words. What does it mean to be holy? to be faithful?

You have been chosen by God. God wants to change your heart and my heart - to give us identity and purpose that will keep us grounded when life isn't all fun and comfortable. Holy. Faithful. Brothers and Sisters.

Transformation starts in the heart of one.

(comments and reflections welcome - let's share to build one another up)

Transformation Series Bumper Video from Community Christian Church on Vimeo.

natural frequency

exponential conference 2008 - the day after

just got back from Orlando, FL at a church planters conference - three intense days of sessions, seminars and networking all geared around connecting church planters and reproducing churches to new ideas (and old ones), techniques, and technologies (plenty of vendors). one of the sessions was on blogging (why i'm here at blogger) but that's not why I write.

the conference was a lot like drinking water from a fire hydrant - ideas and competing ideas and (really) far too much stuff for my ADD brain to handle. one of the first sessions was on the tension between being an attractional church (build it and "they" will come) and an incarnational church ("they" won't come so we must hangout with "them") i wish i could unpack this because of course it is not nearly this simple and tidy and i don't like us-them thinking.

but what i did want to get at was this sense of who i (and my team) resonated with. being a former engineer, i've always been fascinated with the idea of natural frequency - that everything has a frequency at which at which it likes to vibrate (go into a bathroom stall and hum at various pitches until you hit a pitch where the stall starts to join you in song (i wouldn't recommend doing this when others are in the bathroom too)). you get the same affect from plucking a guitar string and having another vibrate or watch the youtube video of the Tacoma Bridge collapse. . .

(remember that video from high school physics? only one small dog was lost in the shooting of this video.)


anyway . . . back to the conference . . . i found myself really resonating with Alan Hirsch, Neil Cole, Andy Stanley, John Burke, Tim Keller, and Larry Osborne (almost forgot - Vince Antonucci.) and really going flat with others (even Rick Warren). i wonder if this had anything to do with personality and preferences, maybe theological bias, or whether just somewhere, deep in my soul, this is who God wired me to be and these speakers speak to the kind of church God is calling me to plant. they "struck a chord" - my natural frequency. we had three members of our core team there as well (a female clergy and lay couple) and they need to share their experiences as well.

so broke the first rule of blogging - keep it short - but hey, it's my first time.