New Training for New Terrain

Our children are very different from my wife and I and dissimilar from each other as well. This was apparent from the day each of them was born. It was clear that even though there were familial similarities, they each had distinctive design. It was never our goal to somehow end up with clones of ourselves. We loved each one’s uniqueness and spent our hopes and time on encouraging the strengths of each design.

We also longed to pass on to them the spirit of Christ that was selfless and giving with all it possessed.

So, we saw them two ways: 1) possessing unique gifts/strengths that needed development, and 2) having a choice between a spirit that was selfish and possessive or one that was selfless and giving. Jesus was our model.

We knew they would be awesome if each one would selflessly live out who God had designed them to be.

It seems that the early church must have thought God had something similar in mind. The practice appeared to be: 1) you possess unique gifts/strengths that the world needs, and 2) model Christ in the way you use them.

It seems to me that if we make our new CEO/authority the human spirit of Jesus and spend our lives seeking to be like him through our own unique design, that the divine Holy Spirit might have at His disposal all the tools to direct a God plan to bring His Kingdom to Earth.

People with strengths of every kind imaginable, living out their lives in a collaborative and concerted effort directed unseen by God’s Holy Spirit with solutions to individual needs, environmental needs, energy needs, city needs, nation needs, food and water needs, etc.

People purposefully meeting to work on solutions to individual, community or world needs, finding ways to live out the human spirit of Jesus in doing good, pooling resources to accomplish focused plans for bringing good news to those that their strengths are especially fitted to do.

Churches become the natural gatherings of people with common purpose and compatible gifts, getting better and better at being the visible hands and feet and eyes and ears and voice of God in a world that He is speaking life and hope and good news to.