Is the Christian Faith Meant to be Personal or Corporate?

Is the Christian Faith Meant to be Personal or Corporate?

Yes.

Some writers can be so focused on the followers of Jesus fully understanding the fullness of a personal relationship with Christ that they seem to forget Jesus teaching his followers to pray, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Brennan Manning comes to mind. He is one of my favorite authors. His books Ragamuffin Gospel; Abba’s Child; and Ruthless Trust have been very helpful to me in my journey. Currently I am reading his newest book, The Furious Longing of God. His suggestion of a daily meditation focusing on the affirmation, “Abba, I belong to you” is powerful and can certainly be used by God to help people claim their true identity as God’s beloved children.

The Apostle Paul continually stressed the importance of the followers of Jesus understanding, appreciating, claiming and living out of their core identity as the children of God. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' is how he put it in Acts 17:28.

However, Paul also stressed that God has adopted us as his children so that we can live in community as we build for the Kingdom of God. For Paul, the clearest evidence that we are being transformed into the life of Christ is in our adopting the mind of Christ and become willing to live self sacrificing lives for the good of others. (Philippians 2: 5-11)

Rejoicing that we are God’s beloved is simply self indulgent if we are not living for others out of the Christ life.

And living for others without being grounded in the truth of our identity as the Beloved of God is tiring, frustrating, and lacking in fruit.

The Christian faith is deeply personal and lived and expressed corporately.

Selah,
Alex

Zephaniah 3:17

Zephaniah 3:17

Below are two renderings of Zephaniah 3:17.

First, from the King James Version of the Bible:

(Zep. 3:17 KJV) The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Second, a paraphrase of Zephaniah 3:17 from worship leader and song writer Dennis Jerrigan:

(Zep. 3: 17 Dennis Jerrigan) "The eternal self existent God, the God who is three in one, He who dwells in the center of your being is a powerful, valiant warrior. He has come to set you free, to keep you safe and to bring you victory. He is cheered and He beams with exceeding joy and takes pleasure in your presence. He has engraved a place for himself in you and there He quietly rests in His love and affection for you.

He cannot contain Himself of the thought of you and with the greatest of joy spins around wildly in anticipation over you and has placed you above all other creations and in the highest place in His priorities. In fact He shouts and sings in triumph, joyfully proclaiming the gladness of His heart in a song of rejoicing.

All because of you. "

Now, what if the second rendering is an accurate interpretation of Zephaniah 3:17?

If it is in fact an accurate interpretation and you believed it, how might your life be different?


Selah,
Alex