Philippians 1:27-30
English Standard Version (ESV)
The church is an amazing organization. We have Christ as our head and we are dispersed throughout the world as individuals, each of us representing the church. There are people in the world who form their entire impression of Christianity based on their interactions with individual Christians. It's not always fair, but it's true, and so I don't think it's unfair to say that we carry an obligation to the outside world to live in such a way that communicates the church is a place of grace and truth and love. We don't have to roll over for everyone, but we can communicate the truth in a way that creates room for every single person on the planet to come to Christ as a sinful person in need of grace, ourselves included.
Living focused on Christ may involve some suffering. Christ is clear that God prunes the branches out of love so that we might grow. In our baptisms, we are joined in Christ's death just as we are joined in Christ's resurrection, so let us remind one another to be hopeful in the midst of suffering. The darkness shall not overcome the light!
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