Laughter and Tears
The world is not as it should be, yet we believe that God has called us to live life abundantly and fully. The enemy tries to deaden our desires, numb our hearts, and cause us to forget the longings in our soul that draw us to our Creator. We don’t want to ever pretend that things are fine when they’re not, and the tears that a friend sheds on our behalf are often the best medicine. For the Christian, a realistic view of sin, along with the surrender of our helplessness to fix it, is what allows us to experience deep joy and to laugh together, not at another’s expense, but in celebration of who God made us to be and in longing for our ultimate home. Christ calls us to suffer with him on the cross and also promises our fellowship in the joy that is yet to come. We hold humor and sorrow equally high, and we rejoice that, in the midst of a fallen world, we can laugh together and cherish glimpses of the future glory we will share with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Crucified Relationships
We want our lives to shout that the Gospel is true, and we want for ourselves the same thing we want for the world—to invite each other into a beautiful cosmic dance with the Trinity as Christ describes in John 17. We have found that it’s impossible to offer this to the world without continually offering it to each other, and it’s messy, just like the cross was painfully messy. We want to nail our sin, shame and fear to the Cross for the sake of others and for relationship. If we protect ourselves by hiding our shame, lashing out at others, or withholding tenderness, then we refuse to love them. We deny that the Gospel is true. We choose ourselves over others, refusing to die and risk crucifixion for their sake, and we place ourselves above God who has commanded us to love. To love people is to offer them ourselves, naked and vulnerable, and to offer them the chance of redemption. It’s what Christ did for us.
Pursuit of Redemption
We long for people of every tribe and tongue to be reconciled to God, and to experience the power of the Gospel transforming their lives. We really like the word community, and we desire to see the global Church unified under the Lordship of Christ. As each one of us is being redeemed into the people God made us to be, we ruthlessly pursue the world’s redemption in the unique ways that God made us individually whether this means using our musical talent to create worship songs that draw others to Christ, people skills to plant a church, counseling skills to show the downtrodden their value to God, or our messy pasts to help others out of similar pits. We want to be strategic, while listening to the Holy Spirit; steadfast, yet flexible; and bold, while being kind. We want to make disciples who will go on to passionately pursue the proclamation of the Gospel in their communities around the world.
