Beyond Rows Into Circles | Part 2

Please refer to Part 1 in case you missed it.

For many families in our community, tomorrow marks the beginning of fall break. Some families will be headed for sunshine in Florida. Others are off to visit family members. Maybe you’re staying home for some fall clean-up around the house. Each person has a destination. And when you think about it, this is true in our spiritual lives as well. We are all headed somewhere.

I think this idea begs the questions: Where am I going? And the follow-up, “How do I plan to get there?” This blog is really about answering the second question, “How do I plan to get there?” So, in order to answer this question, let’s assume you have a clear vision of God’s destination  for your marriage, your career, your children, and your life in the community and with His people the church. How do you plan to arrive at these destinations?

As you have probably figured out, it is easy to get off course in life. It’s easy to end up in a place we never intended. Fortunately for us, we live in a GPS driven world. Which means, when it comes to traveling, we most often end up exactly where we are headed. Why? GPS is designed to actively evaluate where we are and where we need to go from there. Satellites are consistently sending and receiving signals to help guide us to our intended destination.

So what is our GPS system in life? Perhaps a better question is “who is my GPS system?” God has actually designed the church, the followers of Jesus around you, to help keep you on the right course. God has designed us to live in Biblical community with others who have the same spiritual destinations in mind. Your chances of arriving at God’s intended destination for you, on your own, apart from others who help us navigate life’s turns, are not good.

Sometimes we believe that “attending church” is the solution. But sitting in a row on Sunday is not the solution. While it’s great to be in the row, this is not the complete picture of church community we see in scripture. We need a close circle of friends. We need people who are asking the hard questions. We need people who don’t allow us to fake the “I have it all together” life, but will encourage us with Biblical advice and pray with us and for us. We need a church that is sharing all of life with us, or we’re likely to drift off course.

Who really knows you? Who is really helping you navigate your life? Most of us reading this blog have a desire to make spiritual progress. But, are we living out a plan with other followers of Jesus to get there?