May's Core Value: Christ-Centered Community

Not long ago I receive a phone call at the church from North Carolina. On the other end of the line was a voice with a strong southern accent. After a brief introduction, she explained that her son and his fiancée were coming through our area, and he was needing a place to stay. While his fiancée stayed with a friend at the college, I told her I would talk to my wife about him staying at our house. I must admit, I was hesitant at first. It’s not every day, after all, I let a complete stranger stay at my house! But after talking with her some more I began to realize that we knew many of the same people in ministry and I began to sense that she (and her family) really knows Jesus. There was an unexplainable and supernatural connection in Christ there. At the end of the day, her son did stay at our house. I met him at the gas station late at night, showed him our guest room, and enjoyed some great conversation over breakfast the next morning. The Lord even used this young man to impact me in a way he’ll never know. I left the breakfast table that day reinspired in ministry.
 
My guess is that you, too, have experienced this supernatural connection that Christ can bring between strangers. Maybe you were on an airplane and discovered that the person next to you was a believer. You shared about your faith and church and how good the Lord has been to you both. Maybe you went on a mission trip overseas and worked with some of the indigenous believers there and realized you had a joyful connection with them that you didn’t even possess with some of your closest relatives back home. Even though they do not look like you, speak the same language as you, eat the same food as you—and let’s be honest, they even do some things you find culturally inappropriate—they’re like family to you because you have a connection in Christ. They are your “blood-relative” through the blood of​Christ! You have a bond with them that you don’t even share with some of your closest relatives.
 
I think this supernatural bond in Christ is just a small taste of what heaven and eternity will be like. Heaven will be filled with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Rev. 7:9). Revelation 22:24 says that the nations and kings of the New Earth will bring their glory (possibly a reference to their wealth & cultural contributions) into the New Jerusalem. Even though the nations are so different, and the community will be incredibly complex, it will still be one giant family because we all have the same Lord (Eph. 4:1-6). Revelation 22:1-5 says the nations will live in harmony, dwelling together with God. It will be as if we’ve always known each other, and we will celebrate our differences. Only Jesus can do that!
 
In this world, difference tend to divide us rather than unite us. But differences are not a mistake. Differences are by design. Like the human body, differences cause us to care for each other, rely on each other, and praise each other’s contributions (1 Cor. 12). Some Christians want to argue over every little thing: the color of the carpet, the order of service, whether or not its okay to use a “Dirt-Devil” vacuum to clean the church, whether to call the fellowship dinner a “pot-luck” or “pot-blessing” (I think we’ll stick with fellowship dinner), what the pastor should wear, what translation to use, et cetera. These are signs of a church experiencing missional drift. They have forgotten what matters most. There will never be a church where every member believes or agrees on exactly the same thing on all Christian issues. It simply won’t happen. The church is too complex. That sort of unity is unrealistic. Perfect biblical clarity will always be slightly out of reach on some issues. That is why we must stick to the absolutes, show charity in personal convictions, and give grace in any gray areas. Most importantly, we must keep Christ at the center of all we do.
 
While the Corinthians were quarreling over who was the best preacher—Paul, Apollos, Peter, or Jesus (1 Cor. 1:12-13)—he said, 

Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?...  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."

Christ was at the center of everything Paul did. In all we do, he said, we are to do it in His name (Col. 3:17). People need Jesus to find freedom and hope. Knowing this, Jesus prayed we would be one just as He and the Father are one (Jn. 17:11) so that our unity would show the world that Jesus is the way (17:21). Are we showing the world that Jesus is the way? Is Jesus at the center of all we do?