Welcome! For this first post, I thought it would be a good idea to just introduce what the focus of these posts will be and why the blog is called “Reshaped and Renewed.” My plan is to share something here each week that will help us navigate thinking deeply about faith and putting it into practice. I hope that these messages will help us faithfully think, practice, and gather as Christians.
In Christ, our thinking is reshaped and renewed!
“So, from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 15:16-17)”
When we put their faith in Christ and put it into practice, things change. Christians are being made new each day, the old is put behind us and the new is here. We are a new creation, practicing our purpose as people created by God. The greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbor. These are never separated. We cannot love God and continue regarding people from a worldly point of view. We cannot love our neighbor if we are viewing Christ in that way also. Our love of God will draw us deeper into loving our neighbor. Our love of neighbor will help us know God more. God is reframing our worldview by leading us to love.
In Christ, our practices our reshaped and renewed!
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12:2)”
Following Christ means that we cannot follow the same pattern of behavior as before. What I find amazing about the gospels is how often Jesus is turning our way of thinking upside down. His Kingdom is a bit backwards from the pattern we are used to. He lowers the lofty and lifts the lowly. He says that people like the meek, poor, and persecuted are blessed. He calls the hungry, strangers, sick, and prisoners his brother and sister. He challenges what righteousness looks like by eating with people we cannot stomach to be around. He lays hands on people no one will come near. He constantly brings his disciples into contact with outcasts. He forgave the people who hung him on the cross. Being led by Jesus reframes how we define what is good and practice what is right.
In Christ, our community is reshaped and renewed!
“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all! (Col. 3:9-11)”
When we turn away from our old self, we begin to clothe ourselves with Christ and reflect our creator. This is not just an individual exercise. We cannot exist as Christians without community because we are being reshaped, “according to the image of [our] creator.” God is love – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The shape of God is the shape of loving community. In that renewal, our sense of community is not defined by what divides us, but in our differences, community is reframed to reflect the love of Christ.
Following Jesus has so transformed my life that I cannot imagine what things would be like without his guidance. My sincere hope is that these posts will be a source of help and hope for you as you journey through faith in community. Join the conversation by subscribing to the free email chain and sharing these posts on social media.
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