WHEN we decide to become a Christian, we accept the challenge to lay down our own agendas for the sake of following Jesus.

This change of priorities isn’t instant. We need God’s help through the Holy Spirit who comes to live within us and speaks to our soul about a new God-given set of priorities. He unites God’s church around God’s mission, seen perfectly in Jesus who laid down his life for the sake of others. In all of his activity in the Church, the Holy Spirit directs us to follow the path of Jesus towards loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves.

However, we are sometimes more caught up with experiencing the Holy Spirit than with following his call to a selfless life like Jesus. It’s easy to become a bunch of consumers seeking a weekly experience that feeds our souls whilst the world around us is starved of love and support.

Love is the priority, the greatest element of the Christian faith and the true mark of a church that is filled and led by the Holy Spirit. We need to defy the gravitational pull of the church towards a view of spiritual depth that doesn’t centre around becoming more loving. Paul says that if I forget the priority of love, it doesn’t matter what I’m singing, saying or doing at church, “I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” He says that if I live like this, “I am nothing” and “I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

I envision a church known for the love we show each other and everyone in our community. I imagine a church everyone loves attending, even if they are sometimes challenged by Jesus, because they still want to know more about the God who inspires such a selfless and loving culture among us.

I’m not just dreaming though. I’m trying to change the way I act, playing my part to bring about the kind of church I believe God desires.

Are you with me?

Rob Hadfield, Associate Minister, Andover Baptist Church