Pastor's Corner: August

If you can’t tell by now, I ask a lot of questions. It’s one of the hallmarks of my personality. That isn’t just a thing I say, but has been proven true. I am naturally inclined to ask questions and to seek to understand. Patrick Lencioni has a personality test called, The Working Genius. According to the results I have the genius of wonder. That means, I ask questions.

And there is one question I think about a lot. It is actually the question that keeps me awake at night. To me, the answer to this question shows how well we, as a church, are doing our job. It helps us to know if we are doing what God has asked of us, or if we have missed our mark. The question is, “if the church closed its doors tomorrow, would our community notice and feel our absence?”

Before the emails and phone calls come in, no, we are not closing our doors. This is more of a question to see if we are truly being the church and following what God has asked of us.

One of the best ways to know if we are being “the church” is to see if our actions are having an intentional impact on the community we are located in. Afterall, Jesus made it clear that He came with an intentional mission. In Mark 2:17, after calling Levi, or Matthew to come and follow him, Jesus said these words, “healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Another time in the Gospels Jesus also made his mission clear, stating “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). Taking it one step further, Jesus, teaching his disciples after an argument broke out amongst them, tells them, “for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Jesus has extended to us an invitation to follow Him. If we accept His invitation then we are to take his words very seriously. That includes not expecting to be served, but to serve. I can’t help but imagine what it would have been like to be in the room, just as a fly on the wall, when Jesus was showing his disciples how to serve by washing their feet. This was a monumental moment in their journey together and Jesus led the disciples by his example of what it looks like to serve, not be served. This had to be a bit disorienting for the disciples because of who Jesus is. Jesus has told them all about who He is, God’s Son, His mission, and what is going to take place. And now, washing their feet, He tells them the way forward is to serve.

So back to me and those pesky/constant questions again, are we truly serving or are we only wanting to be served? To try to begin to make a difference in our community, we are going to be doing something on Sunday, August 18th. On that day, we will shut our doors. (I know, I said that we weren’t doing this, but just hear me out). On that day, we are not going to have our “normal” worship gathering. Instead, we are going to take Jesus’ words seriously and serve. We are going to do what Jesus has told us to do - I know a revolutionary idea. You will be hearing a lot more about what this is going to look like and entail, but I wanted to write this to you so that you know why we are doing this. The why is so important to me. The why matters. We are doing this to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We are doing this to go out to our community and meet those who have a need. We are doing this because we are to take Jesus’ words seriously and not just talk about them in theory but put them into practice. I cannot tell you how excited I am to get the opportunity to serve alongside you and make a difference in our communities. So, will you join us?

Pastor Joel