“15 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” (1 Cor 15:1-11 ESV)

Basic moral tales help us to a vision of the church’s ministry as being not some vain “QED” or finality, but of a football match, all hands on deck, we are a Team. It comes down to whether we believe this Jesus-stuff or not; if our faith is in Him, then we will hear both rebuke and encouragement, but at no time will it seem like sin is a “done deal” or “too elusive to forgive”.

Mankind has learned to elevate One Man as capable of producing fruit for the entire community, nation, and world. That Man is a soldier of Christ, Christ Himself being an apostle of the Father and we, like Him, giddy and celebratory, astonished to see the gladsome tribes and crowds waltz by in the streets: this Peace has been afforded us by sane and peaceable Mentors and Presidents, leaders and bishops, who never lost sight of the Costly Dispensation of the last War.

Then the question mark around our own faith: no, we are in no way at odds or frustrated by the deeds of, our Father in Heaven. We are not trying to outdo our mold or casted frame; nothing is too wonderful for us to own in dreams, and ours is the winning ticket. It is a strange Victory, because we pinch ourselves asking: Do I “get it”? Am I “relevant” and “wakeful”, “conscious”, “servant-minded”? No, the pressures literally give us wild kinds of courage but time also to reflect that Christ died for us. Our requiem, our life’s work, our deeds of unwitting courage or selfless Love, something of our brash and angular Persona will bear witness to Christ’s imprint on our lives. Thought we are brash, though judgmental of others, though a whole litany of sins do pertain, we are Confessing of Jesus. The best Sinner Saved, the best Soldier in uniform, is exactly that: confrontational and off-loading all sin onto Him who is the Head. Stop trying and be “perfect”, stop the “gotcha”, or the finality of the sins we attribute to others. Laugh a bit, that “of course” we are each of us sinners, but that is never the last word: Christ is the last word.

Therefore we plug Him into the network and cloud, mining or divvying up all the “juice” and “fruit” of a soul who lived in patient, lonesome at times, sinlessness. He can take it! He can shoulder the worldwide Impact of His blood! He will have His cross carried for a bit, when it becomes too much for Him alone. Indeed, radical is the claim of just how much He did do alone! Wandering in some thought sphere removed and wildly prophetic, wildly miraculous, a walk on water, a floating ten leagues distant from the nearest safe house or prayer closet. Utterly vulnerable but… thanks to said sane or peaceable Leaders, He is alive for those few precious years to Serve and Be There for us, His fellows in arms.

Anointed Men and Women also stand by, to carry forth the Message in their own special and unique giftings, to the masses, to the whole world a congregation to evangelize, a mission field. Get excited! Read the proper Histories!