“You are here.” If you’ve ever been lost, you know the comfort of finding the “dot” (be it digital or on a kiosk map) that tells you where you are! I’ve always thought of seeJesus’ J-Curve book and studies as a kind of map that, upon unfolding, brings that sweet moment of reassurance: all of a sudden, you’re no longer lost, you’re just not where you thought you were.
This month we released the last of the J-Curve studies that traces out through interactive Bible study the central idea of Paul Miller’s J-Curve book: the normal Christian life is meant to follow the same dying and rising pattern of Jesus’ life. From small deaths, like getting up from the couch to help a family member to larger deaths, like receiving suffering or putting to death ungodly habits, we know this from lived experience – but we don’t often connect these dyings to imitating Jesus – or watch for the resurrections, small and large, that he brings.
Paul reflects, “I started the J-Curve project 12 years ago, in April 2014, with lots of personal J-Curve experience and much that I'd learned, but I didn't know how to integrate it theologically. I'd not studied other scholars' reflections on it. Dying and rising with Christ had become habitual for me, but I still had lots of questions.”
“My work on the J-Curve went through J-Curves. You just can’t write about dying with Christ without actually dying with Christ!”
“Over the next four years, I learned so much. Multiple scholars became my teachers, my ‘friends.’ Then came the hard task of figuring out how to break all this down into interactive studies and a book. At every point, my work on the J-Curve went through J-Curves. You just can’t write about dying with Christ without actually dying with Christ!”
With the release of this 7th J-Curve study, we now have 69 lessons broken up into four units in “Discovering the J-Curve” and three units in “The J-Curve in Community.” Both are important because we need to know these patterns in our individual lives and in the communities we grow together.
Are you in a season where you’re feeling a bit lost in terms of how life is playing out? Do you have friends who are grappling with these questions? These J-Curve studies are like a Welcome Center in the midst of a season of suffering. They’ll help you find the “you are here” dot. My personal favorite is Descent of Love, but you can jump in anywhere. You are not lost, but found, and welcome, and much nearer to Jesus than you might think!
