Why am I blogging?

Some time ago my counsellor (yes, you all know already that I am a therapist junkie) set me a challenge: to read through the New Testament looking for what God's Word has to say about how we are to be with each other.  How are we to treat each other, communicate with each other, behave around each other, etc and specifically in the context of a church community.  My immediate thought was: 'Well, I know what the Bible says.  I've been a Christian long enough'.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that while I have a general sense of what the Bible says in this area, I couldn't list specific verses, nor would I find it easy to sit down and off the top of my head write a code for church conduct listing vision and values for how we are to treat each other.  I would find it easier to say how are Christians to be in contrast to how the world is - what makes us salt and light when we are out there (Matt 5:13-16). But how are we to be in church?  Hmm...

To be honest I am a bit gob-smacked by this realisation.  Is it maybe easier to be counter cultural in respect to the world than it is in church?  I mean, I don't have to be very salty maybe to be more salty than the world.  But maybe in contrast to other Christians I am not shining very brightly at all.  Not that I am trying to compete you understand, its just that maybe I have realised I have a long way still to go.  Jesus says: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48) not be a bit more perfect than those in the world.

I feel deeply challenged but I am up for learning & growing!  My prayer is that God would search me and purify me (Ps 51), that He would show me where He still has work to do in me, that I might co-operate with Him and walk in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:16-18).  And maybe you feel the same way too.  I which case lets learn and grow together, learn to love each other in such a way that the world may see that we are His disciples (Jn 13:35)