The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Lord’s Supper (Page 11 of 15)

Recover the Small Groups Dynamic

May 9, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Most baseball experts and historians today are debating the place in baseball lore of Josh Hamilton’s Tuesday night in Baltimore. The Rangers slugger hit four home runs against the O’s last night, drove in eight runs, hit for a total of 18 bases, and mixed in a double for good measure. He went five-for-five with no outs as Texas racked up its 20th win of the year and reclaimed the best record in the major leagues. Sports Illustrated’s Cliff Corcoran has written an excellent article that details Josh’s night and compares it with every other four homerun performance in baseball history. Click here to read Corcoran’s case for Hamilton’s heroics to be classified as the second best hitter’s night ever.

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In the 16th chapter of Leroy Garrett’s “What Must the Church of Christ Do to Be Saved?” he presses for more imagination, more risk, more innovation, more change in the way we are the Church. He complains, perhaps a bit too harshly, about our “boring, lifeless, gloomy” worship assemblies and, by implication, blames our declining numbers on our lack of joy and excitement. By pointing right at our Sunday assemblies right at the beginning of the chapter, Garrett probably causes the reader to focus on the wrong thing and actually miss his main point. I think Garrett’s main objective is to encourage joyful and exciting shifts in the ways we are church, not in the ways we do worship services. Although, the two paragraphs following his initial indictment certainly speak to all of our church life, not just what we do together on Sunday mornings:

At the heart of our problem is that we are caught in the trappings of our own institutionalism — or churchism might be the word. We have expensive edifices to pay for and to maintain, staffs to support, programs to fund. Our Achilles heel is the System. The System resists change, except occasional cosmetic change. Nothing real or substantial. The System demands conformity, and it is uneasy with thinking people around, especially a thinking preacher or a preacher that says something.

The System must maintain the status quo, and it must preserve itself at all cost. This is why it seeks to keep everyone satisfied by reacting rather than acting. And most significantly, the System is tied to the building. Regular church attendance, along with generous giving, is the essence of “faithfulness.”

This brings me to the one thing above most everything else that we must do to be saved. We must recover — or is it discover? — the great lost secret of primitive Christianity. That secret was the dynamic of joyous, Spirit-filled gatherings in homes.

Garrett is definitely speaking my language when he’s talking small groups.

If our salvation is tied directly to the Holy Spirit working in our lives to transform us more and more into the image of Christ — and it is! — churches should be in the business of teaching this transformation. This imitating Christ and becoming more like Christ should drive everything we do as a church. We should be all about planning the settings and fostering the atmospheres for this transformation to more easily and quickly take place. Where in your church do you and other members become more like Jesus? What program or setting in your church encourages self-sacrifice, considering the needs of others more important than your own, true community and fellowship, compassion and love and service? Which program or setting fosters Christian family where honesty and transparency are the norm and where burdens are shared? Which setting communicates accountability to one another, mutual responsibilities to one another, where we all rejoice and mourn with one another as equal members of the Lord’s Body? Which program more accurately reflects the gospel image of one people around the one table, fellowshiping with one another and with our Lord? It’s our small groups!

This kind of relationship and fellowship doesn’t happen in our ordered Sunday morning worship assemblies where, for the most part, we sit in neat rows and stare at the backs of each other’s heads while focusing our attention on one screen or one speaker. There’s more fellowship happening when you pass a hot dog to a stranger at a baseball game than when you pass the blood of Jesus to your brother in Christ at most Sunday morning gatherings. It doesn’t happen in our Bible classes either, not like it happens in smaller groups in our homes.

I’ll never get to know you — to really know you — if I never share a meal with you or spend time with you in your home. It’s in your home where I read the cartoons on your refrigerator and see the pictures of your children in the hall. You’ll never be completely honest with me and I’ll never be totally transparent with you until we get to know and trust one another. I can pray for you in Bible class when you add your name to the list. But I can’t really bear your burdens for you — with you — until I experience them with you together in our homes.

There’s more freedom to be spontaneous in our living rooms where the order of worship isn’t printed and distributed beforehand and the PowerPoint slides aren’t already in order. There’s more opportunity for Christian hospitality and serving one another where meals are shared and chores are assigned and kids are corralled. There’s more time for true testimony, more allowance for joyful laughter and even making fun of ourselves, and more room for tough questions and even periods of doubt.

These small groups are also ideal for friendship evangelism. Outsiders can often be introduced to spiritual things in the informal atmosphere of a private home rather than in a church setting. The joy and spontaneity of the home gatherings can also transfer to some degree to the public assemblies if only we will be less rigid. When are services are revved up and there is “a sweet spirit that fills this place” we will be more inclined to share it with others. Who wants to invite a friend to a boring service?

I’m a huge believer in regular small groups. I think our small groups do more for actual Christian transformation than our Sunday morning worship assemblies and our Bible classes combined. Yes, small groups are hard. They’re time-consuming. They’re energy-draining. They require a pouring out of oneself for the sake of others. Small groups demand personal sacrifice for the benefit of the whole. They call for commitment; they command sharing; they impose honesty and accountability. Small groups demand that we model compassion, that we forgive, and that we love. Does that sound like a Savior you know?

Peace,

Allan

A Reward from Him

January 9, 2012 / / 3 Comments

“Sons are a heritage from the Lord; children a reward from him.” ~Psalm 127:3

On at least four ocassions in the Gospels, parents are shown to be bringing their children to Jesus. And he welcomed them gladly. They brought their kids to Jesus that he should touch them, that he would bless them and teach them. And he did. Jesus took little kids in his arms, he placed his hand on their heads in blessing, he prayed for them. He also warns us sternly not to ignore them or neglect them or discourage them in any way because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to our little children and he’s not willing that any of them should be lost.

Scripture tells us plainly that children are a blessing from our God, a precious gift from our Father; received on trust, on loan, because they do belong first and foremost to him. And just as we dedicate our own lives to God through Christ, we dedicate our children to him. We thank God for this priceless gifts. And we ask him to use our children and work with them and through them as he sees fit.

Our church family at Central follows the tradition of Scripture in our baby dedication or baby blessing ceremonies. As a body of believers, as a family of God, we spent yesterday together publicly recognizing God’s proprietership, his ownership, of our kids. They belong to him. And we know that. And we give him thanks. Our children should be taught that they belong to God. And we should treat them as if they belong to God. Because they do.

And then we brought up twelve brand new babies and their parents, twelve precious children that have been born into the church family over the past twelve months. And we blessed them. We thanked God for them. We promised to stand by them in feeding and nurturing their children in the words and ways of our God. We listened as the new parents promised to raise their children in Christ. And then we vowed as a church to help them raise these babies in the Lord.

And then we shared communion together. With our children. Teenagers jumped out of their pews to join their parents on opposite sides of the worship center. Some parents went to where their children were sitting. Little communion huddles broke out all over the auditorium as our adults interacted with our kids. Some leaned over to interact with the children sitting in front of them. Some men and women turned completely around in their pews to visit with the kids behind them. Others hopped across aisles and switched sections just to share the celebratory feast with a child. And we shared our stories as we shared the meal. This is what the bread means to me. This is what I think about when I drink the cup. Before Christ saved me I used to be this; now by the grace of God I’m this! Here’s a passage of Scripture I always meditate on during communion. Here’s my favorite communion song. Here’s the reason we eat this bread and drink this cup.

Yeah, it was uncomfortable for some of us. We’re so used to being quiet and hushing our children during communion. So, generally, our kids just sit and stare at their feet or read or color while the bread and the cup and THE STORY pass right by them! Not yesterday. Yesterday at Central, we rehearsed the gospel story with our children during the weekly ritual that’s God-ordained for that very purpose. And it was beautiful.

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A couple of you have asked for a copy of the vows we took together as a congregation yesterday regarding the raising of our children. You need to know they were written well before I got here. There have been versions of this done here at Central for many years. We think Ken Danley may have written the version I worked from yesterday. I tweaked a couple of the phrases to fit in more closely with the Ephesians 6:4 passage we had interpreted during the sermon. And it may change a little each year to reflect the specific context of the time. You can click here to download a copy of our congregational Baby Dedication vows.

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It’s come down to tonight’s final game in the Central Staff Bowl Challenge. If Alabama wins, I’ll finish in first place, nine points ahead of Tiffani. If LSU wins, Greg takes the top prize and I finish fourth behind him and Matthew and Tiffani. Somewhere in the Mid Cities, Jackie Crain is smiling, knowing that if I were still in North Richland Hills, she’d be winning another free lunch on another Crimson Tide victory.

The Central staff should note that, should Alabama win it tonight, y’all are taking me to Famous Dave’s and I’m getting two meats!

Roll Tide,

Allan

Joy at the Table: Part Two

November 22, 2011 / / 1 Comment

A comment from Rob’s Dad regarding yesterday’s post: How do you reintroduce the joy? I love your point and wonder what steps and actions you would put in place?

This is proving to be a difficult thing at best. Shifting our focus at the Lord’s Supper from individual introspection and silent meditation on Jesus’ death to a corporate celebration of joy and thanksgiving for Jesus’ resurrection and eternal life is going to take a long, long time. Normally when we’re talking about changing something in our corporate assemblies — instead, I should say making something we do better, more theologically correct, more transformational, more in tune with the Gospel of Christ — we have to deal with a few decades of bad teaching and shallow understanding. But with this communion thing, we’re tackling a distortion of the original intent and practice that has been more than 12 or 13 centuries in the making.

Understanding that most church leaders and congregations first need a thorough study of the Scriptures and Church history when it comes to the Lord’s Supper, I will offer a few suggestions and changes that should be prayerfully considered by all worship ministers and congregational elders to restore Gospel joy to the table and put the community back in communion.

1) Sing songs of praise and thanksgiving before table time. Please notice that in your song book index, Lord’s Supper songs are categorically about the suffering and death of Jesus. Almost all of them. Singing only those kinds of songs in and around the Lord’s Supper will focus us exclusively on just one aspect of God’s salvation work through Christ. It narrows our understanding of what’s happening at communion. It actually counters what the Bible says about the great joy of the disciples as they ate with their Lord on that first Resurrection Sunday. Singing songs about death causes us to act like we’re at a funeral. There’s not much joy around the casket at a funeral. We eat and drink like it’s Friday instead of Sunday. Jesus is not dead; he is alive and reigning at the right hand of our Father in heaven! I would suggest singing songs of praise and thanksgiving. Any song that has the words “Thank you” in them would be great. Eucharist means thanksgiving, right?

2) Explore other Lord’s Supper themes. In an effort to broaden the experience and deepen our understanding of communion, we ought to focus on a different theme each week. It’s not just about Jesus’ death. The table also expresses the unity of Christ’s Church, it points to the great eschatalogical wedding feast of the Lamb, it remembers Jesus’ meals and teachings during his ministry, it proclaims the Gospel, it reminds us to serve the needy, it prompts praise and thankgiving, it celebrates the Resurrection, it moves us to renew vows of loyal discipleship to our Lord, and, yes, it also rejoices in the sacrificial death of the Son of God. The apostle Paul ties the Lord’s Supper directly to our unity. Luke conects it to Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes. All the Gospels say the Lord’s Supper is a resurrection meal. Acts uses communion as an act of Christian fellowship and community. Jesus says the feast represents the Kingdom. Revelation shows us how it’s a participation in eternity. Why would we limit our table experiences on Sundays to just one of these many facets? Why not explore Exodus 24 and Isaiah 25 and Luke 24 and John 20 and Romans 6 and Revelation 5 in our Lord’s Supper meditations? Why not use songs from the “Invitation” index? There’s never been a better communion song written than “All Things Are Ready, Come To The Feast.” Why don’t we try that?

3) Smile. Don’t allow your guy presiding at the table to be grumpy. Don’t let him look so solemn like he’s carrying a coffin down the center aisle. Most of the time, these men don’t realize they look so sad or even angry. They just grew up thinking it was wrong to smile during communion. So, while they’re standing up in front of the entire congregation, waiting on the last of the bread trays to be collected and the men to get back in position for the distribution of the cup, they stare. They stare either blankly out into space or they stare holes through the walls where the men are scurrying into place for the next act. Again, I don’t think they’re doing it on purpose. One of the happiest, most cheerful, funniest guys I know at Legacy — a great friend — acts like a completely different man when he is presiding over the Lord’s Table on Sunday mornings. He looks mad. Tell your guys it’s OK to smile. If you’re up there, remember to relax. Breathe. Smile. Chill out. Christ is risen and he’s promised you eternal life. It’s OK to smile. In fact, it’s preferred.

4) Direct the congregation to share during the supper. Most of us were taught to look down at our shoes or stare into the pages of our Bibles or close our eyes during communion. How about teaching your church to interact with one another instead? It’s communion, right? Community! Instead of keeping that special passage of Scripture to yourself, why not share it with the person next to you? “Hey, check this out; this verse always means a lot to me during communion.” Or maybe, “Hey, this is always what I think about during the Lord’s Supper.” Or perhaps grab a hymnal (if you’re blessed enough to even know what that is) and point out a favorite to a neighbor on your pew, “This song was always one of my favorite communion songs.” Instruct your church to pass the trays with a simple, “Christ’s Body broken for you” or “Christ’s blood poured out for you.” Something to get people talking and sharing. You could also announce a new rule in your congregation: nobody does communion by themselves! If somebody’s sitting alone, invite them to sit with you. Or you just go sit by them. Take your whole family and go join them for the meal. Instead of greeting visitors in your church at the beginning of the assembly, do it as you prepare for communion. Have everybody stand and greet one another and invite one another to the table. An atmosphere of joyful community around the table isn’t very natural anymore. It hasn’t been for a long time. We’re going to have to teach it and show it, model it and encourage it.

5) Enjoy communion after the sermon, not before. It’s much easier to tie the Table into the Word if it’s after the sermon. With just a little time and practice, you’ll find that it’s really very simple to continue the theme of the sermon and the songs and the prayers of the rest of the assembly right into this most important aspect of the day. Instead of the Lord’s Supper itself being “separate and apart,” it becomes the climax, the high point, what the whole rest of the assembly was leading us to. Pretty soon, the table becomes a very natural way to express and experience what’s been talked about and taught and preached through the sermon and the songs and the prayers that have come before.

6) Bigger pieces of bread and bigger cups of wine. Encourage bigger bites and drinks. It’s hard to latch on to the symbolism of a heavenly feast when it’s just a sip and a crumb. It’s like sprinkling water on somebody’s head for baptism instead of immersing all of him in a tub of water. It’s just not the same. Not even close. Unleavened bread was first introduced to the Church’s Lord’s Supper in the 900s in order to set the communion experience as so completely different from anybody’s every day meal experience that it would cause congregants to act differently, with more reverence and awe, more silence and solemnity. It was successful. Obviously. Chunks of bread and gulps of juice would help fix that a little.

These are just a few suggestions off the top of my head. What has your church done to restore the joy and community to our Lord’s Table? What would you try if you were allowed to? I’m always open to faithful suggestions.

Peace,

Allan

Joy at the Table

November 21, 2011 / / 1 Comment

The Lord’s Supper is the central, communal, corporate act of God’s Church. Instituted by our Savior, passed on by the apostles, and practiced for centuries by God’s people, our communion meal has historically served as the primary reason for Christian gathering and the climax of the Christian assembly. It’s the high point. The pinnacle.

As most of you know by now, my great desire is to see the Lord’s Supper returned in our churches to the rightful place of prominence it has always enjoyed until recently. In our Church of Christ assemblies, our communion time needs to be the highlight. And it’s not. Not always.

And it won’t be — not consistently, anyway — until we return the joy.

When presenting the case for expressions of joy and gladness and celebrations of happiness during our Lord’s Meal, I’m often reminded by well-meaning brothers and sisters that our time at the table is meant for remembering the death of Jesus. It’s inappropriate, they say, to rejoice when thinking about death. Our time at the table is for somber introspection and solemn reflection, not conversation and singing and grinning. Certainly not laughter.

First, I would say our Sunday communion has much, much more to do with the Resurrection than with the Crucifixion. Much more. I would suggest the first Christians didn’t really think about Jesus’ death during their Sunday meals. They were too overcome by the fact that the Christ really was alive. That was the focus of communion.

But if a person insists that the communion meal is about remembering the death — and people will do this by quoting 1 Corinthians 11:26: “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” — we’re on solid ground to celebrate in that case, too.

For the writers of Scripture, the death of Jesus was and is good news. It’s great news! And it is more than appropriate at the table of Christ  to express the pleasure and the joy that are caused by his death. To “proclaim” means to announce publicly and clearly what has happened and what it means eternally. It’s not to be whispered through cupped hands into the ears of a just a few disciples in the room. The good news is to be shouted with joy.

The Eucharist (thanksgiving, right?) is the perfect time and place, not to mention the most practical form, for showing and confessing that the death of Jesus is totally different from a natural event or a criminal act or some tragic loss. The death of Jesus gives us no reason to accuse or moan or lament or complain.

Those celebrating the Lord’s Supper know the pain and the shame, the horror and scandal, of Christ’s death. However, we rejoice in the crucifixion and praise the slaughtered Lamb because God has raised him from the dead and accepted his intercession on our behalf. In Paul’s theology and in the message of John, Hebrews, 1 Peter, and Revelation, the Crucified One is always the living and reigning Christ. The One who rules the Church and the world and who will come again is the crucified Christ.

We have abundant reason to rejoice in Christ’s death and praise the crucified yet living Lamb.

And until we recapture that sense of great joy around our living Lord’s table, we will continue to commemorate a solemn service instead of a celebratory feast. It will remain a weekly task to be performed instead of a community meal to be enjoyed. And it will stay in the background. It won’t ever rise past the preacher or the music in terms of proper position and prominence in our Sunday assemblies.

What if our Sunday communion services sounded and felt more like what you’re going to experience around your dining room table this coming Thusday? What if, when we dine with our risen Lord on Sundays, joy were the prevailing mood?

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More than $7,500 raised for Madison Knebusch and her family at yesterday’s spaghetti lunch. Praise God!

Bad news received just this afternoon regarding the PET scan today on Madison’s right lung. Another round of chemotherapy to begin later this week.

“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” ~Habakkuk 3:18

We love you, Madison and Levi and Shannon, Britton, Londen, Gracyn, and Hudson. Our hearts are breaking with yours as you endure this horrible trial. We ache for you and with you. And all of us want so desperately to do something to help. We want so badly to help. And, honestly, sometimes we don’t even know what to say. We don’t have the words. Sometimes we say dumb things and do dumb things out of a deep love for you that is compelling us to try anything to provide you with encouragement and comfort. Please be patient with us and forgive us.

Please know how much we love you.

We trust in our loving Father. We ask for increased faith. And we continually lift you up to our mighty God for his divine purposes.

Grace & Peace,

Allan

Counter Cultural Jesus

November 11, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Everything about our Savior flies right in the face of what the culture says is important. The values our culture upholds are counter to everything Jesus stands for. The ideas and philosophies our culture exalts are actually opposed to our Christ and his Kingdom.

Our culture says fight for our freedoms and assert your rights; Jesus willingly gave up his rights and his freedoms for the sake of others. The culture says gain more and more wealth and status and power; Jesus left behind all the wealth and status and power he enjoyed at the right hand of the Father to serve others. Culture says defend yourself at all costs, don’t let anybody mistreat you; Jesus walked purposefully into his own torture and to the cross to die. Culture works hard to establish and maintain boundaries between people of different colors, different languages, different backgrounds and zip codes and tax brackets; Jesus invites all the people of every nation, tribe, and tongue to enjoy a common feast at his one table.

Jesus is completely counter-cultural.

I asked our Wednesday night Bible class this week in what ways the Central church is counter cultural, in what ways do we go against what society says is the proper thing to do? One of the first things somebody shouted out was that we feed the poor, we take care of the needy.

But that’s not counter cultural. Our society applauds those who feed the poor. The popular media produce slick feature stories for mass consumption about people who take care of the needy. Fancy buildings are named after those who minister to the less fortunate.

Somebody else said we proclaim God, we believe in God and profess his name. No, that’s not counter cultural, either. Not at all. This society absolutely upholds a belief in God as fundamental. Basic. I asked if any of the 75-80 people in the room had ever even met anybody who claimed there was no God. Only one woman raised her hand. Believing in God is a very cultural thing here. Very cultural.

The conversation went on and on, and I could write several pages about it. The bottom line is that some of the things we’re so proud of as disciples of our radical Lord don’t hardly make any ripples at all in our society. They don’t stick out as different from the crowd. We’re doing what everybody else is doing; we’re just attaching Jesus’ holy name to it.

We can do better. We can do more.

I mean, we’re still, for the most part, segregating our church body from the ones we’re blessing with food and monetary assistance. Some of us are in a huge multi-million dollar building with coffee bars and cushioned chairs and some of us are crammed in a crowded house across the street. We still betray our prejudices when our conversations are sprinkled with “us” and “them.” Some of us are watching Fox News four and five hours a day and listening to political talk radio, filling our hearts and our souls with angry words and malicious thoughts that oppose the very ideals of love and joy and peace for which our Lord died.

In 413 AD, Augustine wrote in “City of God” that Christians were villified by society because they were so different from what the culture expected. You can go back and read for yourself how the earliest Christians were criticized by the culture: Christians are bad citizens; Christians don’t march; they don’t fight; they don’t build; they don’t help govern; Christians are mixing the classes and races at common meals in common living quarters; they’re destroying the social structures of the society; they’re not patriotic; they’re not loyal to the Empire; they say we are to serve one God instead of the State; they advocate forgiveness toward our nation’s enemies.

Those are the teachings of the Church. Those are the apostolic interpretations of Scripture. And those teachings and that way of life is completely counter to the ways and powers and authorities of this world. It got Christians in trouble back then. That kind of living gets Christians in trouble today. Right here in Amarillo.

(When your Bible class is taking prayer requests this coming Sunday morning, try requesting that we pray together for the Iraqi and Afghanistani soldiers, that God would protect them and return them safely to their families. See where that’ll get you.)

We can do better. We can do more.

Someone Wednesday night pointed out that Central decided a dozen years ago to stay right where we are in this downtown location instead of moving away to a nicer, more upscale neighborhood on the outer margins of the city borders. Ah, yes. Very counter cultural.

Culture looks at deteriorating property values and changing demographics and says, “Get out while you can.” Culture sees declining church attendance and lower contribution numbers and says, “You’ve gotta leave.”

Central saw the very same things and said, instead, “We’ve gotta stay.” Central made the very difficult choice to eschew financial and geographical security, to put off any cares and concerns about attendance and buildings and cash, to fight through very real fears and anxieties of the unknown in order to fully embrace Christ’s mission in this zip code.

I praise God for that. Amen.

And I look forward to that great day when all the barriers have been destroyed here on earth just as they are in heaven. I long for that day when we truly worship our one God together as his children, when we truly fellowship together around that one table. Sooner, rather than later. Right here at Central. A clearly counter cultural vision that would get us in trouble with society. It would cause ripples. It would be noticed. It would be criticized. And it would bring glory and honor to our eternal Father.

We can do more. We can do better.

Peace,

Allan

Upholding the Ideal

September 22, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Our holy Scriptures are full of lofty ideals. We listen to Jesus say, “Love your enemies,” and we realize, “Wait a second, I don’t even like my friends!” Give to everyone who asks. Never lust. Always forgive. Rejoice in persecution. Put the needs of others ahead of your own. Our Lord calls for a single-minded fidelity to following him without reservation. And it’s demanding. Impossibly so. Yes, the Holy Spirit of God empowers us to do what Christ is calling us to do. But we don’t always do it. We mess up. We sin. We fall.

To borrow from Yancey, I find that, personally, I talk and write about spiritual disciplines far better than I practice them.

How about you?

Yeah, I know.

But we keep trying, right?

We never put our feet on the floor in the morning and allow that, “I’m human so I’m going to sin today. There’s no way I’m going to be perfect today. I’m going to mess up. I’m human.” No! God forbid! We strive with everything in our power and by the strength of the Spirit to pledge that, today, I’m going to be like my Lord! We don’t ever give in to the world’s conclusion that we cannot possibly be like Christ. We keep trying.

Scripture paints a beautiful picture of the Kingdom of God and the coming wedding feast of the Lamb. It’s a gathering of “every tribe and language and people and nation.” We find “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” around the table. Paul makes it clear that, in Christ, there is “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.”

I believe the very core of the Gospel of Jesus is that our Christ died and rose again in order to destroy completely and eternally all the barriers that exist between God and man and man and one another. Social distinctions. Cultural differences. Language obstacles. Socio-economic disparity. Zip codes and tax brackets. None of these things register as even a blip on our fellowship radar. These differences don’t even exist in Christ.

But we have black churches. And white churches. And hispanic churches. And rich churches. And poor churches. And somehow we’ve fooled ourselves into thinking that’s OK. We have begun to believe the lie that church has always been this way and it will always be this way. The cultural differences are too great. The language difficulties are too much. We’ve tried to integrate, we’ve tried to come together, but it’s just never worked. And it never will work.

So, why try?

Because there is honor in the trying. Trying is an act of faith. Our Father wants us to engage that struggle and try. He wants us to try.

Scripture gives us a crystal-clear mandate. It tells us in no uncertain terms that the table of Christ and the house of God is to be enjoyed by all. Together. United as one. Everybody equal. Everybody just as wretched and lost and condemned to death without Jesus and everybody just as holy and saved and righteous because of Jesus. Together. We uphold the ideals we find in Scripture. We lift up those ideals and we try with everything we have to bring heaven to earth, to practice God’s will on earth just as it is in heaven.

And we slip. And we fall. And fail. And do really stupid things. But we never give up. We never give in to the world’s conclusions that division along racial and economic and language lines is necessary. We keep trying. And we trust that Jesus, our King, is watching even as we are “straining at the oars.” He’s interceding for us as he watches. And he’s proud of us. He’s pleased with us as we keep trying.

Peace,

Allan

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