Eugene
Peterson once wrote, “The biblical fact is that there are no successful
churches.”[1]
You may very well take umbrage at such a suggestion. I do. Isn’t the goal to
make or be a successful church? Is that not why we are engaged, volunteering,
serving, and committing time and energy that could easily go elsewhere? Perhaps
not. In fact, perhaps my own distaste for Peterson’s statement is informed less
by the Bible and more by a culturally-conditioned bent towards success. By
ambition. By a standard that is not established by the Spirit of the Living
God, but by the spirit of the age.
Why, indeed,
are there no successful churches? The answer is simple: because churches are
communities of sinners. If we could define the church, in general, and Faith
Community Church, in particular, we could surely define it as such. A community
of sinners.
At FCC, two
of these sinners are set apart and called pastor. Shane and I are given
opportunities and responsibilities to lead in the community of faith. Peterson
demands that “the pastor’s responsibility is to keep the community attentive to
God.”[2]
This is what Shane and I seek to do. We will work and pray that together we
remain true to Him.
This is our
central pastoral responsibility because our primary
identity is not that we are “a community of sinners.” That is a reality we
simply must acknowledge. Our primary
identity is that of “a chosen community redeemed by Jesus Christ.” We are
sinners saved by grace. We are short-sighted, intellectually- challenged,
commitment-averse humans equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the
work of God.
As together
we remain attentive to God (through worship, study, prayer, and service), we
soon find that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. The whole,
even, is much larger than the sum of its parts. We are engaged in God’s amazing
story of redemption for the whole world.
If you feel
unworthy or ill-equipped, join the club! If you find it easier to see the flaws
of the church (locally and globally), you are not alone! But consider for a
moment what the church is in view of the heavenlies: “This church has existed
from the beginning of the world and will last until the end, as appears from
the fact that Christ is eternal King who cannot be without subjects.”[3] In
other words, the church is not defined by us, but by our King: Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God who cleanses us from sin, preserves us from the rage of the
devil, and equips us to do His will.
As we begin
to see the church with these eyes, perhaps we begin to see the church as the
devil sees the church: “Spread out through all time and space and rooted in
eternity, terrible as an army with banners.”[4]
Praise be to God, and praise to the King!
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