Written by: Shannon O'Brien

Imagine if a track athlete tried to run in speed skates, or a baseball player used a badminton racket instead of a bat; the athlete (and team) would be impaired in their ability to perform at their fullest.  Yet, every day, when we don't understand our design, our function, or the mission we are called to as the body of Christ, we are impaired to make the most of our opportunities and the days we have to live them. I had the privilege to work for Nike, at their headquarters in Beaverton, OR as a design intern during my undergrad. Functional design is significant to problem solving, while also being aesthetically pleasing. Nike was one of the first to begin engineering shoes that had both function and appeal.  Tinker Hatfield and Bill Bowerman worked to develop products that empowered and equipped athletes to achieve performance. The detail and intent behind every aspect of a Nike shoe is significant (and most everything they do is developed with a two-year lead time before it hits the market). I think this is a pretty cool analogy to what God is doing in us as His creation.  He is the ultimate designer, intentionally and specifically designing His creation to have both functional and ascetic appeal; and to be utilized in achieving His mission. When we live into the function we were designed for, it has a gathering effect, serving others as we are a signpost of our Creator. God's mission is restoring His creation. The challenge however, is that sin has derailed Creation, and God has been at work ever since the Fall to restore order. We, as His people, are to become part of the solution to that mission. Jesus has invited all of us into His story by the redeeming work of the cross, and through accepting this, He liberates us through the power of His Spirit.
 
Theosis is participating in the life of God. This is significant to both our personal first order story, and the second order story that God calls us to. As the church (the body of Christ), we need to embrace Theosis, "the Spirit-enabled transformative participation in the life and character of God revealed in the crucified and resurrected Messiah Jesus- this is the starting point of mission and its proper theological framework." This is significant for the us, the Church - the body of Christ, to understand. The church (which includes every human around the world that is a Christ follower) is an instrument for missio Dei, The Mission of God. Understanding our identity and the role we are called to play within God's story shapes how we live in the world (if we don't find our role within God's story, we will find a role within a story the world offers). The church is called to be a critical participant in its cultural setting, a "come and join us people" operating in the tension of living in the world and not being of the world. The early church understood their identity shaped by Scripture, living as paroikoi "resident aliens" in a culture ruled by the Roman kingdom. The early church understood their role and the alternative story they were to live into, they knew they were called to make the Kingdom of God known. The good news of what God has done for the world in Jesus was the task of the church, which is still true to the body of Christ today. Like Jesus, we are called to live in the world, for the sake of the world.
 
In our first order stories, we can trust that God is working in us, so that we will want to do, and be able to do what pleases Him. God is working in and through his creation to effect change, providing saving restorative justice. The mission of God is universal, and God's people are to be a "so that" people, so that they might know God's salvation and invite all nations into it. The people of God are to be counter-cultural, and a distinctive people displaying an attractive lifestyle to God's glory before the surrounding nations.  This is why our first order story and how we engage living in this world matters. It's like putting a bat in the baseball player's hands instead of them using a badminton racquet when batting. When our personal narratives become united with God's narrative we become living letters written with the power of the Holy Spirit. Our lives become more powerful, and more effective when empowered by Christ. 
 
I believe that God is beckoning all of us into a greater story that helps us not only frame our first order story, but empowers our story to impact the world. God has created us for purpose, gifting us with specific experiences, gifts, talents, passions, personality, and pursuits that are unique to each of our personal narratives. As I have understood Theosis, the gospel itself is a powerful word of transformation, Spirit-enabling power indwelling humans to be transformed in mind, word, and deed. God is working in and through his creation to effect change, providing saving restorative justice.   This is our purpose in God's mission as Christ followers. As we (the church) embody the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ justifying us as righteous by His work on the cross, and redeeming creation to order; our personal stories become a letter written by God inviting others into His story.

I love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3: 2-6,^"You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are Christ's letter, delivered by us. You weren't written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. You weren't written on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. This is the confidence that we have through Christ in the presence of God. It isn't that we ourselves are qualified to claim that anything came from us. No, our qualification is from God. He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not based on what is written but on the Spirit, because what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life."

This is the language of our first order stories being framed within God's second order story. The Theosis of God, Spirit-enabling power indwelling humans to be transformed in mind, word, and deed is counter-cultural, and it is missional. It has an impact amidst a culture when it sees the life and love of Christ lived out in our personal lives. I believe that this world we live in is in exile to the created order we were intended for. This broken corrupt world that we inhabit is temporary. I believe each person in Christ is on an "exodus" journey, leaving behind bondage, being weaned from the familiar worldly culture, all while learning to trust in the Lord as He makes Himself known in our everyday life.  The same purpose of the early church is the same today: to be a light to the nations; living into a redeemed order bringing forth hope and purpose amidst a lost culture. For this is exactly what Christ came to do, and invites us as His ambassadors to continue on doing with Him. 
 
How does it make you feel that God desires to tell the world about Him through your personal everyday life? How are you using the platform of your life to be a signpost to Jesus? How has His Grace and Truth altered the trajectory of your life? Tell people about that. It matters because that is your personal story becoming illuminated in the power of Christ's redeeming story. People need to hear the hope of Christ, the Gospel message empowering you to make the most of your days. Let them read the "living letter" of your life authored by Jesus, it has a transformational power that invites others into the Kingdom of God.