The Intentional Church

Since Pentecost we've been dialoguing about what it means to be the church.
It seems the longer I follow Christ the more I realize the intentionality that is required to follow Jesus.
We are called to be His hands and feet in the world, to bear fruit in His name through His Spirit, yet none of it comes by just the decision to follow Him. It happens as we actually stand up and walk with Him.

So what does it look like to be the church in a world that tends to only do what comes natural to us?
It looks very odd. It looks very different. It stands out.
Being the hands and feet of Jesus requires us to reach out and touch, to step out and walk.

I believe most of us have good intentions about following Jesus but we just kind of assume following Him and bearing good fruit will just sort of happen along the way. While this may at some point actually occur, I think that truly existing as the messengers of the Good News in the world will require of us going out of our way.
It means stepping into the conversations we don't necessarily feel like being in. Reaching out to the person that is on the other side of the street. Moving in intentional direct loving ways and so giving hope.
Existing as the church is not simply saying "no" to so many natural inclinations and selfish pleasures, but even more it is saying "yes" to the inclinations of the Spirit and to the loving pleasures that follow.

If you find yourself leaving your witness of the Good News to the people and places that you might "bump into", you are already missing it. Because when you have News this Good to tell it can't simply be left up to the random happenings of your life... it must be acted upon, on every street corner of your day.

In Christ,
Caleb



Check out the "Crippled Jesus" movement that is happening and has begun with Kaleo's sister church's in Germany.