Hannah and I have attended Buckhead Church the past two weeks while here in Atlanta. We've really enjoyed it. As someone who has worked in a church for the past 7 years, there were many structural things I admired about the place. The way they greeted, to communication, to volunteers, to next steps, etc. They have it down, and down well.
The first Sunday we were there, Andy talked about the Ideal vs. Real concept as it relates to families. The basic idea is we will have a tension between the ideal life that Jesus sets for us and the real life we currently live. Jesus knows what ideal is and what it should look like, and as Philippians 2 says we should strive to imitate this ideal as Jesus did. He demands we live the ideal, but never condemns us for falling short of it.
The truth is we will never reach this ideal though. The truth is we will always be reaching for something we can't obtain (the real). So for families, should we settle for what our realty is right now? Should we settle for a family system that is dysfunctional or even unbiblical so we feel better about the way we live? Or will we live with the tension that we strive for the ideal that we will never reach? Even if this ideal is more difficult or frustrating?
Now of course this applies not only to families, but everywhere in our faith doesn't it. I think this is really a core thought that all Christians (and those choosing not to be Christian) struggle with... Why try if I can't do it?
As we strive for this ideal, and don't settle for the real, we become more inline with the beautiful perfection of Jesus Christ. Are we ok with having something that we won't ever reach? As the the corny phrase goes... "Shoot for the moon, and if we don't succeed we'll land among the stars" It's that kind of idea. While shooting for the ideal and never reaching it, we will still be living a better life than we could imagine.
So my hope is to live with this tension. To understand this tension. To strive for perfection.
The first Sunday we were there, Andy talked about the Ideal vs. Real concept as it relates to families. The basic idea is we will have a tension between the ideal life that Jesus sets for us and the real life we currently live. Jesus knows what ideal is and what it should look like, and as Philippians 2 says we should strive to imitate this ideal as Jesus did. He demands we live the ideal, but never condemns us for falling short of it.
The truth is we will never reach this ideal though. The truth is we will always be reaching for something we can't obtain (the real). So for families, should we settle for what our realty is right now? Should we settle for a family system that is dysfunctional or even unbiblical so we feel better about the way we live? Or will we live with the tension that we strive for the ideal that we will never reach? Even if this ideal is more difficult or frustrating?
Now of course this applies not only to families, but everywhere in our faith doesn't it. I think this is really a core thought that all Christians (and those choosing not to be Christian) struggle with... Why try if I can't do it?
As we strive for this ideal, and don't settle for the real, we become more inline with the beautiful perfection of Jesus Christ. Are we ok with having something that we won't ever reach? As the the corny phrase goes... "Shoot for the moon, and if we don't succeed we'll land among the stars" It's that kind of idea. While shooting for the ideal and never reaching it, we will still be living a better life than we could imagine.
So my hope is to live with this tension. To understand this tension. To strive for perfection.
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