This is the question that my friend, Dave, asked me as I was driving with him about 2 weeks ago. He lives in Rochester, MN, and made a suprise visit to me at about 9pm one night. He really wanted to see the building God had given to us, through the generousity of the previous owners, Central Free Church. So, we went for a late night tour of the building.
On our way in the truck, out of the blue, Dave asks, "So, would you say that your church is characterized by love? Is that the mark of Hope Community?"
I was shocked by the question. Is that what marks us? Is that what people would say about Hope? What are our 'marks'?
First, I would think they would say that Hope takes God very seriously, loves the Bible, and works very hard to be relevant to a society that has by and large thought that God is irrelevant. That would be a mark...
Next, a mark of our church would be community, the fact that we really desire to know one another deeply, and not just put on a religious front. We allow people to state where there are at with God honestly and openly. We desire to have people deal with their problems in life in a real way, even if it bring up ugliness. That would be another mark...
Another mark, would be the love of the grace of God - we are all poster children for grace - WE NEED JESUS! Our sin is a BIG DEAL! It separates us from a holy God - we are toast without the blood of Jesus on the Cross. This too, would be a solid mark...
However, are we a church that is marked by love? I had to answer him, "Not the way I would like to see in my life or in our church." I said this not because I don't think Hope is a friendly place, a place where people feel warm to one another, a place where life-long, authentic, God-centered friendship begin and go on. But, are we a people that is MARKED by love in a radical way? Have we maintained the level of love Jesus talks about in being 'lovers of our neighbors as ourselves'? Is this mark of love the first thing I think of in my life and in the life of this church? Not yet. I know I personally have a long way to go, and I think we can grow in this as a church. This is a good thing, a challenging thing, and it humbles me greatly.
This weekend, September 26th, I am going to preach on this subject, going into the causes of what makes us (starting with me!) so hesitant to actually be marked by love. I'll write more on this next week. Till then, pray with me that I would become a person, and we would become a church, that is marked by Christ's love.
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3 comments:
Pat,
Hey, friend! Thanks so much for the kind words. I fully agree that Hope is a place of love, yet I want so much more in my own life, and even in the life of our church.
Yesterday I preached on love, and I have been going through everything I've been doing today thinking, "Is this loving?" I'm not sure if I am just tired, or if I've just had too much on my plate today, but today has been one of my worst days of being patient with my kids, and really loving toward those who need it. I am such a work in progress.
Thanks so much for the kind words. You are such a good friend, and I KNOW that SPF is a place where love flows through and because of your leadership. Keep it up, brother.
Steve
Can I answer with what I think is a somewhat unique perspective? I am a person who was involved at Hope for two years. The following year, I spent a lot of time reaching back to my Lutheran roots spent some time at another church in the Twin Cities. Then this summer, I came back to Hope. Just a little background for ya.
One reason I chose to return to Hope is because I wanted to develop more strong relationships with Christians. Sort of related to your entry about church shopping, I found that wherever I was (and I have been to a lot of churchs in the past year or two), I could enter into worship of God and move closer to Him. The style of music or the exact words of the preacher aren't going to bring me to my knees. Only God does that. And, in that sense, I've almost felt a little guilty "church shopping" because I'm going to find what I need wherever I am (Matt 18:20).
On the other hand, when I walk into the doors at HCC, I see love. I look around and see people who deeply care about each other. You said people want to get to know each other deeply, and I think that the continued unconditional desire for that depth of relationship is characteristic of love. I also see forgiveness, and I see people accepting other people right where they are at.
However, there can also be a flip side to the deep sense of community that we see and desire in HCC. And that is that when people are deeply involved in community, it can be almost inevitable that there will be a person or persons that don't feel part of that community. There's a place somewhere between being welcomed and loving/being loved, and thats a hard place to transition through. We get so involved with where we are at, the people we are closest with, that, at times, it can be easy to overlook somebody else who really needs our love.
In my limited experience, I haven't seen many other churches make such an extensive effort at making people feel love. However, our continual challenge is not just to make people feel love, but to actually love them. We're not just in the business of love manufacturing but of love smothering.
So I guess my answer is that HCC is characterized by love, but its not a yes or no question. It's something we need to continue to challenge ourselves to, to struggle with. (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
Anyway, this has gotten longer than I expected. My writing isn't quite as poetic or even grammatical as yours, but I hope that something I said made some sort of sense. Let me know your thoughts.
What a great perspective! Thanks so much for sharing it. Yea, I would agree, as I have thought about it for thse last few weeks. Hope is really a church that IS characterized by love, and yet, I want so much more in my own life.
This last week was a tough one for us. Carole's father died on Saturday, October 16th, and we went immediately to Arizona to say goodbye, go to the funeral, and share family memories. It was a sad time, a blessed time, and a very funny time. Kinda wierd.
The people and staff of Hope were great to us, allowing us to go, covering for me in my missed duties. Thanks so very much! It is great to be surrounded in love by so many people and that means so very much to us.
As good as that was (and it is really great!), there still is a profound sense of loss that Carole and I are going through. People are never meant to be the Source of our healing, just the Resource to point us to the Real Source of Living Water.
Thanks for doing that, people of Hope, and for being God's ministers to us to point us to him during this time.
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