Belovedness and a countercultural community

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. - Exodus 20-16

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. - Philippians 2:3

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. -1 Peter 2:1–3

The church is called to be a sign, foretaste, agent and instrument of God’s reconciling love and forgiveness. - Missional Church, Darrell Guder

Hi Everybody

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be a people who live differently, have different values and different ethics than the world. God calls us to be a culture within a culture, a countercultural community in the way of Jesus. Before Jesus followers were called Christians, they were merely said to be of "The Way." That is, the way of Jesus. The Way stood out. The Way was different. Not because of what they were against, but because of what they were for. The Way stood out because of how they loved one another and how they loved those who were not people of The Way.

Similarly, followers of Jesus today are called to be a people of The Way, to be a countercultural community that together tries to figure out how to actually live out the ways of Jesus. This is the heart of discipleship. It is difficult -- if not impossible -- to be a disciple of Jesus alone. It takes a community. One of the things I love about Creekside is that we are a people who strive to be a community of people committed to be on this journey together. Over the past several weeks, we have seen the reality (and the difficulty) of this countercultural journey in our call to seek restoration instead of anger, to seek relationship and not lust, and most recently to seek the good of others, before our own. These are admittedly difficult things that are only possible to do if as part of our rhythm of living this way we continually seek to connect to the love of Jesus Himself. It is His love that changes us, it is His love -- the Bible says -- that allows us to really love at all. Connecting to our belovedness by God, however, is not just a Sunday thing. We are so often bombarded by things that distract us that we must return regularly to this well of love if we are to have any hope of living out the type of life we are called to live out.

So, a few of questions:

-Do you feel that you are able to enter into the belovedness of God?
-If so, what practices are helpful to you in doing so?
-What questions do you have about entering into the belovedness of God?
-Whom do you know who can help you to develop a rhythm of entering into the belovedness of God?
-In what ways is God calling you toward a more countercultural way of life?

Jesus invites us into His love and then through that, to be a countercultural community that shines like a signpost of the Kingdom of God, reflecting the image of the King. He does not intend this journey to be a burden, but rather a joy. Jesus says, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:9–11). I am daily excited to be a part of this joyous journey with each of you.

Peace, hope and love

Doug