Freddy Lam’s Reviews > The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation > Status Update

Group identity and correction are so important in any relationship. I am too nice because I avoid all shame when it is only toxic shame I need to avoid, because of an abundant of it on me growing up and in my ministry. But healthy shame under a group identity that we are a people who… is so needed for me, my marriage, and church. This why some corrections work and others don’t. The difference is joy and hesed.

I needed that. Not only do you need joy, that face which looks at you lovingly, beginning with Jesus, then your community, we also need hesed or attachment, most visibly illustrated by John 15 the vine and the branches, and the image and modelling in Jesus’ life. Building a hesed community requires new metrics, slower pace, deeper loves, and not having to be flawless. Gosh I wish I can pastor a church like this.

Joy, and the peniel abstraction; who knew this could be the missing ingredient to formation? And who knew you can train to be more joyful? Fascinating and makes me want to stare at my wife more and the screen less! Eager to implement slight changes in Ekklesia to harness the gift of joy. Lord, help me to be seen by you as your delight.

I am hooked! I am an open sponge when it comes to formation and transformation, and a left-brain focused Christianity is an interesting hypothesis for what’s happening. I am curious if I am already engaging my right-brain. It seems like this sabbatical has caused some changes… time will tell.