May Pastor’s Ponderings
02 May 2010 Leave a Comment
Just over a year ago this congregation faced a hard project. Our roof was leaking – BADLY! The organ was at risk, as were several rooms. It was a big mess. A committee went to work (well, after all, we are Presbyterians) and we began to address the problem. We used a dog, faith in each other, and faith in God’s plan for this congregation. We fixed the problem.
We not only fixed the roof, we also repaired our Christ window, replaced the Memorial Hall door that was allowing vandals to enter, and now we have replaced our building’s outmoded lighting with modern, effective fixtures. The exciting thing is that we have accomplished all of this without short-changing our usual mission. We have done well.
What mission, you ask? What aspects of our church life are really mission? What are we doing? How do we know it is mission? Session has committed to wrestling with just these questions.
Traditionally, mission in American churches has consisted of coordinating activities, planning mission projects and trips, writing checks, and maintaining contact with mission workers. This is most often done by a committee. These activities are based on the understanding that mission is defined as the act of going to another place, or of doing something for someone else. There is a catch. These definitions make mission about us.
Mission starts with God, not with us. It is God who sent the Son into the world. Christ, the Son then sends the church in the power of the Holy Spirit into the world. Thus, mission becomes how we understand God’s dynamic relationship to the world. The church’s relationship to the world is located within this dynamic relationship because the church has the privilege of participating in God’s mission, but mission belongs to God, not to the church.
When we participate in this outreach, we act as partners with God, full partners. We make prayerful decisions, we take prayerful action. We serve God by serving others. It sounds simple. Sadly, it is not.
• If mission is about God and not about us, some difficult questions come into play.
• Is it OK to enjoy doing mission or must it always involve difficult sacrifice?
• Must mission be funded only internally or can some of the funding come from doing the mission itself?
• Is writing a check required? Is it enough?
• Is it moral to be both the doer and the receiver of mission efforts?
• Is a church a doer of mission, a receiver of mission, or both? Should it be both?
• How we to discern what missions are are ours?
• Can a stained glass window or a door be mission? If so – for whom?
• If mission ultimately has to do with accepting Jesus Christ as our savior and with forming a relationship with God, where do modern activities such as fund raising, music programs, children’s activities, and committee meetings fit in?
• What does it mean if some of them do not?
Obviously, I could go on forever and list questions until we all run out of paper. While I do not intend to do this, I do find it important that we question, study, pray, and try to discover what God is Calling us to do. This church is more than a building, but the building does count. Coming to worship involves more than looking at a stained glass window, but that window is a part of the RMPC history that impels us to do mission and to wrestle with its definition and its implications. If we all are Called to mission, then we are Called to mission as ourselves. This means that we all, with our diverse gifts, ideas, strengths and even our weaknesses have a place in God’s plan. No one idea will be valid in solitude; no single approach can be used to the exclusion of others. If mission is about God and includes the people of God – present and future – then it begins with and must be a group effort. – Tracie
