What are we looking for and seeking life from? A pattern or a person. I just saw the new "Chronicles of Narnia" movie and it really spoke to me (wonder of wonders). One of the basic premises of the movie is that the Kings and Queens of Narnia are expecting Aslan to act the same way he did in the past. And when he doesn't it leads them to frustration and the feeling that they were forsaken. So they end up moving on their own apart from calling upon Aslan. And of course this leads to defeat and great loss. They were putting their hope in a pattern instead of a person. When they finally called upon the person He was there to deliver them and give them victory.
I've done this many times. I look to patterns or expect God to work in a specific way. Maybe I expect him to act as he did before. And, unbeknownst to me, I've put my trust in a pattern instead of a person. And when the Lord does not move in the ways He has in the past, or does not do what I expect him to do I get discouraged and feel forsaken. Often I turn to things of this world, or the satisfaction of earthly pleasures, to fill the void. All the while the Lord is waiting for me to look simply to Him as the full and complete answer. Usually, it takes defeat and loss for me to come back to the simplicity of Jesus Christ. It takes a good kick in the gut (not from God, but from circumstances) to remind me that it is all about a person and not a pattern. God wants us to know this in our hearts without having to go through all the failure. But he will use failure to bring us to that point.
I say all that just to say that we have been called into the way of freedom. Our first priority is a person- He who is life. Patterns, forms, etc. are all secondary. I'm not worried about following a pattern or doing everything "New Testament" style. I am concerned about knowing and loving a person and walking with Him in freedom. If we are truly drinking in new wine the new wine skin will evolve to hold it and pour it out for the world to drink. But if all we have is a new wine skin, fashioned after the one in the New Testament, but don't have new wine it is all in vain. In planting and being the Church, in living the Christian life, I don't believe their is a cookie cutter form. Relationship transcends forms and laws. We are called into relationship. We are called to follow a person who is beyond our comprehension. But as we follow this person we will see His Church built and the world come to know that He is the Son of God.
I want to know this person. In good times and bad. When I am fearful and when I am bold. He is my life. He is my all.
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