The past few days i've been pondering my place. Where do i belong? I feel so different from all that i see around me. I don't feel like a quite fit into any existing genre or category. Sometimes i want to fit, sometimes i don't.

It's been my music that has really sparked this for me, but it relates to my heart as well. I think a lot of people can identify with this. I feel this way with Church and my philosophies on the Body of Christ and "movements" as well. So, lest i get too far "out there" i return to the foundation.

This morning i was reading in 1 Corinthians: a good book to revisit when feeling confused about "the Church". Chapter 1, verses 11 and 12 grabbed my attention:

"¹¹ For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. ¹² Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ."

Just some thoughts:

Are all the Corinthians thinking, "Chloe is such a tattle tail!"?

I bet the guy who said, "I of Christ" was just trying to one-up everyone else.

Did you see what Paul means by "quarrels"?

Paul means this: quarrels are centered on identification with things other than Christ.

Identification is so comforting because it answers the gnawing question, "Who am i?" If you can just find a group, a movement, a person to identify with then you have a nice, clean, simple answer: "I am of ________. I'm a _________-ian, or _________-ite, or _________-er" And then, whoever you're talking to can say, "Oh! Then i know all about you and understand exactly where you are coming from." There! That was easy.

Such identification disregards the complex beauty of the individual journey in Christ. More sad is that it disregards the one true source of our identity: Christ.

It is God's goodness that will not allow me to "fit" in this earth. He honors the unique expression of the image of God lived out in each of His children; finding it's true fit only in Christ.

So, then i can reject and write off every kind of group and movement and category, right? If i can't join 'em, then beat 'em, right?

The Lord spoke to my heart, something like,

"You don't need to do that. You don't need to identify yourself with a group, nor distinguish yourself from it. You don't need to fit into it, or, bounce off of it."

Here are two expressions of my insecurity: 1) to desperately want to be identified with a group, and (2) to adamantly reject identification with a group.

Both are efforts to establish identity through association (or non-association) with something other than Christ.

When i (dare i say, "we") find identity in Christ, we don't have to fight. We don't have to fight with eachother, "I'm this, you're that. We're different! Get away!" And we don't have to fight within ourselves, "I'm sure glad i'm part of this and NOT part of that." Our peace is in belonging to Christ. He is the end of the argument.

In Christ i am free to live and move and be. He sorts out how i relate to other individuals and groups. I do not need to exhaust myself arguing my belonging or separation from human institutions, because i belong in Christ.

I pray this brings you peace today; an end of argument. Where do you belong? Where do you fit? In Christ.