An Under-Appreciated Role of Community

The Christian journey is not easy. It’s definitely not linear, which in so many words means it’s unpredictable. It was also never meant to be traversed alone. Yet, it’s the relationships in our Christian journey that sometimes make it both the most enjoyable, and most difficult journey we can decide to take. Many of you have been picked up, and also torn down by the very people you sought to entrust your spiritual journey to. It often leads to confusion and loss of focus that is both discouraging and even damaging to our faith.

It can be helpful to go back to the basics. For instance, when we first start out as Christians, we are often compelled by an encounter with God, and lightened even, by the hope of something different. We’re energized by a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit upon having confessed our sins, receiving forgiveness, and being given the chance to start afresh and anew. Over time, though, as the journey regresses back into the mundane, and the sins we confessed once continue to plague us, we retreat ever so subtly into navigating the journey alone. We fail to confess because it starts to feel like a failure more than victory and forgiveness. We also unwittingly send off signals to others who want to enter into the community that we need to work out our “stuff” in private. When we gather on Sundays, or for other events we should have it all together. Over time, the church fails to be a safe place, the inviting and invigorating place where people encounter the life-giving, forgiving God. Rather, it becomes a place for maintaining an institution that looks like something pious and religious but fails to exhibit any transformative power.

This is just a brief synopsis of what has happened to many Christians. It’s not that what happens is planned, and certainly, the signals that we emit are not the ones we profess or want to emit. We all want to emit love and grace. But, when we struggle, and when we hold it in, and we don’t feel like we can be truly honest about our struggles with anyone in the church (other than God), we become isolated and lonely. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it this way: “Those who remain alone with their evil are left utterly alone.” It’s this loneliness and isolation that creates a false reality that we all have it figured out and that church is a place for people who have it all figured out. Isolation also stunts our growth toward becoming a healthy community. We all know we struggle with sin at times and yet we continue to fear living more openly and honestly.

One of the ways we can cope with this is to rediscover the concept of confession. Yes, if you grew up in the context of the Catholic Church you know what I’m referring to. But, I’m not referring to the formal confessional booth approach. I am referring to confession in a trusted group or with a trusted friend within the church. We don’t all need to know everyone’s dirty laundry. But, everyone needs to know that we in the church are all on the same page. We all have dirty laundry we have been forgiven for and may be continuing to work through.

The church must be a place where people can be honest, safe, and know that the only things we will affirm are that God’s grace is sufficient, that he offers forgiveness, and that we ourselves have experienced it. Wouldn’t that be refreshing? No, it’s not “cheap grace” in the sense that we also affirm that forgiveness came at a price; the ultimate price. If we’re not willing to grow beyond our sinfulness, then we can’t claim the sacrifice that God made for us. He gave everything for us. We dare not treat it lightly by somehow assuming that I can keep doing what I know is wrong with the assumption of forgiveness. But, if I’m serious, and truly looking to live differently, surrendering my will to Christ, then the church is the place where I truly want to be able to work that out, without fear of judgment, even if I make mistakes along the way.

New Hope, I pray that we are a church that recognizes our own journey in, with, and through sin. I pray that we are a church that recognizes the forgiveness of God in our lives first and foremost. I pray that we are focused on what Christ has done for and to us. I pray that we emit God’s grace (the grace we received) and love for others so that we and they know we are only united by Christ, not by our actions, or our perfection, or our years on the journey of sanctification. We are united by the love and grace of Christ alone! May our church be that community where there is no fear of being honest, real, together and totally human. May we be a church that celebrates our humanity and yet holds that always at the foot of the cross in full recognition that we’d have no relationship with Him were it not for his death and resurrection, and His gracious offer of forgiveness.

Life together is complicated! Life together is messy. Life together can be scary, off-putting and uncomfortable. But, it can also be loving, supportive, life-giving, and filled with hope. It’s probably never going to be all one side (bad) or the other (good). It will always be a mixture requiring a commitment to reconciliation. I do pray that we are always humble, honest, real and that we never isolate from one another on the basis of fear about what people will think about our sinfulness. May we cultivate within us confidence for confession with each other (James 5:16), offer forgiveness to each other (see John 20:23), and nurture a safe environment to be human even as we strive to please Christ and live into a fully surrendered life. Remember, God is faithful and just to forgive (1 John 1:9). He has forgiven us, so may we be the strength for someone else by representing that same forgiveness as guided by the Holy Spirit.

Have a blessed week! 

Pastor Scott