By Sarah Frances Smith
This week the fellows had our first roundtable (the weekly gathering of Capital Fellows for dinner, worship, discussion and prayer) of the year, and WOW. Brian and Amy set a high standard of fine dining (pics below) that will be hard to follow. It’s hard to put words to the exact feeling and atmosphere invoked by our first Monday night roundtable, but it was a bit like putting on comfy clothes after a long day of wearing a suit. It felt like taking a deep breath, a pause, like walking into a room filled with all your favorite people. This space we created and that John, Shirley, and Lauren (the leaders of the Capital Fellows program) cultivated became a space of freedom to be filled up with good food and deep thoughts. John Kyle challenged us to consider the topic of Christ’s preeminence. We read Colossians 1 and thought about the areas of our life in which Christ should be preeminent (spoiler alert: all of them) and how we both succeed and fail at inviting him in. These areas ranged from finances and politics to hard-hitting topics such as relationships and inner-most thought life.
It’s hard to put words to the exact feeling and atmosphere invoked by our first Monday night roundtable, but it was a bit like putting on comfy clothes after a long day of wearing a suit.
In the past three weeks the fellows have seen a lot of change in many of these areas of life. One moment it feels exciting and the next it feels exhausting! We have adapted to new homes and new jobs. Washington, DC is a new city to most of us. Some of us, myself included, have little background in reformed theology or the PCA and so worship feels like a foreign experience. Our classes at Reformed Theological Seminary are opening doors in our minds to theological concepts and terminology that we never knew existed! These new things are good but hard - beneficial but at times heavy. Thus, John Kyle’s admonition to keep Christ preeminent throughout it all was quite timely.
I love the way the Message talks about Christ’s preeminence in Colossians 1:18-19: “He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.” This picture of Christ at the forefront of a celebratory parade of resurrected believers has stuck in my mind this week. I love the imagery of all of us bringing together our various areas of life - different jobs, different cultures, different spiritual backgrounds - and throwing it all into Jesus’s resurrection parade. It’s freeing to know that there’s space for it all. There’s freedom in knowing that we don’t have to lead the parade; it’s enough to just follow in celebration. Making Christ preeminent in all things brings freedom in all things, because “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
I love the imagery of all of us bringing together our various areas of life - different jobs, different cultures, different spiritual backgrounds - and throwing it all into Jesus’s resurrection parade. It’s freeing to know that there’s space for it all.
Sounds simple, right? Ask me tomorrow how I’m doing on making Christ preeminent in my stressful morning commute or my future career plans. I’ll tell you it’s hard. So please bear with the fellows - all twelve of us - as we strive each week to make Christ preeminent in both the little things and the big things. You can pray for us - that we would learn to love the process of submission - and you can celebrate with us, as the resurrected body of Christ!
Pictures from the Week
Want To Read More?
Signup for the Capital Fellows blog email! Emails are sent weekly during the program year. An unsubscribe link is provided in every email.
Comments