I have recently had a conversation with a student who was slightly upset with his community of believers. After an interesting conversation about rap and whatnot, he finally opened up saying what follows: ” I sometimes feel like leaving everything behind, start my new church and remove everything that I don’t like from Church”.
I was shocked at first when I heard all this since I didn’t expect such a statement. However, I quickly came back to my senses and saw the astounding logic of it: frustration within the church. This poor guy was frustrated with the way sometimes things are done in church. He was confused and disappointed because he was at the “mercy” of his community leaders in terms of choosing the present and future in the community.
He carried on talking and his confusion led him to also say: “in the end all religions are the same”. I didn’t judge him but certainly got alarmed when I heard that because I do not believe all religions are the same whatsoever. It is true that some religions share the same origins, but all of them are completely different from each other. A Buddhist doesn’t believe in the same truths than a Christian or a Jewish person. Basically, the basis are different and that’s what differs one religion from the other.
Eventually, I found out that what he meant by “religions” was denominations within Christianity. Indeed, not only did I think he was right but also, that it is precisely the similarities what gives the reason to Christians to be called Christians over their different denomination.
I’m not going to try to solve the whole dilemma of denominations here; whether they are good or bad, whether they should exist or not; or if we ought to turn them all down to have one unified Church of Christ. What I would actually like to do is to draw the attention to all those community leaders, pastors, priests, group of elders and so forth to really wake up and be very attentive to the needs of their communities.
My work as a missionary is to help students to have a heart for reaching others for Christ, by leading them towards a healthy community in accordance to what they want and need, whether that is an existing community, or building a new one for them in their environment. This is already a hard graft for our team since there are not a great deal of Christians students willing to serve the Lord with their whole lives everywhere they are. My task is to let the Holy Spirit use me to set fire in their hearts so that they see the need in whatever encircles them.
Unfortunately, when that miracle happens the fire is doused by church leaders, or alike. Churches and communities tend to be controlled somewhat in a tyrannical or domineering way sometimes. This is sad because, when that happens, the church or community turn to be an asphyxiating place; in other words, what is supposed to bring life, takes it away. What is supposed to bring growth, crushes it down to decrease.
This reality has recently been around my mind and I’ve read some articles and had some conversations with my co-workers. I have found out that there are certain features that are very typical of our brokenness.
One is the lack of wanting to let it go. Pastors, priests, and alike normally work very hard to be in that position. Some denominations don’t allow someone with the gift of shepherding to be a spiritual leader unless they had a PhD. Other denominations need to go through seminary, be ordained and then be able to serve in a community. This hard aspiration to fulfil God‘s call remains indwelt in the leaders’ mind in the shape of lies and grudges by believing that they are superior than the rest. It’s the staff syndrome, when they grab the staff they forget who gave them the job.Yet, Jesus Christ makes it very clear that in order to be the best among others, we have to be the lowest.
Effort and time are bad allies for pastoral leaders as they both get their mind ingrained in what it seems to be “their right to be”. I have recently read somewhere in the web that a good leader is he who knows how to delegate in accordance to people’s gifts. The Gospel shows how Jesus was an excellent leader in this sense as well. He delegated to his appointed ones to do tasks he was able to do.
As a student leader, my task is to ignite people’s heart and help them do what I can very easily do by myself. It is hard most of the time, because I unfortunately find my worth in what I do and not in God; but I have to stop and ask myself: Am I willing to let God work through me?, am I willing to stop being so selfish, look beyond myself and let others do what God wants them to do? Am I an instrument of God, or am I an obstacle in His plans? Usually I fail to ask myself these questions, and as a result, I have to admit shamefully that because of me, God didn’t accomplish His plans. The good news is that He knows my heart so well that He can work around my imperfections, and His Will gets done… in spite of me. This is where I find great comfort: to know that no matter how much I mess it up, He is sovereign over all things and He can restore the chaos I create.
” A community should be joyful and noticable”, Mns. Dominique Rey – bishop of Toulon – says. If you go to your community with a bad attitude, knowing that you’re not going to enjoy it, then don’t even bother step outside the door of your home. A joyful community is the body of Christ. It welcomes, rejoices together, and learn from one another. Things that belong to the past or are not effective to help those new comers feel comfortable, then they shouldn’t be there. Jesus welcomes everyone, and we are sent by Jesus himself to make disciples (Mt 28). We can’t afford having old legalistic behaviours when we’re talking about a Jesus who doesn’t like legalism. We cannot exclude someone who is wanting to have Jesus in their lives if we’re talking on behalf of Jesus. The Gospels say he didn’t do it, so why should we?
In the case of massive churches, where the congregation numbers add up to over 10,000 people, the need is to give each one of the church-goers a deserving importance. To God, each and everyone of us is equally important, and the level of importance is unmeasurable; therefore, we have to give them that importance. As members of the Church our task is to encourage one another in the unending love of Christ Jesus. Hence, to accomplish this task there should be small groups that would gather frequently, and every once in a while meet with the entire body in a massive celebration.
Lastly, and most importantly, there is no growth without a purpose. The basis of Christianity is self-giving, not self-focusing. Giving ourselves to others should not be a choice but a command. In fact, it is a command. Mathew 28:20 says,
” and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (NRSV)
The communities and churches of all denominations should be focused outwardly not inwardly. There’s not need to say “come to church” but “I’ll bring you the church to you”. Jesus did go to those who needed Him and did not linger in doing so. We should go and seek those who need Jesus and bring Him to them in the shape of help, and word, whether that means going to a pub, or a classroom.
I often think that my job would be much easier if I had a room and expected those who would never go to church come and seek help. The truth is that my room would be empty. I have to seek them so that they can know, and this attitude should start from the leaders so that their flock would follow wholeheartedly.
Even though I see the brokenness in humankind (myself included),I am very confident that all this can be done because Jesus said he would be with us to the end of times. With His help, we can do it.
Abba’s Kid
thelittlehouseontherock 