As I am wrapping up a few things to take with me to Annual Conference, I am reminded how messy the church really is. I am reminded that tidiness and order, cause and effect, sharp guiding lines, are simply never really found in a true community. A desire for predictable movements and unified responses will always fall short when it comes to communities made up of human beings, particularly church people.
I heard a story recently of a man (Let's call him Bob) who was losing his partner due to aids. Many Sundays, there was one church person who would stay behind just to minister to Bob. Not in an invasive way, but in a kind appropriate way. Bob would tell me that was the reason he sticks around in the church because "I know how good it can be, even when it isn't".
No words are much truer. As caring and loving as the church can be, it can also be as equally destructive, divisive, self-interested, and apathetic. To be honest, the church has always been this way. In 1 Corinthians 11:17, Paul writes this critiquing them about how they facilitate their meals when they gather together, "Now I don't praise you as I give the following instructions because when you meet together, it does more harm than good." (This would be a painful thing for any church to hear). Here is the saddest part, as long as the church is made up of humans, who are just as self-centered as you and I are, this will be a reality.
The good news is that even while we are a disordered bunch, God can bring about holiness. This is done at times with our participation, often without it, and occasionally in spite of us. So as we move closer to Annual conference, knowing the resolutions about our camp sites before us and the passion in which the conversation will enlist, it is all too important for us to keep in mind what it means to be the church, even as messy, broken, and imperfect people as we are. We remain to be the church when we are focused on awakening souls to the life changing possibilities of a life oriented toward Jesus Christ. Anything less than this, we stop being the church. Anything outside of this primary objective, and we become less than what we were created to be.
Not long ago, I was invited to play a softball game with the Dunklin County Drug and Treatment Court. This was a community, who were in the process of becoming drug free. That was their purpose, their objective, and their aim. Everything they did was oriented toward this objective. They were a wonderful group of people who allowed me to play softball with them (My skills were subpar to say the least) even though I was not very good. They laughed , argued, got angry, and heartily disagreed, but at the end of the day they were unified around their one common objective. It was a day in which Jesus was clearly present, even though few were inviting him to be there.
As we gather for holy conferencing, I pray that we may be more like a drug court softball game than a corporate stockholders meeting. I pray that we may be grace-filled in the midst of our messy disagreements. I pray that we are intentionally inviting Jesus to be present and to guide rather than an after thought to repair collateral damage. I pray that we will be laser focused on our mission of "making new disciples for the transformation of the world." Sentimentality, fiscal responsibility, and historical moments will try to dethrone that mission and place themselves in the highest spot of importance, bu may it never be so. May we disagree in a spirit of love and generosity, knowing that on the other side, God will be in the works of making all things new. We are in a new day and a new place, I pray that it will be a Kingdom focused one.
Rev. 22:1-15, "Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, shining like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb through the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life, which produces twelve crops of fruit, bearing its fruit each month. The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always.
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