Last night a young woman from our church came over to talk and hang out a bit. There were some things in my sermon on Sunday that had connected with her and her experience as a single woman, and it was great to hear her share her perspective on being single in our church. I love that when people approach you after a sermon or a lecture and ask to talk: it is great encouragement to take the dialogue from the pulpit to the living room.
At one point, I asked her to share in general about her experience of our church, and one of the strengths she named was this: “It’s never really comfortable…for anyone. There is enough of everyone represented in what we do and how we do it that you can never quite sit back and be comfortable with things being the way you would have them.”
I thought that was a great description, and I believe it means we are on the right track. Earlier in the conversation she had described how our church does a really good job of making people feel welcome. In so many discussions of how to be “sensitive” to those visiting the church, the thing I hear the most is about how to make visitors “comfortable.” I was struck by the fact that, for my friend, welcome and comfort were not equated. As I look at the gospels, I am pretty sure that Jesus would agree.
How do you all keep people ‘uncomfortable for the Kingdom’ at your church? Was your friend referring to ethnic diversity alone, or are there other important or unique factors too in your specific church that challenge members and visitors in a positive way?
Because the church gathers people from so many different religious and non-religious backgrounds, there is a wide range of expectations for how “church” is done. There are very real cultural distinctives in Pentecostalism, for example, as well as in the African American church tradition, to say nothing of Intervarsity students! My husband plans the worship service each week, and he leads us in our time of worship through singing. Perhaps more than anyone, he hears where people are rubbed by doing things in ways they are not accustomed our may not outright appreciate.
We have a preaching team, and each preacher comes from a different background as well, so the teaching experience (in terms of style) week after week can be quite different as well.
These are all Sunday service things, but I could go on about how our life together during the week can be uncomfortable as well. People’s expectations for what a Bible study is, for example: if you are Hispanic, the expectation is that it will basically be another worship service; if you are anglo/asian and have an Intervarsity background, you come armed with colored pens.
The path of learning to love and submit to one another in and through our common life practices is huge. None of us does so with ease. Add language barriers, histories of racial tension and class issues, and it gets pretty exciting.
Very well said … and quite interesting.
Erika, Thanks. I like the thought of welcome and discomfort. That people might have a sense of somehow this feels right (like at home), but it doesn’t always feel good. Must have been what the outcasts thought of Jesus when they were in his company.
Sounds like our “Latino” cell group here in Spain. I had to chuckle when you mentioned the different expectations. Our group here in Barcelona is coordinated by a guy from Brazil who has adapted. The local people, though the speak Spanish are not hispanic like i experienced in Mexico, wanting another worship service in a small group. The locals here are more like people from the US. You come to a small group to discuss, not to listen to a miny sermon.
So cultural nuances are so fascinating and it is rich to be part of the broader Kingdom of God. Makes me wonder sometimes what the big feast will be like in the Kingdom…
“People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Luke 13:9.
Anyway, maybe you are anticipating what that day will be like in your ministry. Keep sharing with us what that will be like. It is very, very interesting.
Sounds like our “Latino” cell group here in Spain. I had to chuckle when you mentioned the different expectations. Our group here in Barcelona is coordinated by a guy from Brazil who has adapted. The local people, though they speak Spanish are not Hispanic like i experienced in Mexico, wanting another worship service in a small group. The locals here are more like people from the US. You come to a small group to discuss, not to listen to a mini sermon.
So cultural nuances are so fascinating and it is rich to be part of the broader Kingdom of God. Makes me wonder sometimes what the big feast will be like in the Kingdom…
“People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” Luke 13:9.
Anyway, maybe you are anticipating what that day will be like in your ministry. Keep sharing with us what that will be like. It is very, very interesting.
Thanks, Andy. I knew a christian family in Barcelona and I attended church with them when I was there. I remember feeling a very distinct difference as well!
I can definitely understand why people don’t do multi-ethnic. It is so much easier to have everyone speak the same “language” (tradition, cultural values/norms, etc). Wagner sure understood that, as do many of the strongest voices in church-growth today!
One of my favorite descriptors for my previous church in Portland was “the church that isn’t supposed to work”, which is what our pastor, Henry Greenidge was told for years as he shared his vision for being multi-ethnic and multi-class. I think it is pretty cool when a church has that kind of witness to what the Holy Spirit can and will do.
Good stuff…
When I first read your post, the discomfort I thought of is when the preaching of the Word pierces through my facade, into my very soul, shining a light into the hidden corners where secret sin or pride is lurking, undetected by others. And in a good fellowship, that same Word will be a healing balm to those very wounds.
So when I read of welcoming, yet not comfortable, that was what I thought of…never getting comfortable and complacent in my walk.
Again, good stuff.
I just found your blog, sister, and am blessed by your heart.
May the peace of our compassionate God sweep into your soul right now, forcing out the anxiety and stress. May you fall into His loving arms, look up into His deep, understanding eyes, and hear Him whisper, “Do you know how much I love you, my daughter?”
Your servant,
Nathanael