For
this past year, Lisa and I have been teaching, training, debriefing, and
loving on hundreds of young missionaries from America and Canada.
Most
of our time with them is spent in our Lapa (South African patio with a
thatch roof over the top, keeps the heat out) in our back yard. The
conversations are mostly about Kingdom living; community, apostolic
family, tabernacle and covenant.
This
generation is looking for the “Authentic” – people that are really who
they say they are and family’s that live out the kingdom, together.
When they get around it, they come alive and want more… here is a
little taste:
Covenant
People
in covenant relationships are risk takers. They have taken a corporate
trust fall. They have chosen to together create an atmosphere of
safety, where secrets can be shared and intimacy can grow. It is doubly
risky because those looking on from the outside will brand the endeavor
“exclusive”. In doing so, they may be among a group that wants the
benefit of covenant without paying the price.
People
in covenant ARE exclusive. They promise to be there for one another. In
a culture that prizes independence, they commit to interdependence.
People
in Covenant recognize that life is difficult, many times even
impossible for lone rangers. They have plumbed the depths of their
shortcomings and failures and recognize that only the radical response
of commitment to others will save them from themselves… Mothers have a
refuge from the craziness of raising baby’s. Children have a model of
adults who love them and give them perspective on their parents.
Husbands know their wives have a safe harbor if hell should break loose
against their family while they are away.
And
it costs. It costs in the discomfort and even awkwardness of sharing
pain of struggle. It costs in time required. It costs in the new habit
of sharing life-together and that trust-building demands. It costs in
the perseverance needed when expectations are not met. It costs in the
counter-culture commitment of something that might feel slightly
cultish.
But,
independent of the rewards of intimacy and a safe place to run to,
there is the simple fact of obedience. Obedience to a biblical model.
Obedience to a command to love one another deeply. Jesus had a lot of
disciples. He was in covenant with just a few.
The
Church knows the word covenant, but it understands little of its depth.
To go beyond that norm is to go to a place that at first may feel
dangerous, but is ultimately home!
Proverbs 17:17 says: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
