Colossians 3: In Christ
“Americans are more divided than ever.” Plug that phrase into Google, and countless headlines pop up detailing the extreme tribalism America is experiencing in this age. It’s almost an assumed truth at this point – though how it could be true in a country that has experienced a civil war is lost on me. But it certainly feels true, and that may be just as important as if it were actually true.
A recent Pew Research Center study on the “post-millennial” generation in America confirmed that Generation Z, as it’s often colloquially known, is the most diverse generation this country has seen. There are many reasons to see that as cause for celebration. As Christians, we believe the gospel is for all peoples of all nations, so we long for as many people groups to be reached as possible. But increased diversity does imply that the tribalism that we’ve been experiencing over the last couple of decades doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.
None of this is taking God by surprise. In fact, He gave us precisely the means to be a light in divided times. Through Paul, God spends a lot of time in scripture exhorting us to pursue unity in Christ. At Providence Road, Pastor Jeremy recently preached through Philippians 2, in which Paul calls upon us to be “of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”
But how do we pursue this kind of ideal unity as a church body? Our covenant members come from different backgrounds, have different political ideologies, care about different things; how do we live “in full accord and of one mind?”
We invite you to join us at Providence Road Church on South Crawford in Downtown Norman at 10:30 AM every Sunday for the next few weeks as our pastors preach through Colossians 3. In this chapter, Paul shows us what it looks like to pursue unity in Christ. We will hear about who we are in Christ and about what disciplines we need to adopt in order to hold on tightly to that identity. We in the church are one in Christ; let’s join together to learn how we live that out.
