Reading: Ephesians 1
I just picked up a copy of Eugene Peterson's new book Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ. I have always found Peterson's writing to be very thought-provoking (The Contemplative Pastor was a book that reframed my own mindset for ministry). The first couple of paragraphs of this new book are equally as provocative, particularly in his description of the realities of the church. Since Peterson says it better than I can, here's how he begins:
"Church is the textured context in which we grow up in Christ to maturity. But church is difficult. Sooner or later, though, if we are serious about growing up in Christ, we have to deal with church…Many Christians find church to be the most difficult aspect of being a Christian. And many drop out–there may be more Christians who don't go to church or go only occasionally than who embrace it, warts and all. And there are certainly plenty of warts…
So, why church? The short answer is because the Holy Spirit formed it to be a colony of heaven in the country of death…Church is the core element in the strategy of the Holy Spirit for providing human witness and physical presence to the Jesus-inaugurated kingdom of God in this world. It is not that the kingdom is complete, but it is a witness to that kingdom."
How is your church a witness to the kingdom of God? That's a question that has been driving me as a pastor. There are plenty of distracting temptations to be something else as a church–successful, powerful, large, well-known, hip to cultural trends–as well as many similar temptations for the pastors who lead churches. The popularity of the charismatic celebrity pastor and the megachurch mogul model can cause many clergy to believe that if they're not getting featured in Christianity Today they're simply not making it. Pastors leave the ministry at an alarming rate because a false sense of self and a false sense of what the church is really about can lead to burnout and discouragement.
If, however, we focus on being a witness to the kingdom of God, we know from Jesus' own teaching that such a focus is inherently subversive. It's more mustard see than mega, more yeast than YouTube. The key question any church must deal with is this–are we transforming lives and transforming our communities, or are we merely building our own kingdoms? It doesn't matter if you're part of a megachurch or a small rural chapel–we're all called to the same mission. Time for us to recapture the idea that it's all about the kingdom.
PRAYER: Lord God, help us to see our churches as outposts for the kingdom on earth. Forgive us for making the church into a model of consumer culture and teach us to be a transforming community. Amen.
