It is almost a magnetism, a pull, a mysterious calling. There is no requirement, no obligation and no mandatory presence; but something within stirs. It may be that we are longing for something. Maybe we have a void and we wish to fill it.
Whether we have just come back from a retreat, been on vacation or maybe we have been sick or had other things going on; we have an inkling to reconnect. To see how things are going. Some will come with excitement and expectation and others more apprehensive. Some curious and some just come out of a strange conviction. Whatever the case, cause or motivation, there is no doubt that there is a “calling”.
Fellowship
The term fellowship has a church kind of connotation to it. Truthfully, I never heard of the term until after I went to church. But what is fellowship? Webster gives the following definitions:
- a friendly relationship among people
- the relationship of people who share interests or feelings
- a group of people who have similar interests
Those are good definitions and definitely nothing negative on the surface, but many groups of individuals fall into that umbrella: boy scouts, a running club, biker gang, fight club, retirees, and even Sadducees, Pharisees, and even Herodians.
In reality, there are a lot of places that we can have fellowship, so what is the draw?
What do you desire or seek out as we come together?
Christ’s Harmony
As Christian men, there are a lot of things we could be doing, and justifying, with our Saturday mornings. The reality is that each of us proclaim to have a spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ, we are not dead in heaven or hell, and we have to deal with today. Which gets us into the situation we are in. As a follower of Christ, we have a few areas of our life that He was clear about.
- Communion with God
- Relate well with one-another
- Engage with the world
Those are pretty straight forward concepts, but the challenge that evolves continuous is creating a harmony. We can be very conscious of where we invest our time and we can be really focused in that area and when we realize we have become unbalanced and no matter how good we are doing in the area of concentration, the void in the other areas is felt.
It is real easy to see the objective, but if we are honest, it is messy. It seems like when challenges arise in one area or there is a feeling of void. The tendency is to invest in that area of our life. Then the next thing we know we are leaning into one area more than the other. Where we are at is not necessarily a bad thing, but we are out of balance.
Where do you find yourself most often in the scale? What are some of the areas in your life that you know need to get a bit more of your time?
Come As You Are
With the visual above we can realize that all of us come together with our presence. There might be times when we actually have lot in common. Like at church we are probably leaning more into the God and Others circles. When we are out in the community we are most likely leaning in the World more. What ever your situation, you are welcome here.
Commonality
The very middle of the graphic is actually the focus on WMOG. It is that common ground where we can come together and seek to be encouraged, guided and nurtured. There will be times when any one of us could show up with dominate focus in one area or another, and that is okay. Just as long as we know that when we come together we strive for a healthy balance and growth.
Investment
So why is the majority of the gathers of WMOG focused so much on the bible and God? Because it is what is truly the weakest, most opposed and what we are less trained and educated in. From the time we were born we were engaged with others and the world. We did not have a choice in the matter. So over the years we have had a lot of experiences and have matured (right, wrong, or indifferent). We have a lot of testimony with Others and the World.
At some point in our lives, we were exposed to a spiritual void we were unaware of. A relationship with a higher power, God. So that top circle, got out of the gate late and has really never caught up. We have our moments where is gets some focus, but if we evaluate our week, Others and World dominate.
So to provide an environment where men can come and share about their non-God dominated lives, get encouragement and assistance in getting that balanced life. That is our focus. To allow God to be an influence in our lives. to inwardly focus on that center part, where God, others and the world work in harmony.