The Core

Core is defined as the central or most important part of something.

Yesterday in one of my exercise classes, the instructor launched into a huge tutorial on the importance of the core muscles in the body.  It is the basis for everything else and thus, gets much attention. I don’t remember those muscles, so I have hence set off on a mission to find my core.

I’m pretty familiar with core values:  Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Sportsmanship and Service.  These things were instilled in most of us during our growing up years.  Everyone has or should have core values.  These things sustain us when we encounter things we don’t understand, like tragedy, death, grief or catastrophes.  If we don’t have our core rooted in values, then we are destined to wander around looking for our way.

During my teaching years, we teachers were expected to teach something called Core Curriculum.  Basically this is a set of educational goals designed to ensure that students learn certain material in a certain grade level or age.  It included Math and Language Arts as the core and incorporated other subjects such as science, history, and so on.  It operated under the premise that the curriculum is the entire life of a school child. 

Today, that curriculum has been replaced by STEM which stands for Science, Technology, English and Math.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until this becomes outdated. The educational world has shifted from its Core to accommodate the changing world in which we live.  No matter the new fad, we always come back to the core subjects eventually.

I find the same scenario happening in the country, the church, and the world today.  Everyone seems to have abandoned the core teachings of the constitution, the Bible, and the laws of human kind.  If it isn’t pleasing to everyone in our country, everyone in our churches and everyone in the world, then it must not be relevant.  I hear many people saying, “The world is changing, and we must change with it.”  So does that mean giving up what has sustained our country, our religious beliefs, and our values so that those who don’t agree can have their way?  Times do change, but truths do not.

The most important core is the spiritual core. The central announcement of the gospel is, “It’s time and God is breaking into the world.”  The core Christian belief is the belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus whereby sinful humans can be reconciled to God and offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.  These are the core messages that we need to remember as we seek to find our core.

I may not have found my core muscles, but I have found my core foundation.   When you have your core foundation in Jesus, these are things that never need to be changed, they just need to be nurtured and grown.

The Lord is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.  Exodus 15:2