Into His Story

            Thank God that assimilation can happen in a very different way than what was presented in our previous blog posting.  Praise God that what binds us together as a church body is something eternal and non-perishing.  An eternal assimilation happens as our unique personal stories are assimilated into a grand and divine story; God's story of redemption in Jesus.  God’s story doesn’t become a part of our story; rather we are assimilated into the grand meta-narrative of God’s redemption.  As members of the church we join together into the bride of Christ; as common sinners with a common bridegroom...  Christ.  We grow into the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.  Our assimilation into the church does not come through a blood line but comes through faith in the promised words of scripture.  The Word does not change and is an objective standard and a rich source for all to be incorporated into.  Think about the foundation of being assimilated into Christ!  It isn't that friendships and family are not important, rather, the body is joined together in an eternal perspective that runs much deeper than common interests and family ties.  This kind of assimilation provides a much greater foundation for the church body and grants the church with the ability to weather the storms of personality struggles and inter-personal conflicts to a much greater degree than simple Friendship Assimilation because there is unity and assimilation in Spirit and Truth.  Therefore, Friendship Assimilation can be put into proper context and thought of as a way of connecting people to a much richer assimilation, the grand story of God’s redemption in Christ.