24 March 2013
Dear Urban Design
An open letter from the pastor
It seems only right to start any letter to a church with the words 'Grace, mercy and peace to you!' I hope you are well in soul and thriving in your relationship with God.
I thought it would be a good time to remind you all what our community is all about (2 Pe 1:12) so that you can hold fast to what God has called us to. In the first place, God has called us to point people to Jesus, His Son, who died for us and who gives us eternal life that begins on earth and never ends in heaven.
This means we must make sure that our personal walk with the Lord is strong and healthy. It also means causing those who are close to us, like family and friends, to walk well in the Lord too. It also means having a relevant ministry to those who are not Christians, to present Christ as the Truth of the World—who is both compelling and attractive.
Let me ask you two simple questions: Are you growing in your knowledge and relationship with God? And are you causing others around you to grow in their knowledge and relationship with God?
While you have a personal responsibility to grow your relationship with God, God has not left you alone. The community is there to help you mature as a Christian, and you are there to help others in the community mature in their faith.
God's word to us in this season is: "Community—Unity—Mission". If we have a strong community then we will be unified; and as a unified community we will have success in our mission.
If this is the church God has called you to, then you ought to the build the community internally by meaningfully contributing to (i) the Sunday celebration (ii) a regular small group and (iii) the lives of your fellow church members in a spontaneous way. On the external front, it is all of our responsibility to be impacting others and drawing them into the community—we exist, after all, for the benefit of our non-members.
Being a meaningful and contributing builder of community is going to cost you in time, money and emotional energy. Don't be surprized or resentful at this! It is your duty and your joy!
I am inviting you to be honest with yourself—are you investing into the community? If this is the church God has called you to and you are withholding your contribution you will discourage others and sow your own dissatisfaction. That is not God's plan for you! You have the power in your hands to either encourage or discourage others—the choice is yours—but neutrality, however, is not one of your choices, so don't be deceived into thinking it is!
For those of you who are reticent because of a fear of being vulnerable with others—you need to deepen your understanding of the gospel, because the gospel has cleared us of all shame, to the point that we can be meaningfully vulnerable with others. For those whose reluctance stems from laziness or inability to sacrifice—you need to deepen your understanding that the gospel has given you a new purpose: The gospel is a radical re-orientation of yourself away from yourself and toward God and other people.
Do your actions indicate that you believe the gospel?
For those of you who have served and sacrificed and paid a price in numerous, invisible ways—I salute you and applaud you on Christ's behalf for your cost. It will be, and has already been, richly rewarded.
Here is my pastoral challenge to you all: Live one week, just one week, in passionate devotion to our community (as best as your job and other God-given commitments allow). Remember, the community is people. Attend the Sunday meeting as if God depended on you to make it a success. Bring a friend. If you don't bring a friend, go out of your way to warmly welcome the friends that your other friends have brought. Worship your heart out. Pray your heart out. Laugh. Offer someone a cup of coffee. Smile at as many people as you can. Attend a small group. Arrive with a gift. Bring a lonely soul. Make it your mission to refresh someone at that small group. Invite someone out for coffee. Buy someone lunch. Take a meal around to someone in the community. Visit a visitor who came on Sunday. Pray for someone. Send that person a note of encouragement. Bear your soul and a deep secret to someone in the community. Ask someone for help. Ask someone to co-carry one of your burdens. Appeal to someone for encouragement. Share a weakness. Confess a sin. Reveal an Achilles Heel. Put some money in an envelope and slip it under someone's door. Give someone a prophecy. Ask someone how you can help them. Divide your TV / Facebook / series / movie time-budget by 4 and use that extra time to take a bus to someone to bless them and make their life better off in a creative way that is significant to that person. Get to bed on time so that you can forfeit your regular afternoon sleep to spend time with someone who needs a boost. The only rule is this: Do it because you really want to do it for Jesus' sake.
You are sitting upon a golden chance to be a momentum-giver to God's work. Unfortunately, the equal, but opposite, opportunity also stands before you. You make a mistake if you think this is only about you. Your actions have the power to either encourage or discourage other members of the community. Are you living for yourself or for God? If you are living for God and He changes your heart the people around you will feel the benefit of that.
None of us are whole. None of us are completely strong. We are all weak to some degree. We all have sins. We are all disqualified. We are all limping. This is a church for those who are weak and who need help. However, what community means in one sentence is this: God gives us and others strength when we help AND are helped by others. Being weak is your qualification! Community means we share our weakness and allow others to share their weaknesses with us—this is how God makes all of us strong.
Jesus is the key in all of this. You have to connect your soul to Jesus and allow Him to touch you and speak to you and reveal this to you. This must be Jesus who asks this of you; not your pastor. I am asking you to take Jesus seriously. If Jesus and the Truth cannot convince you, your pastor certainly cannot either.
I love you all passionately. I am committed to you and to seeing God's work in your lives. I am excited about the potential explosion that God wants to give to our church. He is for us. He is with us. His work is by faith. He is passionate about our church. He wants us to succeed and thrive and enjoy life and the experience of God on the earth. He adores our church and has a special plan and promise for us.
And I love you all with the passion of Christ.
In humble service of Jesus,
Purch
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