A Redeemed Barbarian’s Cookbook.
I am reading a book called Saturated. The author, like me,
is a bit of a barbarian, what I mean is that he has a tendency like me to be an
initiator and to drive things forward, sometimes without a regard for cooler
heads, prayer and the wisdom of experience.
I am having too often painfully at times, learn that
Christianity is fundamentally about a change of identity. It’s all about
becoming who you are in Christ. So as my mind wrestles with being a Christian
and doing Christian things, being the barbarian I am, I often do Christian
things without regard for who I am in Christ. This is probably the biggest
lesson I have learnt this year. God wants me to be his child, he wants to hold
me and he wants to work through me.
In thinking about establishing a mission community in a 70%
Muslim area my mind jumps to the obvious things, establish a core group, move
into the area and find people to share the Gospel and demonstrate the gospel
to.
But thanks to the kind intervention of godly Christians I
have come to realise that while all those things are important and need to be
done. First and foremost, I need to understand what it means to be a follower
of Jesus and how I have fundamentally been changed because Jesus, lived died and
rose again.
I am a Christian first and knowing that changes all I do.
Now you may be asking yourself, but Clint you have Degree in Theology and have
worked for 9 years in church leadership surely you understand your identity in
Christ? You can read some of the biblical language words, you have done
systematic theology ect . You have run all the programs in a church. You have
started new programs.
But as I think as Saturated has challenged
me to think listen this Quote ‘Jesus Saturation-Jesus is filling every place
with his presence through normal, everyday people in everyday stuff of life.
THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOD’S VISION FOR HIS PEOPLE. See in some senses the
reformation did not go far enough, it still maintains a false distinction
between the clergy and the laity.
So do I just let go and let God.
I really detest this statement because it means I can just sit on my hands a
wait for a still small voice like the women who would not leave the house if
God did not tell her which sock to put on. But I never realised as I went to minister’s
meetings and we all asked each other how the ministry was going instead of
praising God for what he was doing with my friends instead I was in my mind
proud of all I was doing for God and how blessed I was compared to others! My
gospel at that point was God is happy with me because of all I am doing for
him. It’s at this meeting that a friend said to me he was so glad I was putting
my stamp on my ministry?!
I need to be more like one person
i am hoping God will include in my core group she says she can't imagine God
using her because she does not know the Bible well and is a struggling
Christian. What she does not realise is that God will use us weak as we are for
his purposes in the everyday stuff of life. And we are all weak made bold by
his grace alone.
Another Older couple says
something like this, We don’t have the energy for this Missional community. I
really hope God gives people like that to me to Shepard because its people who
know that they are weak that I want around me and the family.
Please pray for:
My family as we are the core of
this missional community at the moment.
Pray for a focus of Jesus and
ordinary people for me Clint.
Pray that my traveling to the UK
will develop partnership with Jesus at the centre . (26 November to 3 December).
Pray that God would show me My
weakness as a Father, Husband and undershepard.
Pray that I would be bold for God
in all I do.
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