Rules without relationships often lead to rebellion. How do we help people fall in love with Jesus? Maybe that’s not the best place to start. Perhaps it’s “how do we fall in love with Jesus?”
There are certain rules for life that are most helpful. But I am glad our God of unfailing love doesn’t lead with rules. He invites us into a life-changing relationship that takes us to a place where we long to trust and obey out of the depths of His love for us and our love for Him.
And in the strength of life-changing relationships with God and one another, we discover the incredible strength of being one church, one family. Our mission, then, is no longer about bringing the world into the church, but unleashing the church into the world. Our mission isn’t to sell church; our mission is to introduce the Kingdom of God. Our mission is to introduce Jesus, to help people fall in love with Jesus. Our mission is to grow relationships with God and one another that are so strong, we can change the world.
We live in a world where people know about God, but they don’t know God. So, God revealed himself to us in Jesus. In Jesus, we see the unfailing love of God on display. And then our mission becomes to offer living proof of God’s unfailing love to a watching world. This requires a willingness to live with vulnerability and transparency.
We are family–God’s family.