A New Normal

“As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.”

(Galatians 6:14–16, NLT)

COVID-19 has certainly forced a “new normal” upon us! From using masks to physical-distancing to limiting travel to doing church differently. Our lives today are certainly different than even six months ago.

In the same way these new patterns have had to take shape in our lives, when Christ takes the lead in our lives, we even more so are called to take on a “new normal”. We are made new (“a new creation”) in Christ. The problem being that many of us, being born into Christian homes and / or having been Christ-followers a long time, have lost the sense of our newness in Christ.

Many of us have become stuck in our Christian life. We do little to grow or learn or serve. We do little to remain engaged with God in a personal and relational way. We hold back from our faith community because we have been hurt or because we are busy with our own preferences. But, we are called to live in the “new normal” or our new life in Christ! It is different than our old life, different from our society, different from friends and family, different than our government and schools and economy; it is a different lifestyle and approach to life, it is different in both posture and activity.

In our new life, we make deliberate choices on a daily basis to move ourselves towards God. We build spiritual practices into our lives, inviting the Holy Spirit to speak into our lives through scripture and prayer, through song and reading, through podcasts and blogs. We work to not only take in information about God but to engage relationally with Him.

In our new life, we also follow His call to be part of our faith family - both globally and locally. We tie ourselves to a faith family with which we worship and serve together, building one another up while also being built up by one another.

In our new life, we also make deliberate effort to lead others towards Christ. We are called to “make disciples” and to “be my witnesses”. We do this through words and acts of service. We open ourselves to others so we can not only lead them towards the Father but allowing them to also lead us toward the Father.

Are we truly living in our “new normal” … or has our new life in Christ become mundane and empty? “May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live … as the new people of God!”