The
other day someone asked me what my call in life
is. I directed them to Col. 1:27-28:
"Christ in you, the hope of glory:
whom we preach, warning every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may
present every
man perfect in Christ Jesus."
Jesus Christ was and is unique. There
is no one like Him. To be made perfect in His
image is to come into the fullness of uniqueness
and individuality of one's own calling—to become
what no one else can become in Him.
My
desire has always been to bring Jesus "home" to
the individual, and direct him into his own
unique place in Christ, to discover and fulfil
his own unique calling—which
is the ultimate in Christian liberty. My desire
here is a byproduct of desiring to find my own
unique place in Christ—a calling I have pursued
mercilessly over the years, to ends and extremes
that bring ridicule, misunderstanding, and
religion-based criticism.
I have been a guardian and watchdog of
the sovereignty of the individual's relationship
with God, cringing and revolting against the
attempts made by people to bring people into
human conformity rather than into Christ. God
has a vision for every man, woman, and child in
Him. My desire has been to help everyone build
their own vision in God.
I
have always believed in the need to receive help
from the body and to give help to the body— but
never at the expense of building our own vision
or anyone else's. Our help to and from one
another should never result in a cost or net
loss of our own unique place in Christ.
Our relationship one with another
should never eclipse our relationship with God,
but rather should flow from it. Jesus is the
head and the centre from which the rest of the
Body flows (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:15-16.) Our meaning
as a body is derived from our meaning in Him,
not vice versa. As we pursue the Lord over His
vision for our lives, He will show us how to
receive help from one another toward fulfilling
that vision, and He will show us how to give
help one toward another without interfering with
another's calling. "There is one mediator
between God and men."
Our
meaning as a body of people—visible
or invisible—takes
meaning from who we each are in Jesus. As we
each pursue Him and direct one another toward
Him and not ourselves, we will be a happily
fulfilled body and people of God. We will
flourish in the earth.
My desire is to grow in grace, receive
help where I need it through man, overcome
interference where I don't need it from man, and
then be available to give that same help minus
interference to others. This is my calling.
Having said so, I want you to know that I
respect you fully—each
one—for
who you are in the Lord Jesus. I appreciate what
help you have been to me in finding the Lord for
my life.
In
turn, I hope that I may in some small way help
you by what I have found. That is why I write
these letters. Help me help you better by
communicating with me. Let me know where you're
"at." I love and appreciate each one of you very
much.
Thanx
for the part you have played in shaping my life
over difficult years. Thank you for having
respected me and not interfered with me. It has
increased my respect for you all. Thank you for
the love and friendship we are able to have with
one another because of our respect for one
another in our various walks with the Lord.
The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of...
true
love among the brethren. And as we grow out of
conformity to each other and into grace, we will
grow into the true unity of the Spirit!
Let us grow in grace, then, and unity.
I hope not to be so long again til my
next letter. Thank you for the prayers of many
of you over recent "dark" days. As certainty
grows and /or wisdom buds, I'll write you again.
I am accountable to each one of you in this way.