26-0107wc - Detailed Summary

Del Tackett’s The Engagement Project reaches a pivotal moment in Tour 9, titled "The Band of Brothers." The session focuses on practical communal engagement rooted in profound biblical truths. Part 1 builds on prior tours by emphasizing the believer’s intimate union with God and how this empowers authentic love within the body of Christ.

Tackett reflects on the story of Moses veiling his face in Exodus and 2 Corinthians 3 to hide the fading glory after encountering God. In contrast, New Testament believers experience no fading glory because the Spirit of the Lord abides forever, transforming them from glory to glory with unveiled faces. This permanent indwelling removes any barrier, allowing believers to behold God’s glory directly and be changed by it.

Tackett explores the fullness of the triune God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—making their home in every believer, citing John 14:23. This is not a distant deity but the entire Godhead residing inwardly for enablement, empowering believers to do God’s will and live out the kingdom life in a broken world. At the core is Jesus' new command in John 13:34 to love one another as He loved, modeled on Christ’s sacrificial love through laying down His life, washing feet, and humble service. This love must be deep and authentic, not superficial.

This love binds the body together as one. Tackett examines New Testament "one another" commands, such as bearing burdens, forgiving, confessing sins, and encouraging one another. These reciprocal imperatives show how agape love operates practically, mutually edifying, correcting, and supporting in a community committed to Christlikeness. Tackett urges participants to join intentional life groups or small communities dedicated to this love, involving praying together, sharing life, and accountability—not optional Bible studies but committed bands.

In such groups, the indwelling Spirit manifests powerfully, fostering unity and strength. Tackett addresses the misunderstood phrase "as yourself" in "Love Your Neighbor As Yourself," often seen as license for self-fulfillment and following one’s heart. He counters this cultural distortion, arguing it leads to sinful self-script rather than God’s script. Using agape as others-focused sacrificial love applied to self, true self-love requires self-denial.

Believers must deny fleshly desires that destroy and choose actions promoting God-designed shalom—peace, wholeness, and flourishing. This manifests in three pursuits: first, physical and mental health, stewarding bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit through exercise, rest, nutrition, and emotional care; second, pursuing excellence in all endeavors—vocation, hobbies, ministry—as worship (Colossians 3:23), reflecting God’s excellence and avoiding laziness-born mediocrity; third, pursuing deep relationships, as humans are made in the image of a relational Trinity, combating isolation by investing in family, friends, and church.

These pursuits are not selfish but position believers to love others effectively. A healthy, excellent, relationally rich believer overflows with capacity to serve the body and engage the world. Part one establishes the internal foundation: God’s indwelling presence enabling deep love in committed community. By biblically loving ourselves through self-denial for shalom, believers form the "band of brothers" needed for kingdom advance, setting the stage for overcoming obstacles and visionary action in part two.