INTEGRATING OUR SECRET, PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SELF INTO ONE COHERENT WHOLE
DOING WHAT WE SAY WE'LL DO, WHEN WE SAY WE'LL DO IT ... AND HONORING OUR WORD EVEN WHEN WE CAN'T KEEP OUR WORD
ALIGNING OURSELVES TO THE WHOLE PICTURE OF SCRIPTURE
We live in a world of options…we can pick a phone and what color we want it in. Many of us become uncomfortable when told an item is only available in one color or size. If we are not careful our interpretation of the Bible can begin to take on a similar feel…choosing to believe this part, but not that part. The problem is Jesus himself said that is not an option (Matthew 5.18). If we are going to be biblically responsible Christ followers we must align who we be with the whole picture of Scripture.
If you are finding that a pick and choose faith is leaving you in a degree of chaos join us as we try to find order to the chaos of life by leaning in to what it means to be biblically responsible Christ followers.
Why would we want to be that and what does that mean?
Why: We believe God and his Word have the power to transform life (Hebrews 4.12-16 and Psalm 19.7). We believe God is on a mission to restore creation to his intended way (Genesis 1-2, Revelation 21-22). We also believe we are created and called to be the image of God…what is called the body…in the world today (1 Corinthians 12.12-27).
What: Because we believe God and his Word have the power to transform lives. We believe growth in Christ followers can be measured by transformational-missional living. This impact is experienced in personal, group, and community realms as we lean into greater levels of authenticity, integrity and obedience.
We all have areas we want to keep hidden from someone, maybe even everyone. This often, if not always, empowers a division of who we be…even a disintegration of who we be. By breaking down these barriers, becoming the same person in every area of life, not only do we become more healthy but we are able to more fully pursue Christ.
We believe there is a difference between an imperfect Christ follower…someone trying to be who God created them to be and a hypocrite…someone who says one thing but does another. So integrity is even more about function than morality.
As Christ followers we give our word to align ourselves with The Bible. Ultimate integrity would be to function completely inline with The Bible.
As we grow into integrity we become better at fulfilling our word and as we grow there we honor our word even when we aren’t able to keep it. By honor, we mean that when we are unable to keep our word, we clean up the mess our inability has created. We then use this experience to learn more of who we are…and who God is, and work to live out our word fully the next time without taking on shame for our failure.