The Object of Life Isn’t Objects

Daily writing promptWhat are three objects you couldn’t live without?View all responses

The object of life isn’t having objects. It’s having peace, joy and gratitude. Those three things require a different approach that securing objects. They require an approach that is led by the Spirit of God. (Romans 8:14)

Being a member of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Tennessee while I was in high school, I experienced routine religion, but I didn’t know anything about the real presence and power of the living Jesus. However, my first year at the University of Tennessee at Martin I encountered Jesus in a group of about 60 people who met weekly in the lobby of a dorm to spontaneously worship Him, listen to Him, and testify about Him. I have never been the same. Every day since that moment I have walked and talked with and listened to and tried to obey Jesus.

Jesus prayed that His followers be protected from divisiveness “so that they may be one” even as He and the Farther are one. (John 17) Yet here we are 2,000 years later and according to “Christian Website” “there are approximately 45,000 different Christian denominations worldwide as of 2024.” We Christians have walked away from God’s protection and allowed Satan’s divisiveness to separate us and to shred the body of Christ. Unity has become a theme for conferences rather than the reality Christ wants it to be.

How can we find peace, joy, and gratitude? How can we see Jesus’ prayer for Christian unity answered? I believe that we have to find unity beyond the organizational unity of churches and beyond the legalistic unity of creeds. Our unity has to be the humble unity of brokenness and heart-to-heart connection to the risen Jesus and to one another.

One of the main characteristics of a great awakening is the incredible love for one another that Christians experience that makes the walls of separation fall like the walls of Jerrico. I experienced that in the Jesus Movement, the Lay Witness Movement, the early Charismatic Movement, the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Movement, and the 2023 Asbury Awakening.

People whose first priority is actively seeking the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) radiate Christ’s lifestyle, Christ’s peace, and the joy of His Spirit. (Romans 14:17) They are connected heart-to-heart.

The objects and kingdoms of this world are never truly aligned with the kingdom of God. To experience the kingdom (government) of God you have to search beyond physical objects and human led governments.

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