Lack of substance vs Christ the solid rock

What do we listen to, what causes us to act on something?

From time to time I hear of various people listening to, getting worried about, or acting on things which in reality lack any substance. If one takes some time to scrutinise, they turn out largely to be 'in the air'.

As Christians we are called to act with reference to a firm foundation - on Jesus Christ. Only in Christ can things hold together - without him they tend to float around, or be blown here and there.

See the clear before/after description of Christians in Ephesians 2: they used to live 'following the kingdom of the air', and now they are 'built on a foundation ... with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone'. To not find the relationship to Christ as the foundation betrays in us immaturity, where we are tossed about and blown around by the winds (4:14).

So on hearing something apply some simple tests: first ask the obvious 'is there any substance to this' and then perhaps use the 'up/in/out' questions as a further guide:

• how might this enable me or others to relate to God through Christ?
• how might this enable the Spirit to minister into my life or the life of others?
• how might this help move us out into God's mission?

Such tests could save from alot of being blown around here there and everywhere.

Community Facilitation

One of my favourite verses is Zechariah 8:4-5 - a wonderful picture of how society can be. People of all ages able to come out, be together, with old people feeling secure, young people playing. Taking Jerusalem as symbolic, denoting where God's people welcome and invite His presence, we can pray and aspire for these verses to be a reality in our own communities - the result of Christians being salt & light out where they live.

One way in which we can work towards this is what I call 'Community Facilitation', where the Christians do something that enables people in general to come together. It doesn't necessarily take that much, but a little seasoning goes a long way to bring down barriers and soon you find other people pitching in as well. At an event I was at today, when the rain came down it was not a serious problem - people stayed out and a few locals nipped in to fetch gazebos to quickly deploy so that they and their neighbours could keep dry while continuing to mix. In many ways it was a great moment.

I believe such blessing for the community will move things in one direction - a positive direction. One can get the idea of where it could eventually lead to by checking out v23 of the same chapter.