I'm not a joiner.

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It's hard to believe that this Belonging House
experiment
has been going on for twenty years.
What started with three people
having dinner in my apartment
in Akron, Ohio
has become over 800 people in 35 countries.

It's like a good stock.
Slow,
with ups and downs
but continuous long term growth.

Twenty years ago,
I worked with another artist
in a corporate job.
And whenever we were forced to do
group activities,
my friend would respond,
"No thanks, I am not a joiner."

A lot of artists,
especially those who came of age in the
1960's and 1970's
have this attitude.

And because I surround myself with a lot of artists,
I have chosen not to make
membership in the organization a priority.
Instead I focused on creating a culture.
People like us
do things like this.

Jesus modeled for us
a healthy way
of having boundaries in his ministry.
There were the multitudes,
the one hundred and twenty,
the seventy-two,
and the twelve.
And out of the twelve he chose three
who would become his future leaders.
And only one
was entrusted with training
the next generation.

We have been aware
of the need for more structure
in Belonging House for some time.

A number of people
have been hurt
because of the lack of boundaries,
and generally,
those who do not share our core values and mission
often demand more time and energy than those who do.
And sadly,
those who do not align with the mission
hurt me
hurt others
and get hurt
because they are in the wrong tribe.

Belonging House was created
to provide a place to belong
for those who are called to our core mission:
Raise up an army of artists who will build Jesus a throne in the earth.
That means being a disciple
in the arts
to shape and transform culture.
When we do this,
we disciple nations.

During Lent
I am going to be talking about
these groups
in our community:
the multitudes,
the one hundred and twenty,
and the seventy-two.
Beth Charashim,
The House of Artisans,
our Sunday church
is the Twelve.
and I am taking these Sundays
to talk about where we came from
and why we are unaffiliated,
but not independent.

My hope is,
we will create a stronger
place to Belong.

He Never Fails,
Christ

Belonging House International is a community of artists and creative people called to build Jesus a throne in the earth. In other words, we make disciples who will disciple the nations in the world of creativity.

Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com

You can support us at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto

We have a community for those who have made the Belonging House Commitment on Mighty Network. https://belonging-house.mn.co