Reflections from Atlanta

Recently I had the privilege of attending the national gathering of The Fellowship Community, a group of Christ-centered, biblically-rooted, mission-minded leaders and congregations within the Presbyterian Church USA.  (Some of you may be familiar with Presbyterians for Renewal; the Fellowship is a similar organization.)

The gathering took place at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, and its theme was “Come Together: Discipleship in a Divided Time.”  Each speaker and activity focused on the theme of unity in the body of Christ.  For example…

• Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, encouraged Christians to see themselves as living together in “exile” today rather than in the “promised land,” as was the case with ancient Israel under Babylonian rule in the Old Testament
  • Romans 8, for example, calls us to wait and hope and groan for the beauty that will revealed to us by Jesus Christ, which means we live in a "time between the times," a time of groaning beauty.
  • As American Christians, we love a "Promised Land" story.  Can we learn to live an "Exile" story?  Can we learn to give praise to the Lord (YHWH) while living in Nebuchadnezzar's house?  The truth is, in our cultural moment, we are living in exile as Christians.  We are strangers in a strange land.  We should embrace this story and live it out faithfully.
  • You can see a version of Mark's talk by clicking here.
• Harvey Drake, pastor of Emerald City Bible Fellowship, spoke of the challenges and blessings of leading a multiethnic congregation in Seattle, Washington.
  • Harvey says that to reach across divides (racially, cultural, and otherwise), we need to do three things: Admit (that there's a problem and that you're part of it), Commit (to learning from those who are different than you), and Submit (to walking in humility with God and others).
• Michael Bruner, professor at Azusa Pacific University, led a workshop on the author Flannery O’Connor, who was able to speak the prophetic truth of the gospel in a culture of “weak-kneed religious sentiment” and “domesticated despair.”
  • Michael pointed out that O'Connor's stories often contain dark, grotesque characters.  He followed this with a quote: "In God, there is no darkness, but in the darkness we see God."  How might God reveal himself through messy human lives?
• Hope Lee, pastor of Kirkwood Presbyterian Church, taught about the gifts of women in the Bible and about the need for such gifts in today’s ministry climate.
  • Hope pointed out that no large, evangelical Presbyterian Church has a female head-of-staff.  Why do you think this is? 
• A visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Atlanta reminded us of the legacy of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement, where faith in Jesus Christ led to tremendous social change for the better.
  • I wonder how Dr. King's legacy is still rippling out today?  It wasn't that long ago that he gave his "I have a dream speech" (55 years ago this year).  Has his dream been realized?  Why not?  What role can we play in his vision of the "beloved community"?

I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to feel discouraged and cynical in this cultural moment.  We live in a world of conflict.  We are so divided as a church.  We are so divided as a country.  We are so divided as persons.  Yet this conference gave me the space to slow down, to worship, and to be reminded from thoughtful speakers and like-minded friends that Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth.  And since that’s true, as the hymn reminds us, how can we keep from singing?

Live in Unity

You can't be a Christian alone.  We can't be Christians alone.  As Scot McKnight says, When it comes to the Bible, WE is always bigger than ME.  So how is God challenging us to go a bit deeper with our brother or our sister?  How is God calling us to expand our horizons and see his hand at work through our church, and not just in our individual lives?

Reflect on these questions, and on the quotations below, as we seek the Lord's blessing together.

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“I have come to feel that the primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross?

I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it. I am, of course, not denying the importance of the many activities by which we seek to challenge public life with the gospel– evangelistic campaigns, distribution of Bibles and Christian literature, conferences, and even books such as this one.

But I am saying that these are all secondary, and that they have power to accomplish their purpose only as they are rooted in and lead back to a believing community.”

— Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (1989), 227.

“Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this…

The death and the life of the Christian is not determined by his own resources; rather he finds both only in the Word that comes to him from outside, in God’s Word to him. The Reformers expressed it this way: Our righteousness is an “alien righteousness,” a righteousness that comes from outside of us (extra nos). They were saying that the Christian is dependent on the Word of God spoken to him. He is pointed outward, to the Word that comes to him…

But God has put his Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure.

And that also clarifies the goal of all Christian community: they meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation.”

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

“I take literally the statement in the Gospel of John that God loves the world. I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love. I believe that divine love, incarnate and indwelling in the world. summons the world always toward wholeness, which ultimately is reconciliation and atonement with God...

I believe that the community-in the fullest sense: a place and all its creatures-is the smallest unit of health and that to speak of the health of an isolated individual is a contradiction in terms. ”

— Wendell Berry, Health is Membership