In Our Pursuit of Jesus Christ
Where We've Come From
My family and I spent years involved in traditional/institutional forms of church here in the U.S., including being involved in the ministry as part of the worship team, being a worship leader, and youth minister, pursuing things others told us were the good or right things to do in order to live 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 knew, deep in our gut, there had to be more to being a Christian, a true follower of Jesus, than what traditional/institutional Christianity 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?"
Who & What We're Pursuing Now
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 have shared 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 fulfillment of that longing through living in community, 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 us on a journey. 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 to be certain, you realize you don’t really know much at all, you grow through the process. And at some point you find yourself.
Of course, this one "About" page can't possibly fit all the details regarding what this all looks like. There is much to unpack from this one page in order to get a better grasp on it all. But, I can say this for certain, we’ve found ourselves in the person of Jesus Christ. Our true identity can only be found in Him alone. Please understand, I write here not because we have all of the answers, but because we are seeking to follow the One who has the answers, the words of Life, and often times I use this space to work through some thoughts in the process. So, I invite you on this journey with us, to read, to think, to share thoughts or questions in the comments, to challenge, but most importantly, to pursue Jesus Christ with us, that we could spur one another onward in Him, and grow in our love for Him and those around us, to see His Life expressed on the earth, right where we 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.
For His increase,
-Tobias
P.S. The two links in this section redirect to two books that I believe do a great job of explaining the Eternal Purpose of God and what is meant when I say Jesus Christ becoming the central and supreme passion in our lives.
