APRIL NEWSLETTER - LETTER TO THE CHURCH

Dear Friends in Christ,

I am writing this on Monday, March 22nd. In the sermon I offered yesterday I repeated the question a colleague asked of his church: “what makes a real church?” My friend offered the following list.

“Trusting the Spirit enough to welcome anyone and everyone. Being as surprised by God as by one another. Letting down our hair and our guard rather than pretending and defending. Shouldering each other’s burdens; celebrating each other’s blessings. Opening ourselves to God loving us as we are; opening ourselves to growth.”

“Respecting others as they are, not as we wish they were. Honoring one another when we differ; seeing creativity in disagreement. Accepting that we all fall short and that church, itself, falls short. Valuing doubts and questions alongside of faith and assurance.”

“Aiming to be an alternative community wherein we learn to be different, apart from what the world would have. Looking to God for help with all this. Recognizing, in ways subtle and glorious, Jesus is always with us.”

Having stated this, I made my own suggestion about it: “It is both the first and the last piece on that list to which we Christians especially need to hold firm. Trust God; Jesus is with us, always.”

But how does that list come alive? In a recent Alban Institute article Wesley Wildman and Stephen Garner offer the following. I have edited it a little due to considerations of available space.

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Are clergy at the center of church life? No. Your pastors and your churches would be lost without you. Without you there is no community. Without you the name ‘Jesus’ becomes an empty word rattling about in the corridors of history.

Without you church is a lifeless shell. The measure of the success of a church is directly related to how you, the lay membership, love one another and live out your faith daily.

The call of Jesus was not to a bunch of ordained clergy. Jesus called fishers, entrepreneurs, tax collectors, soldiers, mothers, widows, prostitutes, the able-bodied, the infirm— people with faith and without faith. Jesus called everyone to follow. So, take your role in the church and in the world very seriously.

What does that involve? Love— tend to and work to strengthen your church community, your church leadership, your pastor. This helps your community focus and to keep its focus.

Too often when the going gets tough, people hightail it right out of church. Church is messy. Community is messy. Life is messy. You can’t run from it because it will follow until you deal with it.

Remember, the church is yours but you are the church. Stick with the body of Christ in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow as long as you live.

This calling to unity and participation can be challenging. We can become frustrated when we feel we don’t fit. We are not always sure where to find our place. We do feel lost at times.

Many of us are uncertain about faith. But we need to be aware we are searching and we need to be aware that in order to find where one is going engagement in the community known as church is a necessity.

Indeed, one test of being the church and one test of faith occurs when you sit next to someone with whom you disagree on nearly everything. Can you participate in a faith discussion group or Bible study and genuinely strive to understand that person?

Another test: church can’t be only about differences. Why? Because it is first about Christ-centered commitment to radical inclusiveness, the principle of agape love. Divine love shines when you stay connected, strive for the spiritual maturity, place love ahead of your own personal comfort levels.

Yet another test of church is whether you, personally, will commit yourself to practices that build up the church and your faith. In particular, will you look for educational opportunities within your congregation and strive to deepen your understanding of your faith? Will you participate in worship practices which binds differently minded people together in the name of Christ?

In short, it takes work to learn and it is often uncomfortable to have our existing beliefs broadened and to make new discoveries. But committing to the journey of learning is a major part of discipleship and it can be incredibly exciting if you stick with it. Are you willing to be a disciple? That defines the community called church.

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Well, none of that is mine. That’s the take of Wildman and Garner writing for the Alban Institute, a well known and well respected organization of church consultants.

So, I guess all I have to add to this is: “See you in church!”

In Faith,

Joe Connolly