Margaret Wheatley’s 2017 book “Who Do We Choose to Be?” made the rounds in church leadership circles quite effectively in the last 6 years. As she explores the challenges that leaders face in the current climate, she argues effectively that we ought to become ‘islands of sanity’ in a dynamic, ever-changing and chaotic world (while I don’t agree with everything she writes, she makes a phenomenal argument here). Although not speaking from a distinctly Christian perspective, she paints a beautiful picture of the impact followers of Jesus ought to make in our world.
Imagine a community of Jesus-followers that becomes a safe-haven for the world around them. Imagine the gift it would be for the Church- for OUR church- to serve as a shelter amid the storms of physical, emotional, political and cultural violence that are raging around us. Surely this is at least part of what Jesus had in mind: a community of followers that invites (and leads) the world to imagine a completely different, and undeniably better, way of life that leads to personal and social transformation according to the gospel.
But if that’s the potential of a community of Jesus-followers, the work must begin within us as individual Jesus-followers. So how do we follow Jesus in such a way as to change the world around us? How do we know if we’re moving toward that kind of life? How do we become the kind of men and women that God uses to do His will and work in the world?
I hope you will help us explore exactly these questions over the next few weeks as we begin a new series on Sunday morning: “Becoming: Marks of a Disciple.” I believe there are five questions that we can and should ask ourselves regularly. These questions will remind us of our calling, teach us the kind of live to which Christ is calling us and challenge us to pursue a deeper relationship with Christ for the sake of the world around us.
