Dead or Alive?

Katherine, Me, Kendall

This past Saturday a small group of us ventured up into the mountains not for a hike but rather to participate in workshop on community development and faith.  Rachel, Kendall (one of our Bola Bola leaders), Katherine (a short-term intern at Casa Adobe) and I had the special privilege to sit alongside fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to hear what Lois Ooms had to teach us.  Lois was a long-time missionary in several countries in Africa before she recently moved back to the States.  Ever since, she has traveled the world giving these seminars, sharing her experiences, and teaching others how to “do missions” better. 

I learned a lot from her colorful anecdotes and potent life examples, hearing how these shaped her view of missions and faith.  One of the things that really stuck out in my mind though was the idea of holistic reconciliation and redemption.  She showed us this diagram, illustrating the relationships humans were created to have and how they looked before and after the Fall.  Before the Fall, our relationships were concrete and stable; after, they became distorted and warped, though not fully destroyed.  And therein lies our hope: our relationships are NOT FULLY BROKEN and so they can be mended and healed.  Every single person in this world, believer or not, bears the image of the Trinity and NOTHING can destroy that.  No person is ever too far gone for healing and reconciliation to reach them.  There is always hope.

Another thing we talked about was what a healthy, alive church looked like in comparison to a dead one.  A dead church is full of people, worshiping in an orderly fashion, focused very much on renewing one’s personal relationship with God.  Unfortunately, that’s where the blessings end; dead churches forget that one’s relationship with God is not all there is.  We humans were not made to be isolated little creatures wandering the earth focusing only on our Creater (though that is important).  No, God made us to live in community, not only with other humans but also with the earth.  And those relationships have become distorted as well; they too need healing.  A church that focuses too much on reconciling their relationship with God becomes closed off to the world around them; the walls become thick, the doors shut, the windows sealed.  The Church becomes the building itself, a place to go to restore one’s spiritual life—nothing more.  This is what a dead church looks like.  A white-washed tomb—beautiful on the outside, full of people on the inside, but VOID OF LIFE. 

An alive church is much different.  In these churches, the Church is the people not the building.  Their congregations are the ones out living in the streets, being with people, seeking reconciliation in all relationships.  Members are active in all areas of life: education, politics, society, the environment, culture, development, economics.  No area exists apart from God’s sovereign reach, and where he is his followers are also.  Coming together in communion with fellow believers is their spiritual bread, their motivation, their energy.  Believers come to church to be fed so that they can be renewed to begin again, ready to face the world and the challenges that lie ahead.  Not only that but believers come to gain insight, encouragement, and support from fellow believers.  It is this give-and-receive dynamic that defines a healthy church, an ebb and flow of never-ending movement  between church and community.  One’s faith is not limited by walls anymore.

During the conference, Lois asked us what our churches were like: dead or alive?  Or somewhere in between?  She then reminded us that no matter how bleak the outlook, no person, no church, no society, no system is ever too far gone for reconciliation and healing.  We should never give up hope and we never stop trying.  This is our calling as followers of a just Father, a healer Son, and a moving Spirit.

Stay tuned!