Midweek Moment: September 16, 2020
Let’s be real; the world is a crazy place right now. It almost seems as though whenever you think “there can’t be anything else,” 2020 throws something new and intense into the mix. Whether it’s wildfires, or hurricanes, or social/political issues, or racial injustice.
The temptation for Christians in these moments can sometimes be to think in terms of a “sacred/secular divide” whereby we treat our apprenticeship to Jesus as limited to the overtly spiritual parts of our lives like prayer, Bible study, and worship. Meanwhile, our views and engagement on issues like parenting, relationships, career and vocation, disaster relief, and justice are more-or-less uninfluenced by our faith. This is the way Christianity has operated in the west for many, many years, and it’s easy to see why: By separating the various segments of life from following Jesus we avoid any sense of cognitive dissonance when these two worlds conflict. And yet, I believe that the invitation of Jesus for us is toward something more life-giving and more integrated.
In midst of the turmoil of this year, our world is in desperate need of followers of Jesus whose faith permeates every part of their life; where the way of Jesus – as we find it expressed in the Sermon on the Mount – becomes our primary framework for navigating life (see Trinity’s 2018 teaching series for more on this). When that happens, the family of God goes from being a group of individuals who coincidentally assent to some shared beliefs to a transformative agent of change.
In the New Testament, we find communities deeply formed by the way of Jesus. They were radically committed to one another, to healthy relationships, to generosity, to standing with the hopeless and marginalized, and to see the values of the Kingdom of God be made real in their time.
My hope and prayer as we head into the last part of 2020, is that we – the Trinity Church family – would live these same values, and practice the way of Jesus with the same vigor.
-Andy