Fully Alive 6

The glory of God is a human fully alive,” so said Irenaeus, and this line is both quoted and a theme for Trevor Hudson’s new book, Discovering Our Spiritual Identity: Practices for God’s Beloved.

Signpost #5: We discover ourselves in a new family, the family of God. We cannot be followers of Jesus all alone. Spiritual friendship is the theme.

“Saying yes to Jesus, I discovered, involved saying yes to his family, both visible and invisible.”

The Jesus-yes, Church-no slogan … yes, there are problems with and in the church. But the kingdom is not a private banquet between you/me and God. There is a relational reality about kingdom.

Trevor observes how little language there is in the NT about individual spiritual formation — why? Because it is focused on the People of God.

Here these words of his: “Within community,
God is known,
Christ takes shape,
and the Spirit burns with transforming power.”How often do we consider the connection with have the Saints who have departed? (Communion of saints, not just living saints.) He ponders the Desert saints and with our church tradition’s “cloud of witnesses.”

But this community is also local and now: fellowship is the right word. Trevor thinks small group involvement is foundational, more foundational than church attendance.

And he speaks of faithful friendships. One to one friendships. Routine and regular meetings with another person. This is about doing life together in an open, trusting, loving manner.

Trevor: “There can be no I without you.”