Last night, we had our first KSURF Konnection. "KSURF" stands for Kansas State University Reformed Fellowship and is a club on campus made up of college students from our church. This "Konnection" was our first attempt at a more formal campus event and was modeled after an event held by the church college group that I was in at Purdue University and included game-playing, testimony-sharing, Psalm-singing, and an interactive Bible study.
The topic for the evening was Fellowship. What is fellowship anyway? Does it just have to do with eating (fellowship meals), talking with people (enjoying "good fellowship"), or being an a small space with lots of people ("close fellowship")? We were challenged to think about God's view of fellowship, including His plan for the privileges as well as responsibilities we share. As Christians, we belong to one another and are required to love, honor, pray for, and help one another. In turn, we should expect those things from our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And, in order for these things to happen, we need to be willing to know people and be known by people.
I was thinking a bit about that this morning, but I was also thinking about another aspect of the meeting last night. A man from our church shared his testimony of God's grace in his life, and he shared it with the metaphor of a "good story" plot - including setting, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. He began by describing where he was born, his goals of being good at everything and eventually getting married (which would be the "climax"), getting old, and eventually dying, with people remembering him well and naming scholarships after him. Of course, he later retold the story from a different perspective, challenging us to think about the reality of Jesus Christ truly being the hero of his story and ours.
I've been reading some pretty amazing stories in the Bible recently - first the life of Paul in the book of Acts and just beginning the story of Joshua. Wow. Take some time to read through those stories over a few hours or days. Both Paul and Joshua had amazing accomplishments and adventures, unbelievable happenings in their lives. But, you know what? They're not the heros. Who made them able to do all of those amazing things? And who chose to record those stories for us?
It's the obviously simply Sunday school answer: God. But the reality is anything but simplistic. GOD, the Creator of the universe, the Savior of those once enslaved to sin, the Keeper of those who are His--He is the hero.
And He is the hero of my story. He is the one who saved me from living for myself. He is the one who has given me any talent I have or goodness I demonstrate. He is the one who gives me life and breath each day. He is the one who is working all things for my good--and ultimately for my becoming more like Jesus. He is the one who has numbered my days, determined my steps, and will take me Home at the end of this life (which is really more like the prologue to the REAL story of eternal life!).
So, as the speaker last night challenged us, I challenge you to seriously consider: Who is the hero of YOUR story?
