I have another metaphor from the Dark Knight series of Batman movies. Harvey Dent, who later becomes the villain "Two-Face", is describing his opinions on Batman by saying, "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain".
This is exactly what I thought about when I was discussing church matters with my grandfather-in-law, "Papa", who is a life-long Methodist. He told me about John Wesley's first mission trips to America and how he had a spiritual moment with some fellow believers on a ship returning to England. During this experience, he realized that the stuffiness and religiosity of the Episcopal church (who sent him on mission) was getting in the way of believers experiencing Christ at a deeper level. The result was the foundation of the Methodist church to right the "wrongs" of the church as Wesley saw it. Papa then told me how disappointed he was that the Methodist church today seemed to be falling back into the same thing they once considered the problem. They had their own compromising morals and beliefs, religiosity, and stuffiness to contend with and it is ripping the church apart today.
This is coming from a man who shoots looks at people who clap after performances at Christmas cantatas because "it's irreverent". Even he realized that culture and tradition can not be allowed to stand in the way of spiritual growth and the mission of the church!
We are sitting at the last chapter of Nehemiah 13 where we see Israel beginning to quickly fall back into lazy spiritual practices, suddenly looking a lot like "the problem" rather than the establishment of something holy.
[...] each of the Levites and the singers performing the service had gone back to his own field. (Nehemiah 13:10b)
At that time I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath. They were also brining in stores of grain and loading them on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and fids. All kinds of goods were being brought to Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I wanted them against selling food on that day. (Nehemiah 13:15)
These are just a couple of examples of where the Israelites went wrong. After all the tremendous examples of devotion, faith, and blessing we've covered over the last month, the Israelites still fell back on their own ways of doing things which felt so natural and so familiar.
This is a warning and an opportunity. The word "different" must pop up over a hundred times in these devotions. We want to be different and have others look at us and realize that experiencing Christ doesn't have to be the same thing they've always seen in the past. Some things will be familiar to what we've always seen because we do have a common culture and live in the same society, but we should be constantly on guard to protect against the temptation to slide into familiar practices and behaviors that lead to stagnation and driving so many away from Christ's message. The biggest tragedy I could imagine for The Well is that we start off as something unencumbered by a 100 year old building, generations of traditions we can't shake, and old-school power broker politics just to find ourselves 10, 15, or 20 years later looking no different than anything else in our community.
As scary as that sounds, this is also our opportunity. We have the opportunity to bring something that God accepts as a pleasing offering to his kingdom. We can build something, with God's blessing and guidance, which reaches people that other churches considered lost. Souls can be touched that others considered unreachable. We can meet needs that some considered too big to tackle. All of this only sounds like the ramblings of a dreamer if we ignore the fact that with God, all things are truly possible. I have big dreams for the mission of The Well because I believe in a big God who can... and will... do amazing things for souls all around our community and beyond.
I am eternally grateful for pastors Doug and Frank for their leadership during this process and for answering a calling. I am equally, or moreso, grateful for all of you for providing us love and support during these initial stages of our church. I hope you will continue with us as things begin to become more formal and believe that we are at the precipice of seeing God do truly amazing things right before our eyes!
DAILY PRAYER A Prayer for A New Mission Father, you have entrusted us all with a great and powerful calling... to reach more people for your kingdom. We pray that everything we do now and in the weeks, months, and years to come would glorify you and be a witness to the love and compassion we all have experienced through you son, Jesus Christ. We are in awe of you and everything you have done and continue to do in our lives. Nothing is possible without you but with you... everything is on the table. We love you, Lord. Amen.
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