How People Change 5

This chapter reiterated what God has taught me in the past year especially, but in the last 3-7 years, really. Community is important!!!!

I was challenged by the list of obstacles Lane and Tripp wrote of why we don't do community.

I think there's a little of all of the items listed inside of me, but the main one that jumped out at me at this point in my life is the selfish one-- always wanting my needs met. That uncovers unrealistic expectations that I have as well as impure motives for serving others in community. In the depths of my heart, I really just want to GET something out of the deal, whether that be affirmation of my worth, a good reputation, praise, or a favor returned.

This is something God has been convicting me of recently, and in light of this chapter, I see how much it affects the body of Christ and my growth in the body of Christ. Lord, make me selfless and purify my motives to love and serve your body well without expecting anything in return.

Chapter 5: Change is a Community Project

Living in the Tension

“At one level we want friendships. At another level we don’t want them! In creation, we were made to live in community, but because of the fall, we tend to run from the very friendships we need. Quite often, our longing for them is tainted by sin. We pursue them only as long as they satisfy our own desires and needs” (65).

Friendships and Personal Change

“God has a bigger…messier and less efficient plan….change is something God intends his people to experience together. It’s a corporate goal. What God does in individuals is part of a larger story of redemption that involves all of God’s people through the ages” (66).

Living in Community Like God Himself

“…the most important reason for community is the reality that God Himself lives in community!” (67)

God is love. He is infinite. He is all-sufficient. And He is unchangeable and eternal. Therefore, His love is also all of those things. His love is perfect within the Trinity, and He’s extended that to us—“…the souls of the ransomed may bathe with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it were, be deluged in love!” (67)

In Eph 4, Paul “urges the church to be vigilant to keep the unity of the Spirit; he does not tell them to create it, because it is already a fact” (68).

“Paul grounds this call to community in the redemptive work of the Trinity. Notice how the word one is used in verses 4-6. Each use is attached to a member of the Trinity. There is one Spirit at work in the body. There is one Lord through whom we have one hope, faith, and baptism. There is one Father who is over one family, the church. All of the blessings are ours because of what the Trinity has done in creation and redemption” (68).

Gen 15: God promises to keep the covenant with Abram—a self-maledictory oath. “God is saying, ‘If I don’t keep my end of the bargain, may I be ripped asunder!’ Over two thousand years later, God the Son hung on a cross, crying out, ‘My God, My God, why have we been ripped asunder?’ God allowed what should have happened to us to happen to Jesus. We were the ones who failed, yet the triune God was torn asunder so that we might be united to him and to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. The perfect love, unity, and joy that existed between the Father, Son, and Spirit were demolished, for a time, for our sake. This is the ground on which we build all relationships. Every time you are tempted to shun another believer, remember that the Father, Son, and Spirit were torn asunder so that you might be united” (69).

Belonging to God’s Family

We read the Bible through individualistic lenses, missing the social and communal realm of the entire Bible. Plural “you” in many cases, referring to God’s people as a whole. For example, Rom 12:1-2—present your bodies (plural) a living sacrifice (singular)—every member of the church corporately makes up one living sacrifice

What are some common obstacles that hinder redemptive relationships from developing in our lives?

-       busyness

-       shallow relationships

-       church activities with no real engagement in people

-       ministering to others without letting them minister to you

-       wanting only to receive and have your needs met

-       replacing relationship with theology/intellectualism

God’s system of bringing about change in our lives is messy and seems inefficient, but His way is always best, and His way is in the context of community.

Being Loved as a Family

“When we gather to share our stories, we see a different aspect of the diamond that is the love of Christ. Together, our understanding and experience of God’s infinite love becomes fuller, stronger, and deeper” (73).

“The gospel is not only more clearly perceived and experienced within community; it is the basis for the community!” (74)

Purified as a Family

“The ultimate goal of God’s grace is an active, healthy, unified body of believers, a full-fledged family freed from sin and its slavery. It is this people, purified and zealous for good works, that is God’s precious inheritance” (75).

“One good way to determine your gifts is to ask yourself where you see weaknesses in the body. It is highly likely that you see these weaknesses because you are looking at the church through the lens of your gifts. Where you see weakness is probably the very place where God wants you to serve your brothers and sisters” (77).

The Sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper play a huge role in uniting and purifying us together as a body.