Time:
3:00pm Central Europe / Central Africa (4:00pm East Africa Time / Jerusalem, 2:00pm UK, 9:00am USA Eastern, 6:30pm India Time)
Meeting Theme:
Who counts as “Christian”? The question may seem simple, but how we answer it reveals our underlying frameworks. When belonging is defined by boundaries—by who’s “in” or “out”—our faith can easily become a project of self-protection and superiority rather than transformation. In this session, we’ll explore a different way of seeing: shifting from a bounded-set mindset, focused on defending identity and correct belief, toward a centered-set vision, where the focus is God’s reign of shalom/eirene—a life oriented toward justice, restoration, and flourishing for all creation.
Through group conversation and scripture reflection, we’ll examine how Jesus continually re-centers faith on God’s healing mission rather than on religious labels. What happens when our measure of faithfulness is not boundary-keeping, but movement toward the center of God’s peace? This paradigm shift invites us to stop policing who “counts” and start embodying the self-reflective, reconciling, and boundary-crossing love that defines the reign of God.
Discussion questions:
Who “counts” as Christian—and what happens when we stop drawing boundaries and start focusing on movement toward God’s shalom instead?
How does the biblical vision of shalom expand or challenge what we’ve assumed “peace” or “salvation” mean?
Where do you see gaps between Christianity as it’s practiced and the holistic, justice-oriented reign of God that Jesus describes?
What might it look like for our communities to center on God’s healing mission rather than defending religious identity?
Facilitators:
