Nate spoke on Matthew 6, and he divided the chapter into two sections: the first part, which is about being real with God as you live out your faith (not performing in order to impress others), and the second part, which is about not worrying or living in fear, because God is in control. (If you'd like to listen to the message, it should be posted here very soon).
Nate challenged us to live as a community this way - not faking, and not judging others for their vulnerability. I know I needed to be reminded of that - it is so easy to fall into this trap of believing that if you don't have it all together, then you must not be a good Christian. If you'd just "pray harder" your life would be perfect.
But this is so not true. As Christians, we should be striving to be more Christ-like, but that is only possible if we allow each other to see our weaknesses and help us work through them. At the same time, we cannot judge those around us, because who wants to be judged when they are trying to be vulnerable?
I got to see this demonstrated in an inspiring way tonight. At the end of the sermon, Nate invited people to come up to the front, cut a piece of twine, and tie it around their wrist as a reminder to live committed to Christ. What Well leadership hadn't realized, though, is that it is very hard to tie a piece of twine around your own wrist. I was sitting in the front, and I got to witness people helping each other out left and right. One girl was struggling with it, and another girl, who I am pretty sure was a total stranger to the first girl, just walked up to her and helped her out. To me, that was a beautiful metaphor for how the Christian family is supposed to work: I may not know you that well, but we're in this together so let me love on you.
