Fitting into the Story

Sunday, November 7, I was worshipping with my church family in Gorlovka, Ukraine. It was the first time I had worshiped with them in over three months. What a joy it was to see everyone. My spirit soared to sing in Russian. Then in the middle of one of the songs I noticed a line I had not paid close attention to before. Loosely translated it said, "You died, and I resurrected!" Wow, what a powerful statement of the gospel.

When it was time to speak to the church I used that line as my jumping off point - then led a group discussion about what binds Christians together all over the world. It is not our doctrine, for we are hopelessly divided over many substantive issues that may never be settled. It is not our worship styles, for they seem to be moving us further apart rather than closer together. It is not our sense of mission, for we cannot seem to even come up with a coherent definition of our common mission. But there is something that binds all Christians together in all times and places. "What is it?" you might ask. It is simply this... We exist because Jesus rescued us. We live through Jesus' death.

Now our purpose is clear, we need to fit into the story of what God is doing in the world. Read the Scriptures - it is one long story of how God works in the world through his people. And although the canon of Scripture is closed, the work of God continues still. God's story continues and all who call themselves Christians must pay close attention to that story and their place in it. "You died, and I resurrected!" It is a great place to start fitting into the story of God. Go find other resurrected people and watch what they are doing. Go find people who don't know Jesus and show them the life Jesus has given you. Refuse to just sit in a church building going through rituals that have nothing to do with spiritual life or resurrection. If you are resurrected, then live!