A "not like me" Congregation

Australia, Canada, England, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Iran, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria, Scotland, Sierra Leone, The Netherlands, Ukraine, USA…

No, this is not a list of UN member nations! These are the lands from which the members of Immanuel Baptist Church come! It is a kind of tossed salad of cultures, primary languages, and traditions. In fact, I’d say that a majority of members and attendees not only come from differing cultures, but from differing denominational traditions as well! Many are coming from community churches or nondenominational traditions. Others have a Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, or Catholic background. Several come from no church tradition at all—everything is new for them. So, when I stand to preach each Sunday, I look out upon a pool of diversity. The faces tell of distant lands, and strange ways, and a host of various denominational backgrounds.

The sometimes curious and puzzled looks remind me that this congregation is not just like me. I am used to “just like me congregations.” Throughout my ministry so far I have preached, counseled, and cared for people who predominantly grew up in the southern United States. Many were either reared within, or at least knew quite a bit about the Baptist tradition. And, they almost always spoke English. Here, this is joyfully not the case.

I say joyfully. Does that surprise you? The truth is I find it extremely freeing! Yes, I have never been so aware of the words coming out of my own mouth, always internally wondering if they make sense, are clear, and not too filled with American-isms! I constantly ask myself, do these words make sense to a non-Baptist? This can sometimes feel limiting. Yet, in the diversity, I ultimately find freedom. At Immanuel Baptist Church, we have to work hard to work together, pray together, worship together, in a pattern that brings us all together in healthy ways. Without this healthy unity, we could not be effective as a church. We could not be a church at all! By focusing on the unifying aspects of our traditions we find not simply peace, but strength! By celebrating each other’s various cultures, languages, and traditions, we find a wealth of resources to do the work of the gospel! In the strangeness of variety, I find myself increasingly free to rely on this multi-faced community as the Body of Christ, rather than simply relying on myself and those exactly like me. It turns out, Jesus speaks more clearly in the variety than he ever can in the single mindedness of a “just like me congregation.”

I think most of the time in my life, I have sought out the churches that are “just like me congregations.” Maybe we all do this. Maybe I do it because I think my way of doing church is always best. Maybe I do it because I think there simply could not be any right answers, save the ones I already have. Maybe I do it because I want church to be comfortable, easy, and just the way I like it. Maybe this is why any of us tends to only join churches that are just like us. Maybe. Maybe we are a bunch of Goldilocks children who want our porridge just right! This has become my personal conviction over the past few weeks, for myself anyway.

Please pray for the continued unity of this wonderful family called Immanuel Baptist Church. Join me in celebrating the mystery and wonder of God’s Spirit binding us together in deep love! As Immanuel looks toward the future, this unity and diversity, this variety and single heartedness is more important than ever! And, as you pray, ask yourself, “How can all Christians, the children of God, learn to better hear and see each other in ways that allow the Church universal to do better at reaching the World for Christ?”

Pulling on Push

“This means push, not pull,” my guide quickly explained, correcting my efforts to look like an obvious foreigner or complete moron. All day today I’ve tooled around the big city of Wiesbaden, attempting to register as a resident. All day, I’ve relied entirely on the wonderful help of an Immanuel Baptist Church member who has lived here for many years. She was my guide. She speaks fluent German, and is an absolute pro at settling foreigners into the country. For example, who would have guessed that one must first wait in a line downstairs, draw a number, then wait in a different line upstairs?

I have many other guides right now just like the one who helped me today. Many others! Some are experts on the way the church has functioned over the years. These invaluable saints can tell me what pitfalls to avoid, and how to overcome various churchy issues that require sensitivity. I also have guides that can tell me how to experience as much “American-ese” as possible in this distant land. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for going native. It’s just that every now and then I like to eat Lucky Charms! Even my GPS is an irreplaceable and gifted guide, as I attempt to navigate through the little streets and lanes, fumbling with a manual transmission. Driving a stick shift is not one of my spiritual gifts, by the way.

In life, we need guides. Someone along the way must teach us how to do the things that person has already figured out. As I was guided about today, it occurred to me that there are many life moments for which no earthly guide will do. What do we do when our marriages are strained? What do we do when we face two viable job opportunities? How do we know what direction to go? What do we do in the face of loss, the death of someone we love? How do we know what we are meant to do with our lives? What is our role in our church? For that matter, how do we even decide which church to join?

For us, there is good news. We already have a real, wonderful, and ever present Guide—the Spirit of the Living God. If we would simply invest the time into learning how to listen to his voice, we would find a depth of guidance that would change our lives forever. It takes time to discern this voice of guidance. And, frankly, we will not always get the directions and answers we want. Yet, as much as we might like to pull on the push door, it only makes us look foolish—especially when the guide keeps whispering, “This is the way, walk in it” Isaiah 30:21.