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| Pastor Jesus |
It is an awesome experience to feel so welcome within a faith community that we invite others in. I believe this is what Christ intended: inviting, welcoming and encouraging others.
Though just a few short weeks ago her invitation might have offered a welcome respite, today my heart says Never!
I can't imagine life here on earth without Fellowship.
And Fellowship is difficult. Intimacy and transparency can be exhausting as we mix in our broken humanity: misunderstandings, mismatched personalities, old wounds and fresh pain.
In an effort to avoid hurting others, fragile-ME wants to be polite, which at some point causes human-ME to slink away in shame and self-doubt, which causes broken-ME to rage, which brings true-ME to my knees before my Creator – eventually.
I wish it didn't take so long.
I search desperately for someone else to blame.
On my knees before my Lord, I realize the biggest stumbling block is ME.
Submission is not an attitude nor a moment of decision. Submission is a journey.
As a writer I often envy Paul, his adventures recorded, his acts of faith read over centuries by millions of people exploring the New Testament. As a follower of Christ, I celebrate Paul's candid and human words:
When someone gets to the end of his rope,
I feel the desperation in my bones.
When someone is duped into sin,
an angry fire burns in my gut.
If I have to "brag" about myself,
I'll brag about the humiliations
that make me like Jesus ...
I crawled through a window in the wall,
was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.
—2 Corinthians 11:28-22 excerpt more
This past Sunday my friend and pastor knelt during our teaching, demonstrating a posture of submission. podcast
I celebrate his candidness and humanity, his willingness to kneel.
Though just a few short weeks ago I sought respite, today my heart says Never!
Fellowship is where I belong.
Rw
Illustration by David Hayward Pastor Jesus
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