“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the gospel will save it.” Mark 8:35
Jesus knew the cost of following him. Discipleship is a way of life that requires his followers to live in a new reality. Yet, too often, we spend our time looking back instead of facing forward for the adventure ahead that frames the walk of following in the footsteps of Jesus.
How easy it becomes for the local body of believers, the church, to seek to save its life. Cherished memories of ‘holy moments’ like baptisms, weddings, and communion, and ‘glimpses of grace’ such as acts of kindness and moments of forgiveness, that should be the foundation for empowering a church’s current and future ministry can quickly become overwhelming shackles, if we hold on to nostalgia and practices which hinder a congregation from living into God’s preferred future, damping down and stifling creativity and sense of adventure.
As we prepare to move into a new appointment season, my daily prayer for myself, the clergy, and lay leaders of the Capital District is that we all embrace holy imagination as our default mindset (have the same mind of Christ—Philippians 2) and wed it to a posture of hope-inspired risk-taking. This spiritual empowerment can only come through a renewing of the mind by a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit.
To be clear, every church has a new start in the season after Easter. The body of Christ should always imagine its way forward with confidence that when aligned with God’s call, there is no such thing as failure. This reassurance should be our guiding light, reminding us that we are conduits of grace and the hope that the world desperately needs to see and touch.
To all Lay Leaders, Sunday School and small Group Leaders, Pastors, S/PPRC, Finance, and Trustee Team Leaders: Let’s keep these questions in mind as we move forward, and feel free to circle back to them whenever you need.
- What is the mission of this congregation in its current contextual reality? Are we living into who we say we are?
- How is the current reality of your context (Neighborhood, community, ministry) helping to shape your mission values? In other words, if you have visitors who never come back, maybe a value you need to reflect on as a community of faith is your hospitality factor.
- What is our identity in your community? What are you known for? How have you corroborated what you perceive as your identity in the community with what your neighbors outside your walls say?
- Who are the stakeholders in your community, and do they know you, and do you know them? What neighborhood block captain, community organizer, small business association chair, or rotary club president have you invited to coffee to listen and hear their perspective of your community and where the church fits in or doesn’t?
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
DS Chris Brady