God interacts with us because of our son-ship, not because of my practices or efforts. So, it is possible that we can feel a sense of his presence at any time, not just when we are doing the things 'to' him or 'for' him. This somewhat basic realisation has other consequences. It is no longer true that we need to go to church to meet with God or get a touch from the Lord. We can 'get' this anywhere, any time! It is our being in Christ that determines our interaction with Jesus, not our adherence to practices, services or meetings. AND... we don't have to 'get' anything.... he simply ... is.... so we are always, constantly and continually connected. We can change what we do, feel and think, but we can't turn our sonship on and off... it just simply.... is.
So, if this is true of every Christ-follower, it is your... er... 'in-christ-ness'... that is the fundamental starting point of all we are and what we will do as Christians. To be stood on the earth with another group of people who are also in Christ is so outrageous and phenomenal, it is hard to put words to. I think we Westerners have lost what this means and fill the void with church related activity and works. That is all right and good, but without the foundational truth and reality of our inchristness, we just look like good people doing good things. I'm all for social action, but we give God something to work with when, first, we have prioritised what he prioritises. Try to find a mandate for mission or activity beyond 'go.' All we get in the New Testament is what it is to be in Christ, living by the Spirit, keeping the bond of peace, unity, etc. Have we made our Christian walk more about the 'doing' and less about who it is doing the doing?
"But surely God is all about lost souls?" Of course he is but you can't fish without bait. What attracts lost people to 'the hook' is lives that are not of this world. When a person is internally met by the warmth, affection, love, affirmation and belonging of the body of Christ it oozes out of every pore. We are good at good deeds and we are probably good at telling people the gospel. These ignite and explode when the hearer detects a life that is met spiritually. Many embark on programs to facilitate deeper fellowship, home groups etc. If inchristness isn't the foundational rhyme and reasoning, we will risk all our good intentions, programs and actions being just good intentions... programs... etc ....
Inchristness has consequences when we think of our gatherings. I've been to places and felt accepted, loved and valued. However if this is based on anything but the fact that we celebrate being in Christ together as a foundational principle, we are in danger. What replaces inchristness can be 'vision' and 'mission.' Churches generally start to do things in order to champion change. A person who wants to use their gift will serve the vision / mission and plug into the program. If inchristness is not a celebrated, practised and promoted factor among the people, the gifted person risks becoming valued because of their gift / function / talent / ability. Consequently, just 'being in Christ' becomes de-prioritised or forgotten as the church defines itself by its vision / mission. I'm afraid when this happens we are in 'stuff of earth' territory. Aren't we categorised, valued and classified by what we do in this world? Whole economies are based on the measurement of one human against another and how that shapes our existence. 'I'm a product in the eyes of society and if I don't produce then I'd better be ready for consequences!' Our entire beings are swamped with such ideas so when we are challenged with 'inchristness' or similar thoughts, it is hard to grasp the concept.
What does 'inchristness' do? How does it work? Can we program it in? Can we get an app? So foreign is this from our thinking it is tempting to try to over-define, relegate to 'a time gone by' or simply reject as a less-progressive ideal. Inchristness is 'being' in Christ and setting all our values around that. People then recalibrate what meeting together is actually about and the need to do things to define 'church' becomes less. The joy, peace and love of this type of fellowship leads to spontaneity around prayer, songs and stories as being spiritually met overflows among believers.
Of course this kind of thinking has the potential to ask some awkward questions about church, our social constructs and how we have potential to settle for a cheap imitation of the real thing. The New Testament epistles are full of celebrating and working towards what I have called 'inchristness.' We find little about doing things... its almost like mission and activity is a by-product of gathering and interacting with inchristness as the foundational reason for being. The Apostles all taught the same thing on how to facilitate this.
All over the world people are working out ways where inchristness, or whatever they call it, can occur among believers. It will always lead to simplicity, smaller groups, family environments and leadership that finds joy when all participate. Of course what this is about is the 'wine' and as we know from Jesus, all wine needs a wineskin. Wineskin issues are about what we do to make the wine remain wine... the subject of my next blog
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