In Pursuit of Christ and His Eternal Purpose

In our pursuit of Jesus Christ
My family and I spent years involved in traditional/institutional forms of church, pursuing things others told us were the good or right things of a Christian life. As time went on, we recognized that often times most of what we were being told to do had to do with building that particular church's membership or budget, and very little to do with what we read about in the scriptures.  We began to recognize a deep longing for something more had grown within us.  We had a desire to truly know the person of Jesus Christ and to find out what His desires are.  At the end of March 2009, my family and I gave up the pursuit of things and what others had told us about being a good Christian and stopped attending traditional/institutional forms of church.

We had a longing that there had to be more to being a true follower of Jesus than what modern Christianity in the U.S. has to offer.  I remember thinking to myself, "Is this all the Christian life is about? Isn't there more to being a follower of Jesus?" Asking myself, "What was so life changing that persuaded the disciples and those of the early church to live and give their lives, even unto death?"

Then we heard about the Eternal Purpose of God, the revelation of Jesus Christ as the central being, the main character of God’s grand “story.” That He is the fulfillment, the completion, the embodiment of the Eternal Purpose of God, and His desire to have His life expressed upon the earth is like a consuming fire that is burning away all that is not Him.  Jesus Christ has become our passion and pursuit. The people we share our lives with in this pursuit have become our family.

This revelation of Jesus Christ and the Eternal Purpose of God is the answer to that longing.  We have found the fulfillment of that longing through living in community with other saints, with deep relationships, and expressing and sharing the Life of Jesus Christ with others under the headship of Jesus Christ alone. This is the missing element, the missing part of life, that we had not found in any traditional/institutional church we had ever been a part of.  Jesus Christ becoming the central being and supreme passion in our lives is what I will give my life for. He is what I live my life for.

It is a pursuit because Jesus Christ is leading deeper into Himself.  It is a journey that has been years in the making, and from all evidence, we will be on this journey for years to come.  As with most journeys, along the way you unlearn what you thought you knew, you realize you don’t really know much at all, you grow through the process.  And at some point you find yourself.

We’ve found ourselves in the person of Jesus Christ.  Our true identity can be found in Him alone.  Understand, I write here not because I have all of the answers.  But because I’m following the One who has the answers, the words of Life and often times I need help working through it all.  So I invite you on this journey with us, to read, to think, to share, to challenge, but most importantly to pursue Jesus Christ with us, and grow in your love for Him and those around you, to see His Life expressed on the earth, right where you are.

Thanks for stopping by re:Think. I pray Jesus Christ becomes central and supreme in your lives and you will live to see the Eternal Purpose of God.

-Tobias