Signed, Sealed, and Delivered by Denise Badger

I have a particular affinity for seals that started young. Growing up in Montana there’s not much to do once you finish plowing the fields, so you put food in cans-canning (actually, you use mason jars and cans aren’t involved at all—go figure). At age five, I learned that in canning, if you failed to seal the jar lid on tight, things went very badly. Come winter, the bacteria that snuck in under the lid and had a party with the peaches during the months sitting on a shelf nets you rotten, disgusting, unidentifiable contents that you wouldn’t offer your worst enemy. But, if you did it right, the way canning is supposed to happen— sterilized, filled, and you made sure to seal the lid tightly so no air got through—then you were guaranteed to eat like a king in the winter. And that guarantee was definitely worth the wait.

Fast forward to fifth grade, and meet my best friend, Marce. We were kindred spirits.

Deeply devoted as only 10-year-olds can be, we decided to forever seal our friendship with a solemn oath. We packed a picnic, found a park with a stream, stood teetering on two rocks in the middle of the water, clasped hands and repeated words of undying love, sealing our friendship forever. It was a guaranteed, sure thing. Eighteen years and memories later I stood in her wedding and felt the deep satisfaction of a true and lasting friendship.

And then, there was the time when a seal saved my life. 1998, sailing trip to the Bahamas, rough waters, weak swimmer with a healthy dose of “…but I can do this”, 150 yards from the boat and my asthma kicks in. Frozen airways, one scream for help, and then, just like the hero in the movies I see my husband dive off the boat and swim to save me. His arms circled about me, sealing me to him as he dragged me back to safety. His arms kept me to him, kept me afloat, and kept me alive.

But by far, the best seal of all is found in Ephesians 1:13-14. It says that God, the Holy
Spirit, is our seal, guaranteeing our salvation! Just like the canning seal, the Holy Spirit keeps us from eating the rotten stuff sin offers. Like the seal of friendship, the Holy Spirit keeps us connected to God, deepening our friendship through time and experiences together. And like the seal of arms, the Holy Spirit puts his arms around us and takes us to safety through trials of life over and again, ultimately setting our feet on heavenly ground, safe for eternity.

Can the seal be broken? Yeah, it can… but Hebrews 13:5 says it will never be God who breaks away. When we accept and choose Him as our personal Savior and Friend for life, that’s exactly what we get…for life, for eternity. It’s guaranteed!

ENCOUNTER: Have you said “yes” to God, to His seal in your life, guaranteeing your eternity with Him? If yes, thank Him right now for such an incredible promise and guarantee. If not, what are you waiting for?

Seal Assessment:
Is there any rotten stuff in your life that you need the Holy Spirit to get rid of? How’s the strength of your friendship with God-any area need to be tightened up? Where in your life do you need to scream “Help!” to God and let Him get you through? His arms are ready to keep holding tight and get you through if you let Him…it’s a sealed promise!

Why Can't Church Be Like a Bar?

Have you ever spent any time at your local sports bar or pub? At the very least, do you remember the show Cheers? There is a certain allure to the bar, and contrary to what most “good Christian folk” think, it’s generally not the alcohol.

The best thing about the bar is that you can come together and hang out with your friends. You talk about love, life, sports…sometimes even politics. You share experiences, catch up on each other’s lives, help each other through difficult times, celebrate the good times. To me, those were some of the closest, deepest friendship connections in my life. It was community in its purest sense. And I miss it.

In a seminal 1986 study, Sense of Community, McMillan and Chavis identified four elements of "sense of community": 1) membership, 2) influence, 3) integration and fulfillment of needs, and 4) shared emotional connection

In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. In sociology, the concept of community has caused infinite debate, and sociologists are yet to reach agreement on a definition of the term. Indeed, one can find 94 discrete definitions of the term even as early as mid-1950s. Traditionally a "community" has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common values and social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household. Wider meanings of the word can refer to the national community or global community. Communis comes from a combination of the Latin prefix com- (which means "together") and the word munis probably originally derived from the Etruscan word munis- (meaning "to have the charge of").

The community that happens in the local bar over a pint of Coors or Coke is like nothing else in this world. I know in my life I crave those types of connections, the total involvement in each other’s lives. Sharing opinions, thoughts, ideas. Views on religion, why the Cubs haven’t won the Series in over 100 years, how your dating (or married) relationship is going. You are yourself, honest, and even if you embellish a story just a tad bit, your friends still love and care about you. It all comes back to that single concept: community.

As I said before, I miss that. Now that my “taste of the Rockies” comes in a green can that says Mt. Dew on the side, I’ve lost my community. I almost feel bad saying that. I go to church every week, sure, but... What frightens me the most is that the more involved at church I got, the more I tried to find that sense of community like I found atthe bar, the more lonely I've become.  Why?  Because I realize that it’s just not there.

You can’t be honest at church, everyone expects you to be one way or another. You can’t really share at church because people don’t really want to hear it because hey, they’d be late for lunch. You don’t talk about sports, politics, relationships, things you’re struggling with at church. Really, you can't talk about anything deep (like God) because no one wants to talk about that.  Just "be cool" and "be different" but for heaven's sake don't talk about stuff!  So you go to church and pretend to be happy because everyone else looks happy, and if someone doesn’t look happy people are looking around nervously wondering who will get stuck talking to that person. I realize that’s a broad characterization in some respects, but I think we’ve all had some portion of that church experience.

So here’s my question for you. How can we make church more like a bar? I’m not suggesting we swap out the Welch’s for Merlot at Communion or put a keg next to the sound booth, but as far as the community aspect goes, how do we do that? 

Encounter: What kind of community does your heart want? How can we get there?