Who Am I?

Who am I and why do I do the things that I do? Why do I get up every Sunday morning, putting on nicer clothes than usual to sit in a folding chair surrounded by hundreds of other people, most of whom I don't know yet? Why do I refrain from cussing or getting drunk or viewing internet porn? Why do I contribute money or time to things that I think are good causes? Is it because that's what good Christians do? Is it because that's what "the churched" do?

I read an thought provoking blog the other day (http://www.jesustheradicalpastor.blogspot.com/). Here's a quote from John Frye:

"I wonder if what many of us call "transformation" is nothing more than socially-driven behavioral modification, that is, we're conditioned by the "churched life" to live a certain way and, thus, to unwittingly become numb to the radical Spirit's mission to overhaul everything about us as the Spirit compels us to follow that radical pastor named Jesus."

So again I ask, who am I? Not who I'm supposed to be, or who I have the potential to be, or who Christ died so that I could be. But as I walk this journey out, who do my actions and attitudes reveal me to be?

Here are some things I know (and not just because I "feel" it in my heart, but because God Himself has told me so through His Word):

I am His beloved
I am the apple of His eye
He delights in me
I am the daughter of the King

I am also a sinner
Who
At times has grieved the Holy Spirit

In spite of that
I have a whole cloud of witnesses cheering me on as I walk this out
Encouraging me to never give up
To finish strong.

I am, along with you all, the Church. As I make this commitment to the One who claimed to be God, proving it on a Sunday morning long long ago, I ask you to commit with me:

Christ alone is the source of divine life. May I be authentic as I learn and grow and serve with that body He has died to redeem. May I love Him, His Church and the lost with a passion that increasingly mirrors His own.