Our youth group just had an amazing weekend at the Y.O.U youth rally in Conway, AR. The theme of the rally this weekend was “&.” Do you know what this symbol is called? It is an ampersand. It is an abbreviated way of saying ‘And.’ However, it has a deeper meaning that just ‘and.’ The ampersand implies a closer connection that just the word ‘and.’ For instance, if you ever watch the credits of a movie, you will occasionally see where different aspects of the film were worked on by multiple people; for instance the script. If ‘Bob and Dave’ worked on the script, it means that they both contributed to the script, but didn’t really work together. It’s likely that they weren’t even in the same room working on it. However, if ‘Bob & Dave’ worked on the script, it means that they worked closely with each other, next to one another, helping each other. Ampersand means more than just, ‘We both participated.’ It means we were together in it.
Our text for the weekend was Romans 12, where he tells the Jews and Gentiles who are now both Christians to ‘ampersand’ together. It’s no longer Jews and Gentiles. It’s Jews & Gentiles. There is only one body that is together, not separate pieces. We rejoice WITH (ampersand) those who rejoice and mourn (ampersand) with those who mourn. I encourage you to read Romans 12 with the idea of ‘ampersand’ in mind and see how that togetherness comes to the surface in this chapter.
What I couldn’t stop thinking about during this weekend was how it is not Christ and His church, but Christ & His church. Jesus is still the Immanuel, God WITH us. We often place God at an arm’s-length away and say “I’m here and you stay there. If I need you, I’ll take a step closer. But for now, I want you around, just give me my space.” But God isn’t an arm’s-length kind of god. We are the temple where He abides. God desires ampersand with us. And it is only through that closeness with Him that we receive the blessings and life that He provides.
Today, may you ampersand with Christ. May you be convicted of the areas of your life that you are keeping an arm’s-length away from Him and remove the barriers so that you and Christ can fully be together.