UGA Wesley

What kind of person do you find yourself becoming? We're all moving somewhere--toward being more religious, more promiscuous, less generous, more "spiritual"... It's always been interesting to me that the term 'Christian' was originally used as a derisive insult--"little Christs." When Jesus' followers referred to themselves, they said disciples of Christ, followers of the Way.

The difference betrays a fundamental shift that we must make in the direction of our own lives. To be a Christian, especially in the South, is to go to church and to go to heaven when we die, to live 'good' while we're here. To be a disciple, a follower of the way, is entirely different. Its a movement toward something. Eugene Peterson calls it a 'long obedience in the same direction.'

From scripture, the goal of God is for us to become like him, one degree of glory to the next (I Cor 3, Col 2, Romans 8...). We put on Christ and have the Spirit in us, inspiring us toward the life of God. We find ourselves cleaned up and given power to live in holiness (because God is holy). But the old self rears up so often and, among other things, keeps us in our Southern religion more than the present Kingdom of God.

So, what kind of person are you becoming? Is your present course leading toward or away from a life lived with God? I'm praying that our community would be radical in our devotion to Jesus, in our pursuit of holiness, and in our love toward our neighbors. More than simple identification or association, that we'd participate in the activity of the kingdom all around us.