Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Building True Community

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (19) My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, (20) let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

James 5:16, 19-20

Last Sunday we talked about what would happen is we actually started doing this: confessing our sins to one another, praying for one another, and rescuing one another. Do we want this? What would this look like?

Many of us have been burned with heavy-handed "discipleship" methods based on legalistic accountability without true community. The thought of confessing our sins sounds raw, uncomfortable, legalistic, and dangerous. But what if looked like something different?

What if we saw ourselves as "traveling-companions on a great spiritual adventure, not grim pilgrims on a death march to personal holiness"? We would be, as Nate Larkin says, "A fellowship of Christians who are serious about authenticity, community, humility and recovery - serious, but not grave.", A community of fellow travelers who, "…challenge each other daily to believe the incredible news that God actually knows us, loves us, and has restored us to himself. As we follow Christ together, we find our lives progressively interrupted by righteousness, peace and joy."

The gospel tells us that we are weaker and more sinful than we ever before believed, but, through Christ, we more loved and accepted than we ever dared hope. When we walk in the light of the gospel, we fight sin, not so that God won't scold us and rub our noses in it. No, Christ was immersed in "it", so that we would never have to bear guilt and shame again. In Christ we are restored to our true Father, who will never turn us away.

We fight sin because we desire greater intimacy with God. We fight sin because we desire authenticity. We fight sin because we don't want to walk in self-deception. We fight sin because God is (slowly!) restoring in us all that was lost in the Fall. And we fight together because we know our weaknesses.

So set confession, prayer, and rescue in "the friendly confines" of true gospel-centered community, a band of brothers/sorority of sisters with whom we can walk in honesty, authenticity, humility, and joy!

The well wisher of your soul's happiness,

Pastor Tom

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