Not A One-Off

There are those stories of a great success in a sport.

An unfancied team won the big one. The individual ranked outside the top 100 upset the odds and won the tournament. The story talks about those attractive qualities people warm to about the underdog. The journey from nowhere to somewhere can wrap people up and hug them tightly from start to end. It’s a wonderful and inspiring story.

Some share their experience of coming to Jesus as though it’s like that. As in a one-off experience of being somewhere bad and now that they know Jesus they have reached already. They were in one condition, they heard a message they prayed a prayer, had a feeling and now they are in a different place.

Life with Jesus, however, is not about that one-off experience. It is not so much the story of an underdog who got the plucky win one time. It is more about the story of a loser recognising what it is to win and seeing that to win is not a one-off thing but an ongoing moment by moment, day by day series of decisions.

Followers of Jesus believe and keep on believing. Followers of Jesus repent and see the need to keep on repenting (because they’re not perfect). Followers of Jesus love and keep on loving. Followers of Jesus relate and keep on relating with others.

It’s why followers of Jesus need community – because being with community is the ideal context in which to not just have a practice but keep on practising and improving in the practice.

(Photo by Wil Stewart on Unsplash)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden