My Creed

MY CREED -Phil Manginelli

I’m going to give the rest of my life to partner with God in the renewal of all things. This is why I think you should come with me.

First, let me explain something about myself. This should help you know whether you even want to consider wasting the next five minutes finishing this blog. I believe in Jesus. I believe that several thousand years ago a man named Jesus started a rebellion that changed the world. I believe this man walked from town to town teaching about the reality of God. I believe he laid his hands on sick people and they got better. I believe he exposed religion for the fake that it is and confronted the darkness of things seen and unseen. I believe he was murdered. I believe for three days all things good and true lost their sense of meaning.

But this wasn’t the end of the story.

In fact I believe that hidden in the seams of time the mystery of God was about to be put on display. That ages and ages had ached for this moment. That creation itself was always yearning for something it couldn’t name. The purpose of all things living and dead was about to be revealed. In that moment, resurrection was put on display. God’s murdered son wasn’t dead anymore. Jesus, this man, was more than a man. He was God… and he was alive.

I believe in Jesus. And Jesus is the pinnacle of all of my belief. There may be lots of other things I believe, but they are only descending realities because I believe in Jesus. I believe in the Gospels because I believe in Jesus. I submit my heart to the New Testament because I believe in Jesus. I take the Old Testament seriously because Jesus took it seriously. Whatever has found its way to grip my heart, it finds its source that I am unashamed follower of a King named Jesus.

Every day I meet people somewhere along the road of faith. Some devout believers. Some who have comfortably found their role within the structures that be. Some are dreamers riddled with hope and doubt. Some so confused they have simply bowed out of the fight. And then every once in awhile you meet the angry, the bitter and the hostile.

But everyone’s somewhere.

And this is potentially my favorite part about life. Everyone’s somewhere. Which also means that everyone can be somewhere else. No matter the current placement or position, nothing about life is static. It’s always moving, changing, evolving…the reality that life is always in the process of creation. Whatever experiences have been, they are always subject to the experiences that will be.

Which means one great and profound thing; my future matters. It matters more than all of my past. And so does yours. So what I do with it should matter more than anything else. Therefore, I am convinced that what you do with your future matters more than anything.

What you put your hands to matters.

How you make your money matters.

Who your friends are matters.

Who you marry matters.

How you raise your kids matters.

How you spend your 30s matters.

Your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s matter.

Your 20s…they mostly matter. Just kidding. Mostly ☺

And I think if we all allowed soberness to wash over us, we all have something that guides our life. Some of us could name it, some of us would struggle, but all of us have something that guides us. Something that filters our yes and our no and animates meaning in the choices we make. Why we do everything we do ultimately stems from somewhere. Everything about you is driven by a core conviction…your definition to the purpose and meaning of all things. Whether you realize it or not, you have one. You have a dogma. A theology. A manifesto. A creed.

I have one.

I believe that life is not a mistake, but it’s the gift of an ever-present and always-loving God. And somewhere in the mix, this gift got wounded. Twisted. Smashed and shattered. I doubt I need to convince you much of this. The brokenness of the world is constantly on display around us and within us. And you and I are daily living in the ramifications of this broken perfection. And this God could have done so many things, but it’s the nature of the one thing he did do that defines everything I am.

He didn’t give up.

He.

Never.

Gives.

Up.

He committed all of himself to the renewal of all things. He saw every wound, twist, and smashed and shattered piece and was so devastatingly in love with them he couldn’t let them be. He was blindly devoted, “I can fix them.” So this ever-present and always-loving God came for us in a man named Jesus. He initiated a new reality. A new humanity. He initiated the renewal of all things through the power of resurrection. He took every aspect of our brokenness and welcomed it on himself and for anyone who wants it…he offers himself.

An exchange. Me for Him. Brokenness for wholeness. Perishable for imperishable. Anxiety for Peace. Loneliness for family. Void for destiny. Corruption for integrity.

At least, this is what He did for me.

Jesus was so consumed with love for me he committed himself to the cause of my renewal. And this is a truth for every human that breathes, every ounce of creation and every piece of dirt I walk on. Jesus is consumed with the renewal of all things and now that I am alive in him, he invites me to participate with him. Or as Paul once said, “Now those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One on whom their behalf died and rose again.”

Every single day, I have a choice. For what am I going to live? For whom am I going to live? People have lost sense of the power of their choices and the ripple effect they cause in this life. Everything I do echoes into the reality of my world. Everything you do shapes the world around you. Today, I am going to live for one thing…the renewal of all things by the hope of resurrection.

Every friendship.

All of my money.

Every stranger I encounter.

The food I eat.

The pieces of land I’ve been charged to steward.

The poor and the suffering.

The wealthy and influential.

I am an agent of reconciliation. A worker of renewal. A son who loves his Father and will be about His business. This is my life. This is my creed. This is my mantra. This is my dogma. This is the reason I exist.

May you know today the weightiness of the love of God and the life that is available to you. May you have the soberness to see the shattered nature of this world and hear the faint whispers calling you to faithfulness and responsibility. May you wake up to the truth today that you were created to be a missionary for the cause of recreating the world alongside the King of Resurrection named Jesus. May you live for something that matters.

May you partner with God for the renewal of all things. Today, tomorrow and forever.