In my view, many of the most profound insights during our weekly gatherings at Tapestry arise from the responses of our community members to the message. Often, someone adds depth to the discussion initiated by our speaker (who is usually me) with a question or comment, resulting in impactful moments for our congregation. These interactions can occur during the message itself, when I invite contributions at the message’s conclusion, or even after the formal segment of the gathering has concluded.
Today, one such moment occurred after the “official” part of our gathering had ended.
During the message, I discussed the transformation of Abram and Sarai by God, who reshaped them into new beings, reflected in their name changes from Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. God made them anew. They didn’t change themselves. They just believed that God could. They lived in that trust. Similarly, encountering Jesus often entails shedding our old selves to embrace the new creation within us. As the saying goes, “You cannot see God and live” (Exodus 33:20).
While we were packing up—given that we are a nomadic church without a permanent building, setup and teardown occur weekly—Katie D approached me with a poignant illustration of our struggle against shedding our old selves and embracing the new. She referenced a scene from the 1980s movie “Short Circuit.” Here’s the scene:
In this scene, Number 5 perceives disassembly as death. For believers, resurrection signifies that death is not the end. We need not fear “disassembly” because it is not the conclusion but rather the process by which Jesus finalizes the new creation within us. While we may, like Number 5, panic at the prospect of “disassembly,” Jesus disassembles us to conform us to His image. He destroys the strongholds in out lives. He changes the values from which we operate. He changes the way we see and interact with the entire world. Although it may cause disruption, this process is ultimately for our benefit.