That Time Jesus’ Followers Tried to Throw Him Off a Cliff

As I chat with people who serve the Church like I do – namely Mid-Council Leaders/Bishops/Conference Leaders – I am finding that we are in the thick of what Phyllis Tickle called The Emergent Church. It’s hard to be the Church these days, and it’s often ugly. I hate watching Church People try to destroy each other. But I see it every day.

Things have changed. It’s not only okay; it is the moving of the Spirit.

In review

• The Emergent Church/21st Century Church is not going to thrive because of pew comfort, pipe organ power, or Tiffany window flourishes.
• We are never going back – to churches that resemble country clubs, heritage sites or social organizations. The Church of Jesus Christ is called – especially now – to be communities of spiritual support, welcome, and healing in the name of Jesus.
• Congregations/denominations that will thrive in the future will be the spiritual communities that welcome and love the broken, the vulnerable, the least of these.

This is a holy, essential time for Jesus’ Church. I regularly hear lifelong Christians tell me that they don’t pray out loud, they don’t talk about Jesus in public, they don’t know how to articulate why they believe that Jesus is Lord. Especially for mainline Christians, we need to be confident in talking about our faith.

I, for one, believe that God calls all kinds of people to serve. They might be transgender. They might be addicts. They might be shy. They might be children. But God calls all kinds of people to serve. This I believe.

I believe that denominations and other non-denominational churches that welcome all God’s children to be disciples/leaders/ministers – even women, even LGBTQA humans, even marginalized people – are the future of the Church. We need each other. We are all created in God’s image.

In my own ministry, I am seeing people reject each other for many reasons – mostly reasons of individual perspective and experience. My own brother doesn’t believe that women are called into church leadership and yet he says, “I’m just not there yet” as if one day, he might be.

I’m not there yet is a wonderful way to describe where we are, especially if we have hard time believing that God might thoroughly love and call into ministry people who make us uncomfortable.

I feel like I’m living in Crazy Town sometimes. The Church I love can be cruel and ever so judgmental. And yet I know that God is unspeakably good. God even loves me. God even loves you.

Please refrain from demonizing each other. Please trust that the Spirit of God is working. Expect to be surprised. God loves even the people we hate. Really.