<\/p>\n
When I was little, I thought Then, when I was fifteen, I had my first experience with the I still think being a Christian involves a personal Being a Christian is participating in the kingdom of God. Church. Family. Talking to Jesus. <\/p>\n Yes. Yes. Yes. And so much more. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was little, I thought being a Christian meant going to church with my family. If pressed, I probably would have added some thoughts about the 10 Commandments and being nice, and I probably would have mentioned Jesus. Then, when I was fifteen, I had my first experience with the Holy Spirit. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nbeing a Christian meant going to church with my family. If pressed, I probably
\nwould have added some thoughts about the 10 Commandments and being nice, and I
\nprobably would have mentioned Jesus. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nHoly Spirit. I was on a retreat, praying, and I heard God talk to me. That
\nmoment changed my understanding of Christianity. It was more than church and
\nfamily. Christianity became about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a
\nrelationship that meant I could talk to God directly, and that even when I
\nwasn’t “good” I was loved.<\/p>\n
\nrelationship with Jesus. And I think participation in a local church is a vital
\npart of that relationship. But I also think Christianity is much more than church,
\nfamily, or a personal relationship with Jesus.<\/p>\n
\nJesus came, as God in the flesh, in order to announce a spiritual reality in
\nwhich all of us could participate, a spiritual reality that transforms social
\nstructures and overcomes injustice and is based upon love and giving instead of
\ncommerce and productivity. Participation in the kingdom of God isn’t all about
\nme and my relationship with Jesus, although if I disregard that relationship I
\nwill lose my sense of the kingdom too. Participation is about understanding
\nmyself as God’s beloved–rebellious and yet forgiven, broken and yet in the
\nprocess of being healed, and placed in this particular time and place for a
\npurpose. Participation in the kingdom involves the inward work of prayer and
\ncontemplation and connection with God, but it combines those things with the
\noutward work of service and justice and care for others.<\/p>\n