Jesus spoke to the disciples in this way (John 15:14-16):
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last.
God needs partners who:
1) Share his heart. As we grow in our relationship with God, we become more and more aware of the cries of those who are oppressed
2) Understand his purposes. Jesus says that he calls us friends - because we have been let into the "inner circle". Through Jesus we have an insight into the Kingdom Vision - we know what God seeks to achieve.
3) Do the Will of God. We do the Will of God when we are motivated by the heart of God (compassion) and instructed and guided by a knowledge of the purposes of God.
Now this may be the most important insight...
If God works in partnership, surely this becomes a pattern for us! We are called to act in partnership. God is not only concerned with progress, but also how that progress is achieved. God seeks to make progress (the end) in a way that honours partnerships (the means). We are called into community, to worship and serve in community, because it is in community that partnerships and shared responsibility are forged.
We are needing to ask more questions about the way we are doing things in the church, as well as what we are achieving... Are we a church community that honours and upholds partnership (broad participation in conversation and activity) as a key value. We are having to learn a new value of participation at all levels of life and community.
We can therefore ask ourselves the following questions:
- am I acting alone on this "project"?
- is it possible to act in partnership with someone else?
- who can I invite to share responsiblity and work-load on this
"project"?
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