Living the Common Life

If you are a Christian believer, you and I have much in common.  And we have much in common with others around the world and throughout history. 

Our commonness is not something shallow like sports teams, food preferences, clothing styles or schooling choices.  Nor is it of a more serious nature such as parenting style, Christian liberty or the way we conduct church.  It’s not even in the finer points of our beliefs. 

No, our commonness lies at a much deeper level than any of these.  We all have a common inheritance of fullness, completeness, restoration and spiritual blessing in Christ.  This common identity is with close friends and with those with whom we sense a strained relationship.  Whether we happen to like them or not has nothing to do with it.  Whether we realize it or not we are in this together. 

We have a common purpose with those in our church community and with those among the world church community.  This common purpose is with the colorfully dressed Kenyan lady whose arms are filled with bracelets as she strings green saplings for a hut.  It’s with the Irishmen dressed in his wool turtleneck and raincoat as he repairs his fishing nets, and it’s with the Vietnamese family who wear their straw conical hats and sell vegetables from their traditional wooden boats.  As Christian believers we all assemble to respectfully honor and worshipfully exalt God.  Just as the Westminster shorter catechism reminds us, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”   

Our common foundation is solidly and solely, Jesus Christ.  Throughout history Moravians, early Church Fathers and the relatives we see on tin type photos have had this same foundation.  Christ has always been, remains and will always be our King and Brother, Lord and Friend, Master and Mediator, Savior.

 

The Apostle Paul accentuates this common unity in his correspondence with some Asian believers, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

This, my friend, is a common life worth the living.