It’s been a little while since I’ve gotten a chance to blog! I’ve been without a personal laptop for the last month (thankfully it is almost fixed!), and haven’t had much time to sit behind a desktop at home. I have had a few thoughts on my mind about Freedom in Christ and other topics that I hope to hit in the next few weeks. This entry about Freedom is the result of my weekend…
This weeked I attended a work retreat in New Orleans. People at my firm with a common practice area from our offices around the world met in the Big Easy for a weekend of mingling and meetings. While I had a good time meeting other attorneys from various places, the highlight of my weekend was actually Sunday when I visited a church.
As I’ve been flying back and forth between a couple cities over the last month, God’s put it on my heart to plan on attending a church if I travel on a weekend. Until New Orleans, none of the trips I had taken recently had even been on a weekend, I just really got the sense from God that it would be a wonderful way to consciously connect with the body around the country – and perhaps around the world – from now on. For this trip I intentionally booked a later flight so I would have the chance to fellowship with other believers in my destination.
The place I worshipped, a church plant called Vintage, was great! Since attending a church plant myself for the last three years that is so focused on preaching a relevant message that reaches our generation and beyond, equipping people for personal spiritual growth, fostering community, multiplying leaders and loving everyone who comes through our doors, the city and the world (all in one!), I’ve become aware of the growing number of church plants around the country that are taking their cities for Christ. I know there are longstanding churches that are doing the same, but I appreciate how these newer churches are targeting not just mature Christians and long-time church goers, but also people who have never attended church, may not know Jesus at all, never matured in their faith or once walked closely with God. The motto of one church whose pastor’s podcasts I kill sums up the goal of many of these church plants: “so that people far from God will be filled with life in Christ.” And it works out that both young and mature Christians are able to grow together – and all be filled with more of Jesus! It really has become a passion of mine to support these churches in The Body.
I immediately felt at home at Vintage. Their motto is "Love the Gospel. Love the City. Be the Church." Knowing we had a common mission, I knew I would be welcomed and have an enjoyable time of worship. Shortly after I walked in I met a few people and we started talking. The message was from 2 Corinthians 10:1-14, about the importance of repenting and standing firm in our faith with the ultimate aim being not personal blessing, but having freedom to fellowship fully with God. We also had communion and sang songs about the opportunity that we have to truly know Jesus that comes only through the free gift of His death and resurrection. I found myself tearing up at the reminder of how awesome it is to be filled with life in Christ and how the message of The Gospel is changing lives everywhere!
After the service someone I sat next to graciously volunteered to take me back to my hotel just as I had called a cab. We ended up getting lunch and had a great time of fellowship. I learned about how God had brought her to New Orleans for school and what God was doing in her life. I also shared about my own life. I exchanged contact information with her and others I met, and invited them to my church if they come to D.C.!
In thinking about the freedom we have in Christ, I so treasure the privilege to fellowship with other believers. It's because of that freedom that I can go to a completely new city, attend a completely new church, and expect that I will connect with the Body there. That’s a much greater, more powerful connection than I can forge with people based on the fact that we practice the same kind of law, work for the same firm or live in the same city. I pray that the Body of Christ – of every city, country, tribe and tongue – would put aside the rifts of culture and class that we often create and embrace the common bond we have in Christ. Our unity was so important that Jesus prayed for it fervently before His death on the cross so that through it others would know Him.
I’ve also been thinking today about Galatians 6: 7-10, the passage that reminds us we reap what we sow. The ending is appropriate to mention: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” The hospitality I was shown – and the chance I had to share with others, lost and saved, reminded me that nothing beats fellowship in the Body. What freedom!
