Erik Raymond:
As Paul says in Colossians, “Christ is all, and in all.”
This is it. It is Christ. My motive for relationships with other believers should be Christ and my desire for our time together should be the pleasure of Christ. If I have somehow flipped this on its head, replacing Christ and his pleasure for my own then I am a flaming idolater, worthy of a hearty rebuke. This idolatrous inversion is seen clearly in many church cliques but more subtly in our use of time in relationships.
The burden is to be Christ-Centered and Gospel-Boasting in everything with everyone. We should see our relationships, ranging from the close intimate friendships to perhaps the more casual relationships in our congregations, with the priority of making much of Christ, magnifying his power by preserving and promoting unity in him.
If you have a tendency to be a ‘cliquey’ person, then get over yourself and fall in love with Christ. Trumpet his unity producing gospel. It is far more biblically attractive to huddle together at the monument of grace, in the name and identity of Christ instead of the Babel of self. If you are not being intentional about relationships, make it a priority to exalt Christ with what you have eternally in common with folks. This will no doubt forge greater humility and love in Christ.
Read the whole post.
No comments:
Post a Comment