Who Are We? – 3/12/2017

WARNING PREACHY…  (unedited with bad grammar, incomplete and likely not very good - I hope you enjoy)

I just returned from a conference of minsters, it was a great time of seeing old friends and fellow workers for the faith.  The messages are always excellent because unlike the regular Sunday morning sermon at church, the speakers are not required to speak words for the unsaved but rather are free to boldly to the saved.  The alter-calls have a different purpose in these meetings.

This week started with two questions; “Who are we? And “Where are we going?”  The question addressed the churches, as they worked together, but also dealt with people individually as specific Christians.  While all the speakers dealt with this question in some way, the very first presentation gave the answer that hit home the most.

Who are we and where are we going?

Quite simply, who we are is a matter of identity and our identity is not something that we decide but rather is something that we receive.  Not what we decide but what we receive.

Matthew 9:14-15

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

We (the church) are the Bride of Christ because Jesus called himself the Bridegroom.  Simply, the reality of our identity is in relation to Him, and can only be determined in relationship with Him.  While the conference was dealing mainly with the identity of the church on the local and global scales, the reality of our individual identity being received from Christ is already determined and something we must receive from Jesus.

This has a huge impact.

As the Church, we are not free to determine our own corporate culture but rather we are to patiently wait on Jesus to inform us of what we shall be. (Acts 1:4)  Too often, however, we decide what we would like to be, what makes us feel best about ourselves, and what direction best fits our own theological and biblical ideals, and as a church we then develop ourselves.  Unfortunately, we as a church have become so consumed by our culture that we operate the church like any other man made business. 

Do you feel the rebuke?  Yeah, me too, and if the rebuke to our churches stings a little then the rebuke to us as individuals is more painful I think.

So the question for you and me is; who are we?  Are we persons who have decided our own identities or have we received our identities from the Jesus who’s influence is determined from the cross?

If you are like me, you’ll need to go back to Jerusalem and wait on the Holy Spirit.