The Beauty of God's People

(Further reasons I am personally persuaded the message of Jesus Christ is true...)

There is something unique and special about the people of God. I'm not speaking of some hypothetical construct here, but of real people: Christians I have had the joy of interacting with around the globe over many years. Like the other matters of beauty I'm including in this series, this adds credibility to the claims of Jesus Christ; for his people show his mark on their lives.

I've been wanting to write this blog post for many days, but I've been delayed for good reason: time spent with some of God's great people, at a missions conference at Calvary Church of Charlotte. Here there are multiple nationalities, meeting at a church that hosts one of the largest Spanish-speaking congregations in the Carolinas. The unity of purpose and of mission is remarkable.

I have traveled and met with believers in Russia, England, Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, Cuba and in other Asian locations. In every place there has been an instant sense of love and brotherhood. I have been in conference with believers from all over Asia, and even those from historically hostile nations have been in unity. In South Africa I had the privilege of being with believers from all over Africa and some of the Muslim Middle Eastern nations; the same was true there. There is within the body of Christ--those who truly seek to follow him--a true sense of "one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:5-6).

Among those have been some who were persecuted or otherwise suffering--a Cuban church, for one, meeting in one stall of a cow barn, expressing their praise to God and gratefulness for the provision of that place--because other provision was hard to come by, under that government, and because meeting in one of their members' homes proved to be a barrier for some visitors. Friends of mine are just back from Belarus, where the church is experiencing persecution much like in the days of Communism, yet still has great joy in Christ. The people of God show the power of God even--or especially--when most under stress.

I have known a few Christians who were hard to get along with for various reasons. I acknowledge that it is not always ideal; and I'm sure there are some who would say I have been hard to get along with. This is most certainly not about a group claiming they have arrived.

But then I think of the mission agency with which I work. I have been a Human Resource director, and now I am attached to a team that includes our internal auditors. Those are two great places from which to see an organization's very worst. And even knowing the worst, I can attest to how great God's people in this outfit really are.

When I was pursuing my Master's degree in a Human Resource-related field, I had to take some time off to go with a leadership team that was going to shut down one of our major divisions and re-assign all the people. I told a professor I had to miss a class, and why. He said, "I take it you're going to call in all their keys, credit cards, and so on." I said, "No;" to which he responded, "What about all the theft and sabotage you're going to have from them?"

I smiled and said, "You know, our team has been planning this for six weeks, working through every contingency and every communication plan; and that topic never came up even once." As it turned out, it didn't need to. The staff members who were affected took the news with some pain and grief, but with grace, and to the credit of the character of Christ in them, there wasn't a single instance of retaliation against the organization. This is the mark of Jesus Christ on his people.

Likewise, the church my family now attends has its flaws--no claim to perfection, by any means--but it is marked by grace, caring, and genuine, refreshing friendship. They are ordinary people--who love.

The real people with whom I interact, close to home and far away, are, well, they're real people. Every Christian is in process; we all have deficits and faults, bad habits and annoying behaviors. Yet the unity, joy, and brotherhood that I really do experience among friends at home and on the road--this really shines. The beauty of Christ is seen in many ways--and one of them is through his people.

Part of a series on Beauty as reason to believe in Jesus Christ:
1. The Beauty of Christ
2. The Beauty of God's Word
3. The Beauty of God's People
4. The Beauty of Virtue
5. The Beauty of Creativity
6. The Beauty of Explanation: The Human Condition
7. The Beauty of Explanation: The Solution
8. The Beauty of Hope

(See the introduction to Part 1, The Beauty of Christ, for the purpose and context of the entire series.)

Posted: Wed - February 28, 2007 at 09:52 PM |

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The Beauty of God's People

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson