MADE FOR THIS
By Pastor Audrey Carmona
Made For This: We’re going for “together.”
Identity theft. That’s the game the enemy tries to play with the Church. His tactics revolve around lies and subtle distractions to veer just one degree, just enough to mislead and deceive. He’s desperate for glory, so he uses distraction as ammunition to swindle his agenda. Enough about him, right? He’s not worth the time. Absolutely. But it’s important to know that the enemy takes the prize when it comes to drawing a wedge in between brothers and sisters. He slithers his way in between relationships and pulls them apart, causing division.
It’s in these times where that chasm seems to be breaking open more and more. We must remember who we are. We are the Church. We are the body of Christ that advances the Father’s business here on earth. We are a people who love God and love one another. We are a Christ-centered community, unified in divided times.
We must not grow apathetic to the plan of the enemy. We are the Church, a beautiful picture of all things together. If the enemy can distort that picture by manipulation and confusion, his purpose of hijacking our identity may seem to avail. His identity theft game is where the instructions of the game coerce a unified Church in Christ into a divided church due to the times.
Here’s the thing, the plans of the enemy will not prevail at the end of the story. Satan loses. But he has every intention of taking whatever down with him. That’s real…Satan likes the thought of division because division leads to isolation and isolation is a form of torture. We were made for one another. To live and exist in this fashioned state of existing called fellowship. The Greek word is “Koinonia,” which refers to concepts such as communion or fellowship, joint participation, the share which one has in anything, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, or a contribution. It identifies the idealized state of fellowship and unity that should exist within the Christian church, the Body of Christ. There are so many keywords here; participation, share, joint, and unity.
Unity. It’s important to hear what Paul writes to us in hopes of unity: Christ and Christ crucified. What if we answered all the questions surrounding the world’s problems with this very answer: Christ and Christ crucified? Poverty, racism, brokenness, abuse, human trafficking…Christ and Christ crucified. The power lies in between what takes place in Christ life and Christ’s sacrifice. All the answers to ALL of the problems. Very bold statement. Very true statement. This truth binds us together. It’s the staple, glue, and Gorilla Tape that keeps us ONE.
As long as the enemy has us choosing a side, we stand behind enemy lines. But when we choose to stand unified, even through our differences and choices, we stand unified. I know it’s a crazy thought. And you may think, “this is too ideal, what a romantic thought, it’s never gonna happen.” This is that beautiful picture of together I mentioned earlier, don’t base your opinions on life’s experiences. Drink in Paul’s words, Christ and Christ crucified. Living like Christ and experiencing His resurrecting power daily through His spirit…that’s a bride!!!
Let me touch on isolation really quickly. The threat with isolation is that we run the risk of falling asleep while the enemy is very active. Here’s what living in and through fellowship can yield: you can go from your strength to shared strength. Faith is fueled by together, fear is fueled in isolation, and together we get back to peace and purpose.
Church! TOGETHER is our identity and it’s who we are with Christ in the center. Don’t settle for anything less. We were Made For This!
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