It seems that following our official corporate expressions of the “4 Amarillo” efforts with the other downtown churches, I get asked several times by members of our family here at Central, “Why does it feel so good?” It’s not quite guilt, I don’t think; sometimes I think the question comes from a place of surprise. More than that, I assume it’s a legitimate search for an explanation for the really, really good feelings we have.

I believe it’s because we’re doing what we were created by God to do. It’s like a fish swimming in water instead of flopping on the sidewalk. It’s like an engine running on motor oil instead of lemonade. It’s like tightening a bolt with a wrench instead of a hammer or baking a cake in the oven instead of the washing machine.

It feels good, it feels right, to break down barriers between God’s people and unite under the holy name of his Son for the sake of his Kingdom. It feels right to worship and work with other Christians, to sacrifice our own preferences, to give up our own comforts, to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit,” to be a part of a significant something that’s bigger than us or our own particular group.

It’s like feeding the hungry or clothing the poor or any of a number of other good works. It makes you feel good to do those things because doing those good things is precisely why you were created and called by our God. We were created to live in Christian community with one another and to express Christian unity in ways that will astonish the world and testify to the power of our Lord.

Burt Palmer and I are swapping pulpits this Sunday morning. I’ll be preaching both services at Polk Street United Methodist Church and Burt will be preaching here at Central. Please be in fervent prayer this week that our God will bless our attempts at Christian unity. Ask our Father to use “4 Amarillo” for the sake of his Kingdom in our city. And, if you live anywhere in the panhandle of our great state of Texas, make plans to be at Central to welcome and bless Burt and to hear the Word powerfully proclaimed by one of God’s faithful servants.

My assumption is you’re going to feel really good about it.

Peace,

Allan