I have been married for nearly twenty years. I love my wife. I am not oblivious to the fact that there are other beautiful women out there. Even now, writing this from a table in Panera using free wi-fi, there are several in view. But I love my wife. I remain committed to her.
Over the years our relationship has taken many twists and turns. Job changes, career changes, careers disruptions, moves, kids – all the normal stuff of life, but all stuff we went through as we sought to live our lives together in relationship with each other. When we were first married I had a full head of hair. Now...well, I don’t. We’ll just leave the discussion there.
And speaking of hair my wife has had more than a few hairstyles. Short, long, spiked, bobbed. Red, blonde, brown, streaked. So I’m losing my hair while she’s making fashion statements with hers. I suppose that’s just.
But deep below the level of the hair and the places we have lived and the careers we have held has been a relationship. A relationship we continue to live in. A relationship that binds us together. One of the great secrets of this success has been the ability to pull in the same direction. To realize that we only succeed when we succeed together.
I have been a follower of Jesus for a very long time. Probably my whole life. Like many in the American Church I did the whole public deal as a young child. At an evangelistic rally no less. Sometimes it feels a little too cliché. But I have never thought of myself as anything other than a follower of Jesus.
Over the years the words that I used to describe this relationship may have changed, grown, evolved, devolved, revolutionized, emerged. I have been a “Christian”, “born again”, “disciple”, and probably lots of other words that time has erased from the front of my memory. But I have always sought to live in relationship with this Church.
I love the marriage metaphors for the Church that are found in scripture. John’s Revelation hearkens the image of a Bride at a marriage supper. In The Parable of the Wedding Banquet contained in Matthew 22 Jesus calls on relational imagery to give people a sense of this new “kingdom”, this new work of God to which he was calling people.
These metaphors are consistent with an overall scriptural theme of community. Throughout the pages of scripture God is calling a people. These people are to live in faithful relationship with God, in faithful relationship with scripture and yes, in faithful relationship with each other.
This call to relationship, to live in faithful union, is deeply ingrained into the gospel message. The desire to be in relationship should be a defining sign for every follower of Jesus. Yes, stuff happens. Like our other relationships, a web of complex issues come together to challenge the manner in which we live in communion with all those who are seeking to remain committed to following God in the Way of Jesus.
I can’t begin to address all the things that might tear us apart here in this short post. We will definitely seek to talk about those in subsequent posts, so stayed tuned. I do realize that there are great issues at work in the Church today, issues that are using up a significant amount of our time and effort. But my hope and prayer for today is that, below the level of the issues that divide us, we will seek to be bound together by words like Paul’s, when he wrote to the Corinthians and said, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Cor 12:26).
Over the years our relationship has taken many twists and turns. Job changes, career changes, careers disruptions, moves, kids – all the normal stuff of life, but all stuff we went through as we sought to live our lives together in relationship with each other. When we were first married I had a full head of hair. Now...well, I don’t. We’ll just leave the discussion there.
And speaking of hair my wife has had more than a few hairstyles. Short, long, spiked, bobbed. Red, blonde, brown, streaked. So I’m losing my hair while she’s making fashion statements with hers. I suppose that’s just.
But deep below the level of the hair and the places we have lived and the careers we have held has been a relationship. A relationship we continue to live in. A relationship that binds us together. One of the great secrets of this success has been the ability to pull in the same direction. To realize that we only succeed when we succeed together.
I have been a follower of Jesus for a very long time. Probably my whole life. Like many in the American Church I did the whole public deal as a young child. At an evangelistic rally no less. Sometimes it feels a little too cliché. But I have never thought of myself as anything other than a follower of Jesus.
Over the years the words that I used to describe this relationship may have changed, grown, evolved, devolved, revolutionized, emerged. I have been a “Christian”, “born again”, “disciple”, and probably lots of other words that time has erased from the front of my memory. But I have always sought to live in relationship with this Church.
I love the marriage metaphors for the Church that are found in scripture. John’s Revelation hearkens the image of a Bride at a marriage supper. In The Parable of the Wedding Banquet contained in Matthew 22 Jesus calls on relational imagery to give people a sense of this new “kingdom”, this new work of God to which he was calling people.
These metaphors are consistent with an overall scriptural theme of community. Throughout the pages of scripture God is calling a people. These people are to live in faithful relationship with God, in faithful relationship with scripture and yes, in faithful relationship with each other.
This call to relationship, to live in faithful union, is deeply ingrained into the gospel message. The desire to be in relationship should be a defining sign for every follower of Jesus. Yes, stuff happens. Like our other relationships, a web of complex issues come together to challenge the manner in which we live in communion with all those who are seeking to remain committed to following God in the Way of Jesus.
I can’t begin to address all the things that might tear us apart here in this short post. We will definitely seek to talk about those in subsequent posts, so stayed tuned. I do realize that there are great issues at work in the Church today, issues that are using up a significant amount of our time and effort. But my hope and prayer for today is that, below the level of the issues that divide us, we will seek to be bound together by words like Paul’s, when he wrote to the Corinthians and said, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Cor 12:26).
