What About "Us"?

Ask for my hand you know I'll give it
And if you're cold I give you warmth
And I don't care if it's unfair

Cause I would sacrifice myself
Now that I know
The only thing that matters:
Us.

- "Us", Sixpence None the Richer

When I really got serious about God and my commitment to Him some 22 years ago, so full of life and zeal (and relative stupidity) I can remember observing a lot how spiritual leaders spoke and prayed and ministered to people. And, ya know, I was really good back then at always just "knowing" - must have been a gift - when things said and done were spiritual or when they were fleshly or even demonic. And I'm sure I got it right every time. I was so good that I was sure I could be more spiritual than those so-called leaders I heard every week on Sunday!

I now know that, not only was I obviously completely ignorant, blind and prideful (not necessarily in that order) I was probably nearly always wrong! Today I can say with all confidence that I know so little about judging what's really going on with a person, that I've pretty much given it up as a completely useless way of spending my time and energy. cause you know what? I'd still be just about always wrong.

But back in the day, one of my easiest ways to tell if someone was spiritual or not was his or her use of the plural when addressing people in preaching or prayer. What I mean is, if the minister said something like, "we know in our hearts we have to choose God's way", or prayed along the lines of "Lord, we turn from our sins", I would have said every time that that leader was in the flesh. Why? Because everybody spiritual knows (I sure did!) that "real faith (you have to say this making a growling sound with your voice) is something that only you can have between you and Gawwwhhhd, and Gawwwhhhd will hold us each accountable (you have to raise your pitch a bit here) for what you and you alone choose to do in your walk with Him."

You see, I was falling for a half-truth that sounds like a Las Vegas tourism ad... you know, "what happens between me and God stays between me and God". It's up to me. My faith. My prayer. My sin issues. My success or failure. My works. My life. My problem.

And, you know, it is up to me. Well, sort of.

If one looks at earlier church history (even all the way up to around the 17th century and the dawning of the Age of Reason), this wasn't the way things were generally seen. And the New testament itself adds quite an exclamation point to the idea that our faith is largely an "us" thing, not an "I" thing. "We", not "me". Most of Pauls' instructions to the church in his epistles were made in the plural: it was for them together! It's obvious that an individual has to have a relationship with his or her God, but something else must happen when those relationships intersect with one another. And that would be...

Us.

And us is not just a good thing. It's an absolute imperative if we are going to be agents of the Kingdom of God! We hear lots of talk about how all I need is Jesus and how I can be everything He was/is and how I can do all things, etc, etc, etc. But all that kind of teaching does is pick right up on our American state of modernity and individualism. It's all about me so it's all up to me. And all I need is Jesus... and me.

And so what about us? Now that isn't what I need, is it? You're certainly not what I need. Not really. After all, I have Jesus. And I have me. And that's all good. Right?

Maybe that's why the average person now has less than two good friends and why there is such a culture of individual rights that the lawyers run the planet. Maybe that's why loneliness and depression and alienation and rejection are epidemics in this world. Maybe that's why everybody keeps to themselves and lives in front of their PCs and TVs and why when the guy down the street ends up snapping one night and shooting his entire family while they sleep, you get to hear the touching words of some surprised neighbor: "He was such a nice guy... never caused any trouble... (and let's all say it together now) ...he just kept to himself".

Kept to himself. That's what happens. We keep to ourselves. Live that way. Die that way. Maybe we all just want to be like Frank Sinatra. You know... "I did it my way." It seems so individual. Powerful. Responsible. So American.

But not so... Christian. When will we realize that we need each other? That we have doors in our lives that only other people have been given the keys to? That God Himself is a relationship and that we must live in real relationships to experience Him. That we are made to fit together and be the body together and be Jesus together?

"Me and Jesus" doesn't work. It never did and it never will. And the sooner we wake up and connect our hearts to His and to one another (one might ask which of these comes first when John says, "... if we love one another, God abides in us and His love has been perfected in us."), the sooner we will begin to see the outrageous love that not only characterizes His Kingdom, but that changes this world in its power!

As for me, I'm back to using a lot of "we" terminology. In fact, "we" used it tonight in our branch meeting. We saw Jesus in OUR midst. We changed song lyrics from "I" and "me" to "us and "we". We prayed as an us. We shared prophetic words as an us. And God moved strongly among us. And brought us into more and more clarity about the identity and purpose of us.

Don't get me wrong. Jesus cares about you and about me. And we have individual lives that matter. Us is not a replacement of me. But it is a real context for me to find my life. And for that matter, for me to find your life. For you to find my life. For us to find our lives. And together, to discover Jesus' life.

After all, we "together" are His body. And that is the only Jesus physically on this planet. And His real presence is the thing that matters.

And you'll find Him right where you find...

Us.

Live Courageous!