September Reboot

September, the start of a new academic year, the start of a new season, is a good time to ‘reboot’ or recalibrate life if you live in the northern hemisphere.  Here are some rebooting questions.

We are called to become Christ-like.  I would suggest that we do this, through faithful intentional imitation (that is, being disciples), by growing in Christ-like...

(a) character – being like Jesus is like, as revealed in Scripture;

(b) competence – doing what Jesus does, as revealed in Scripture (see John 14:12-14); and

(a+b) calling – sharing in Jesus’ calling and ongoing mission, both in a general sense (e.g. sharing in his suffering and in his glory) and in a particular sense (e.g. as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher).

Q: In what ways have I become more Christ-like in the past twelve months?

Jesus says that life lived well involves loving God, loving our self (by which, culturally, he meant ourselves as described not introspectively or self-centredly but in relation to those we are in relationship with: i.e. not only ‘me’ but my family, my faith community), and loving our neighbour (by which he meant members of the wider community, who are not part of our family/faith community, who live alongside us) as much as we love ourselves.

Q: What does loving God, loving ourselves, and loving our neighbour look like:

for me personally?

(if you live with others) for us as a family?

for us as a local expression of the church?

Q: If love is a choice – as opposed to something we have no say over – in what ways might we choose to grow our love of God, self, and neighbour over the next twelve months?