I spent some time this weekend with some friends in Birmingham, AL. In my spare time I continued reading a book called the next Christians that we’ve been going through in our weekly community group. In this book,I came across the authors preliminary description of what the next Christians, the Restorers, will be like, or rather, what set’s them apart. Gabe Lyons lists these traits as:
Provoked, not offended
Creators, not critics
Called, not employed
Grounded, not distracted
In Community, not alone
Countercultural, not relevant
We’ve (my wife and I) recently joined a larger church in our area. There are well over 1,000 people in attendance at the service we attend. It is easy to just attend church and blend in with the crowd. In order to prevent people from feeling disconnected, we have weekly small groups. It’s a good chance to be around young married couples our age, and young professionals experiencing things the same way we are. The implementation of small groups by our church is the only way someone could possibly connect to others. It’s easy to not pursue community, and to not be involved in serving others. But I’ve been encouraged to do so more now than ever.
What does this have to do with anything? During my short two day stay in Birmingham, I met a few people that my friend introduced me to. People he sees on a regular basis, and that he would call friends. In the short time I spent with them, it was evident many of the characteristics that stood out to me in the book, were a part of their everyday lives. It was encouraging to see people who demonstrated such a strong sense of community and love for others. Their love for others was well demonstrated: in taking people into their homes, serving the homeless, and their plans to spread the Word of God and His love to the world, not just Birmingham.
As I think about Holy week, in particular Maundy Thursday and the final commandment of Christ to the disciples:
that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34
I hope that my life will begin to more reflective of this love, that I will be more grounded than ever in His Word, and that I will continue to pursue community with others and not stay caught up with my own needs and wants.
As a side note, one of the guys I met in Birmingham is on his way to Africa very soon. You can check out what Ben is doing there at The Desk Project.
