PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body as a holy and living sacrifice to you.
Jesus, We belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Romans 15:5–6 (NIV)
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
CONSIDER THIS
There it is. I’ve never spotted it before.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, (v.5)
It’s like holy dejavu. He said the same thing to the Philippian church (speaking of Euodia and Synteche)!
Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 2:5)
Of course, this takes us back to the Jesus Manifesto in Romans 12:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (v.2)
The Spirit transforms us by renewing our minds by giving us the mind of Jesus Christ. Here is the warning: We can only go so far in this process by ourselves. And “going to church” so often is sadly just another way to remain quasi-anonymous in a crowd. To “have the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,” requires consecrated relationships. (Remember the path—consecration, transformation, demonstration). We must press past the comfortable anonymity of being in a crowd. We must go beyond the cozy connections of our “community groups” and smaller “life groups.” These are good and good things happen there, but the church today is largely missing the critical connection of micro-communities; what history calls “bands.” A band is just that—a transformational micro-community.
It’s why in the early church they had a saying: Unus Christianus, nullus Christianus. Translation: One Christian—no Christian. Making a decision to be baptized and follow Jesus is a personal decision. No one can do that for another person. However, to actually become a real Christian takes other Christians. Transformational faith is a team sport; it requires a lot of one-another-ing. Hence the saying: One Christian—no Christian.
We have largely thought the transformation by the renewing of the mind comes through learning more information. Consequently, most of our groups are built around bible studies and other curricular resources. Again, not bad, just inadequate for the real work of transformation. This is why our churches may be growing numerically but not in the metrics of the New Testament. This is why our own lives tend to be stuck in the same sin patterns and habits that have plagued us for years. We simply do not have the kind of relationships envisioned by the New Testament to sustain the kind of transformation needed to become who God made us to be and to do what God designed us to do.
Unus Christianus, nullus Christianus. Translation: One Christian—no Christian.
What is needed is a smaller setting where our real lives become the curriculum. This is the place where we realize we can only become the trusted friends of Jesus by becoming the trusted friends of a couple of others in Jesus’s presence through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. This is a band. It’s where this miracle happens:
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Endurance, encouragement, love, deep transformation, and the glory of God—that is what happens in a band. Note: This is not advanced Christianity. A band is not just for people who have been around the church for a while. It is for everyone. If our relationships are the mission, as we believe they are, and if awakening rides on the rails of friendship, which we believe is so, then banding is among the most essential practices in the kingdom of Jesus. I believe it is perhaps the most important work Seedbed is doing across the church.
Unus Christianus, nullus Christianus. Translation: One Christian—no Christian.
THE PRAYER
Abba Father! Thank you for Jesus, who is our endurance and encouragement in the Spirit. He is our glory and the lifter of our heads. Thank you for the way he would do this in us through a few others in the transforming grace of covenant love; in the bond of a band. Impress on us that while we tend to build our churches on crowds we call community, you build your church with the smallest bonds of love, with real friendship; showing us if we can truly learn to love two or three others we have learned to love the world. I confess, it is so easy to believe the opposite. Holy Spirit lead me into this old new way. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.
THE QUESTION
Are you in a band? Are you open to starting or joining a band?
THE HYMN
Today we will sing one of the great spiritual hymns, “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian.” It is hymn 611 in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. Let’s sing it in a spirit of longing and joyful repentance.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
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6 Responses
The past hour this Jesus Manifesto has been running through my heart so I got out of bed to write it down and now I notice that it matches today’s Wake-Up Call. Jesus is always amazing!
There’s an invisible unity
In the Jesus community.
Jesus-followers are connected
Through Jesus who’s resurrected.
May the name of Jesus
No longer be neglected,
But spoken and thought,
Written and taught
Everywhere.
The Greek word for mind in this Scripture (“Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus,”) is nous. It means more than “intellect.” It means “perspective” or “viewpoint.” God wants us to see from Jesus’ point of view, not from our own — as Paul put it, to “look not at the things that are seen but at the things that are unseen.”
Most of what Jesus is doing (and has done) in the lives of His followers is unseen because it happens inside of them, in their innermost being. In order for us to “see” the incredible things that Jesus is doing in one another’s heart (and have the mind/perspective of Christ Jesus) we must be open, venerable, honest, and transparent with each other. Churches are full of miracles that Jesus has done and is doing in people’s lives, but we’re mostly unaware of those glorious miracles because of the silence of the sheep. It’s time to remove the religious vail of privacy that gags believers and hides Jesus’ inner miracles from brothers and sisters in Christ.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” in order that they can overcome the devil by “the word of their testimony”! Bands are a good place for this, but any and every church service or Christian gathering should be a place that allows and encourages open-hearted sharing and personal testimony. May testimonies that will overcome the devil and reveal the miracles of Jesus no longer be omitted from worship services and Christian meetings!
The anonymity of being assembled as a passive audience annuls people’s freedom to testify when they gather for church services. Instead, lost in the crowd, they listen to a lecture and leave without experiencing the unity of the Spirit that is revealed through the transparent heart-to-heart connection that flows from hearing and sharing personal testimonies.
Yes I am in a band. We have been together for a couple years (I think so anyway- I lose track of time!). It has been amazing. I felt convinced after every new room conference that I needed to be in one. But it took awhile for it to happen. And now I see how essential it is. To share my deeper life with a trusted group of women. To love each other with the mind of Christ. The group Jesus put together is made up of people I never would have met on my own or chosen on my own. But they are definitely my band!
Am I in a band or am I open to starting or joining one? Yes, as matter of fact, I’m part of a couple of “unofficial bands “ where small, intimate groups gather to pray and share life in Christ together. Because these groups are composed of folks from various denominational backgrounds, I hesitate to self-identify them as bands, but the end results are the same. The aim is to experience the same unity, maturity, and power in Christ that was recorded in Acts 4:31-32 and Ephesians 4:15-16. This post is totally correct in stating that these desired types of one-another-ings can only be facilitated in very intimate groups. Trust is the key to success.
Romans 8:5-8
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
This scripture in Romans is the one example from Paul of the battle between flesh and spirit inside us; the thinking mind. A band of believers is very good. But a band that is flesh, soul-driven cannot please God. How do we learn the difference? If I’m in a band only for me, how it will benefit me, it’s the flesh. Others-driven, it’s the spirit.
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus didn’t come to earth for his sake but for ours. We are to do the same. By helping others, we are blessed. It is the same for others as they help us.
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
My purpose is to help sharpen others in Christ. Others help sharpen me.
Result? Both are sharp.
Spiritual relationship.
Let’s be a safe place where others can are accepted, loved, trusting, and vulnerable.
All in the name of Jesus.
Stying ????’n Christ
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.