Yours or Ours

Over the past few weeks I’ve been reading in the Old Testament.  As I was reading today in 1 Samuel 15, an interesting phrase jumped off the page to me.  You have to go back and read through the first 14 chapters to really appreciate the context of the verse.  King Saul had made a grave error in not following completely the Lord’s directions.  As he’s confronted by the Spiritual leader of Israel, Samuel, this is how Saul responds:  “…come back with me (Saul says to Samuel) so that I may worship the Lord your God.”  [1 Samuel 15.30]

Did you catch that?  “… the Lord your God.”

While I have not dug into commentaries or the original language to pick this verse apart (proper study has much value), I am taking this at face value in the immediate context of the verse and the greater context of chapters 1-14.  Something happened here!  This encounter, this moment was a game changer.  This was a moment that revealed the true heart of King Saul.  The Lord was not his God … but "your God."

I cannot say that Saul never truly had a heart for God, neither can I say that this was the moment he lost faith in God.  What I do know though is that in this moment, the truth of his heart was that he was far from God and in retrospect (previous chapters) we can see how he had been gradually drifting off course from God’s direction.

The same is true for many of us, isn’t it?   There are moments that reveal the true nature or position of our faith in God.  There are moments, because of either continued “faking it” or because of our own wandering heart from God, we like Saul will not own a relationship with God.  We will look to those around us who are worshiping and serving and striving to grow in faith and say like Saul … “your God.”

At Christ Church we value honesty and authenticity.  We understand that Life is Messy and We're OK with That.  So we will value people who join us in worship, service, and mission and say that God is not yet “our God” but still “your God.”  Our desire is to walk in friendship with people who are searching for “our God” so that they too, one day, will join us in worshiping “our God” together. 

Your life is never too messy for God to intervene.  Your life is never too complicated for God to restore and redeem.  For the people of Christ Church, there was a day when the Lord was God of someone else – “your God.”  But through honesty and friendship and the understanding who God really is, we found him to be “our God” as well.  We know that Our God is: greater, stronger, higher, healer, and awesome in power.*  That’s “our God.”

• *Check out Chris Tomlin's song "Our God."
• If you’d like more information on “Our God” and Christ Church, please contact us through our email and we’ll get back to you.
• Our goal is to launch Christ Church to the public sometime this fall.  If these posts, our vision and values, and investing in the community resonates with you and you’d like to join us and help us launch strong in the fall, then send an email and we’ll get back to you.
• Enter your email address in the upper right box to subscribe and automatically receive our updates!

Church Should Be Simple:  Love God, Love People!

Have a Great Day,

Ben