I was just at a young life leader weekend. As always we talked about community, what it means to accept others, beyond their failings, and what it means to show kids the life Jesus came to show to us. Finishing that weekend off I read something from Velvet Elvis written by Rob Bell. It begins to identify what I believe the starting points of a "Christian" community should be. So here's the quote:
"...To begin, Christians are people learning who they are in Christ. We are being taught about our new identity. Do you see how deeply this new identity affects the life of a community? I heard a teacher say that if people were taught more about who they are, they wouldn't have to be told what to do. It would come naturally. when we see religious communities spending most of their time trying to convince people not to sin, we are seeing a community that has missed the point. The point isn't sin management. The point is who we are now."
I think that's what attracted me to Young Life in the first place. The idea that we accept people for who they are when we meet them, not who we think they could become. We walk with them, and through our interactions with our community, we show others around us what it means to be a "little Christ".
Oh and another good metaphor for the distinction between trying to sell Christianity vs just showing it to people and letting what they see speak for itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPKtBM99kAc&feature=player_embedded
vs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdsmh6gBB9Q&feature=related
which one would you rather display...or more to the point, which one would you rather others observed from you?
No comments:
Post a Comment