Taking
Our Place in the Bulwark
.
by Bob Tedesco
It’s a Wonderful
Life!
According to George Bailey (actor Jimmy Stewart
in the film, It's a Wonderful Life),
having an angel and a number of good friends is
a “wonderful life”. I wonder how he might
respond to knowing that we have an army of
angels (2 Kings 6:16-17) if needed, and tons of
Christian friends! Our way of life in Sword of
the Spirit communities is truly a really, really
wonderful thing.
This Life is a “New Thing”
From the beginning of the charismatic renewal
which began in the 1960s, we have heard the
prophetic word about God doing a “new thing” in
our midst today. Recently, a couple of our
community leaders have sensed that the Lord
wants us to see that the call to build a bulwark
of covenant communities is a big part of the
“new thing,” and that he is waiting for us,
young and old, to take it more seriously. He is
calling us to be “all in”… heart, mind, soul and
strength. The Bulwark he wants us to be part of
is not meant to have gaps and holes in it.
Have you ever watched children playing soccer?
At any given time, several of the kids will be
distracted and the opposing team will run right
by them. Often, as adults, we are so distracted
by certain details of our lives, that the enemy
just runs right by us with no resistance. (James
4:7)
As we consider the “new thing,” notice that even
elements of our way of life seem new or unusual
to those around us: a people trying to integrate
baptism in the Spirit and the gifts of the
Spirit into daily life and not just a prayer
meeting is an unusual thing.
A people trying
to welcome and build the Kingdom of God…
A people trying to live a
scriptural way of life…
A people trying to live
according to a scriptural covenant…
A people trying to live in
an ecumenical community…
A people trying to live
with lay leadership…
A people trying to raise
their children as disciples of Christ…
A people who builds a
youth bridge covering K through
post-university or trade school ages…
A people who take their
place in a world-wide bulwark that presents
the gospel and the culture of the kingdom of
God…
There may be more, but these
together make a very new thing, a very
remarkable thing, a very wonderful thing.
It’s a Covenant Life
This wonderful life is a covenant life. It might
be prudent to reconsider our own covenant
annually. Our way of life is described in our
community covenant and it becomes reality as we
are faithful to it.
Our God is a Covenant
Maker!
Starting early in the Old Testament the Lord
shows himself to be a covenant maker and a
covenant keeper. A covenant is a promise, and a
community covenant is a set of promises that
describes a hoped-for way of life. This
full-life covenant is family-like and is meant
to express the kingdom of God on earth.
The true “Super Models”
We all know what the world sees as “super
models”. But the title is based on what you
consider to be super. We happen to have a
superior savior…the best in the entire universe.
And, we are called to individually and
corporately reflect his life and kingdom to the
world. As such, we are super-models as
individuals and collectively the bride of
Christ. We are called to be a city on a hill and
the people of God.
Integrity and Covenants
In the early 1600’s a Catholic priest named
Camillus de Lellis founded a religious community
dedicated to caring for the sick. He was later
canonized in 1746. He is credited with the
quote: “Commitment is doing what you said you
would do, after the feeling you said it in has
passed.” What a good description for married
couples, for religious orders, and for covenant
community members. Time, circumstances and moods
will test our commitments to Christ, to our
spouses if married, and to our covenanted
brothers and sisters. Our integrity is being
tested as we live out our covenant
relationships.
Another quote that recently emerged in an online
bible study: “A new year is a time to look
forward; a time to stretch; a time to grow; a
time to stop babying yourself.” Whether we’re
entering a new year, a new season or simply
taking some time for spiritual reflection,
reviewing our commitment to our covenant
promises will be challenging.
Details…
The Lord makes use of covenants to establish and
develop relationships. Marriage is a good
example: we make a few simple promises only to
find out that those promises cover more of our
lives and decisions than we thought. Some
examples: 1) I did not explicitly promise to
come home every night or 2) to live in common
sharing or 3) to hold down a full-time job, etc.
There are many behaviors and practices needed to
make a good marriage work, to make a good family
work.
While not a marriage covenant, our community
covenant covers many intended details of our way
of life, but more will be necessary for a
successful, covenanted, godly way of life. If we
honor the details of our covenant, we will have
a great start on what the Lord has for us.
Some of the important details in considering our
commitment and faithfulness to our call are:
- Attendance: We are
committed to being present when the
community gathers to pray…and we should be
there.
- Forgiveness: Have we
been quick to forgive and to ask
forgiveness?
- Prayer: Have we been
faithful to personal prayer and scripture
study?
- Tithing: Have we
honored our financial responsibility to the
community?
- Authority: Have we
been submissive to the community leadership
and taken pastoral care seriously?
These are some covenant
details worthy of consideration in any review of
our commitments.
“Get Back”
It’s hard to choose among the pop culture’s
challenges. “Get back!” is an old Beatle’s song
that says, “Get back to where you once
belonged!” There are several movies with the
title, “Back to the Future!” We want a blessed
future and we want to do the right thing in the
present, and those things were written into our
covenant in the past.
It’s probably not safe to use a movie or song to
draw a spiritual conclusion. But I sure don’t
want to hear the Lord say (as in Revelation 2:
45), “But I have this against you, that you have
abandoned the love you had a first. Remember,
then, from what you have fallen, repent and do
the works you did at first.”
The Lord wants us to show our love for him by
our obedience to what he has called us to. I
remember the devotion and dedication that we had
at the beginning…it was remarkable. As we
consider and celebrate our covenant, let’s get
back to where we once belonged (repent) and love
the Lord and the brothers and sisters in the way
that he has shown us. Let’s continue in this
“new thing” that he is doing and the “wonderful
life” of covenant community!
Bob Tedesco is past President of the North
American Region of the Sword of the Spirit.
He is a founder of the People of
God community in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA, and has been one of its
key leaders for the past 45 years.
top image: A
collage of photos depicting
some Sword of the Spirit activities
worldwide, plus a family bible study pic by
bigstock.com
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