Inclusion

Please read Acts 2:43-47

The church was formed based on the inclusion of believers who were brought in to gather around tables to eat and to sacrificially, provide for the poor.

This text is titled “Life among the believers.” Inclusion is sharing life within the bounds of the Christian faith.

Inclusion is not “getting someone to volunteer to lighten the load for other volunteers.”

Rather, when we seek to involve someone in a given task or event, we deeply desire for them to understand their value to the group. They need to grasp the task at hand, however, a larger goal is for them to feel the love of Christ as we bring them into the center of Christian fellowship.

I have always said, “What we plan and do is 50% of the work at hand. HOW we accomplish this work, how we embrace the presence of those around us and create an atmosphere of friendship and welcome is the other 50%.

We can engage with many tasks. There is always “this and that” which we can choose to do. But there is a difference in just getting a job done and doing it in a way which creates genuine community. We are bringing folks closer to the center of what it means to be the body of Christ.

Inclusion will never be just about getting people to do stuff.

Inclusion is where a life of faithful discipleship really begins.

Moving to the deeper places,
Jeff