Jimmy's message this morning focused heavily on 1 Corinthians 1:12: "Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.'"

How many of us, he queried, would say, "I am of John Piper," or "I am of Beth Moore," or "I am of Mark Driscoll"? The example that got the most murmurs among the congregation was, "How many of us would say, 'I am of Antioch'?"

Jimmy's picture of a tightrope walker, keeping his eyes on a fixed point, was a good illustration. While we can learn and draw from many sources, our eyes and hearts should be fixed on the author and finisher of our faith, JESUS. His message had a ring of ecumenism in it, and I've been a big fan of ecumenism for the past few years.

Jimmy also told an intriguing story about meeting William P. Young, the author of The Shack, while on an airplane ride. I've had theological issues with The Shack, and Jimmy alluded to certain theological concerns he had as well, but the point of the story was to say that we tend to be less judgmental of people once we get to know them, once we get to know their story. Apparently Young and Jimmy had a good chat, and Young was able to share his heart to let Jimmy know where he was coming from on many of the issues he wrote about in The Shack.

That makes me think of a story in Stephen R. Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey was traveling on a subway with another man -- a stranger -- and that man's two unruly children. The children were apparently hellions, running amok while the father sat there motionless. Covey become agitated and confronted the man. The man replied, something to this effect, "We just got back from the hospital where their mother died. I don't know how to handle it and I guess they don't either." Covey's mindset toward the man changed immediately, he called it a paradigm shift.

So to sum up what I got from this morning's message: We are of Christ, no one other.