Oct 9, 2008

we we our we our we we we us we we us our we

The confusing title is the exact order in which John unleashes these plural pronouns in the first four verses of 1 John.

Fourteen of them in 4 verses. It seems a little bit redundant, doesn't it? Perhaps a bit excessive?? We, we, our, we, our, we, we, we, us, we, we, us, our, we...

But then I remembered the story of Ephesus.

Just 70 years before John moved there, a small group of Christians moved in, and God used that small pack of Jesus followers to turn the entire massive city around. A group of people committed to living out this new way of life, smack dab in the middle of the scariest, nastiest, sex-crazed'iest, goddess-worshiping, self-castrating, erotic festival attending community of people that you can imagine.

But things had changed as we know. It wasn't just John. It wasn't just one man with one story. It was a WE story. To John, it was an US story.

I can just picture him writing this opening paragraph; maybe looking up and down the street he lived in while writing this from his home in Ephesus. Maybe he was with some friends. Maybe they were sharing stories. And John, who had all the authority that anyone could ever have, couldn't help but mention that it was a group effort. It was a group experience.

I'm so grateful that it is a group thing, and not a lone ranger thing.

1 comment:

Matt Doan said...

Great insights...I have never thought of 1 John like this before.

I join you in "we"
let's transform the OC!