These last few months in Oklahoma have been an interesting adjustment, again. In many ways, I left my Glen Elm church family in the middle of a pretty negative, self-loathing situation, to be quite honest. Don't get me wrong, I love GE and I think that God has blessed that body with amazing people and gifts. But the reality is that the last 2 years have been pretty rough on us. Along with all those struggles, many of my friends have debated about sticking through or jumping ship. You don't have to look far (well, actually just to the left side of the auditorium) to see what the majority choice was.
At the International Soul Winning Workshop (AKA: Tulsa Workshops) this year, I was elated to see that even the "stuck in the mud" Bible Belt folks are seeing the necessity of unity amongst churches. For more reaction on that, see my myspace blog.
Anyway, this week I had the privilege of going to the North American Christian Convention. This is the Christian Churches' version of "Tulsa Workshops." As a follow up of the March workshop, the NACC theme was Unity as well. I feel like this discussion has been happening for long enough and it's good to see some action finally taking place. Thursday night Jeff Walling was the speaker for the main session. Needless to say, it was amazing!!! For the first "adult" sermon I've heard from Jeff (who is usually Dudley's favourite youth rally speaker), I was more that blown away and challenged by his colourful words and ability to hit you with the truth.
With all the talk about unity among the churches, it's easy to keep it at exactly that... unity in the church! It's so easy to keep that statement at arms length, leaving to up to the "leaders" and "older people." What about unity in my life with people that I interact with on a daily basis? Or my attitude towards people in the Christian church (or Baptist, Methodist, Community churches, etc.)? For years, the C of C has had the attitude that we've got it all right. Well, I think we are finally admitting that we don't!!! Jeff told us to turn to our left and to our right and say "I'm a mess!" I could have stood up and yelled it at the top of my lungs!! Since I was only sitting beside one person, dear friend Allan Brantley, we looked at each other and added to it, "I'm a mess and I know it and you're a mess and you know it!" What a relief to say that?!? Seriously, it felt good in a way. If I ever act like I'm not a sinner who is in a big, big mess, please do whatever you have to do to get in my face and whop me upside the head!!
Here's my other question though... How do I apply this to my daily life? I have a million ideas about how I can help create unity amongst churches at my job; christian church visits, area wide recruiting events with both churches, learning more about the Christian church educational institutions, setting up shows for New Reign and Summer Singers at new churches and camps, becoming connected with Christ in Youth, Awana, and tons of other organizations out there. If I could be in control of all that, I would in a heart beat. (It's just like working with Tim Furry, Chris from Avonhurst Pentacostal, and the great people at Faith Baptist and hillsdale back home!) BUT... the reality is I am still in the c of c world where even people in my office don't agree with the unification that is taking place. Where I freeze is when the people I interact with every day oppose something that seems more valuable to the future of the church than anything I have seen in my lifetime. What about when I'm told "we can't do that yet because not everyone is ready for it"? I don't know how to handle that. What do I say?
God, please bless me with the words, patience, and insight to step up in support of building bridges but also in how to handle opposition in the face of this change. Please grant OC the vision, passion, and conviction to step up in support of unity as Jesus Christ prayed!
HAPPY CANADA DAY FOLKS!
