Life Together: questions & answers
Chris Price
A pastor and member of the church sit down for a honest conversation about doubt, disconnection, confession, and belonging.
Question: "How can I participate in 'life together' with the church when I feel rather disconnected for various reasons. I understand we are called to be 'one body' but I often battle with the idea of that, since maybe I don't align with everything the bible says & church does."
CP: "That is a hard question to answer without knowing the various reasons why one might be disconnected. I do know that to feel connected to a church takes real intention on our part. We have to show up. This is why it is good to live close enough to the church we attend. We have to be open to new relationships. We have to avail ourselves of the opportunities that already exist like small groups, serve teams, one-off events, programs like Freedom Session, etc. Yet, even when engaging in these opportunities, building real connections can take significant time so we need to be patient.
I do think the church, the body, is very diverse. At The Way our leadership believes the Bible is the word of God and is, therefore, authoritative in the life of the believer, as the Torah and TaNaK (OT scriptures) were for Jesus. But the reality is that everyone is at a different place in their understanding of the Bible's teaching. More than that, we are all at different places in our wrestling with what we believe about the teachings of scripture and what it looks like to bring our lives in line with God's word. It is a journey that we are all on together."
Question: "How can I keep up with the pace of our church when I feel so far behind? Sometimes I listen to sermons and don't necessarily feel that my brain can comprehend everything being said, because maybe it's too fast, too heavy in theology. Where is a good place to start?"
CP: "If this is your experience you are not alone. Everyone who is part of The Way Church is at a different place in their spiritual journey. Many people are new to church, new to faith, or have recently found their way back to church. I would counsel patience again. Be patient with yourself and your current level of understanding. I still remember reading through large parts of the New Testament, as a newer follower of Jesus, and understanding only 20 percent of what I was reading. I mean, I don't think I really understood the apostle Paul's argument in the book of Galatians until I had been a follower of Jesus for fifteen years and studied a bunch. That is OK! We build up our knowledge and our understanding bit by bit over-time; almost like learning a new language. A good place to start would be the Bible Project Videos on YouTube, our Everyday Seminary platform and small group environment."
Question: "Why does the Catholic Church allow for anonymous confession (my preference) verses at our church we encourage confession amongst the congregation. How can I trust someone with that sort of information?"
CP: "At The Way Church we realize that confession is multi-faceted. Confession is agreeing with God about our sin. We confess our sins to God. We confess our trust that God has forgiven our sins in Jesus. And we confess our sins to one another. I think it is helpful to be clear about the ways in which we might encourage confession amongst the congregation. We do so only if our sin has negatively impacted a person in the congregation. In this case it would make sense to confess your sin to that person and say you are sorry, seeking to make things right. Or you might confess your sin to another trusted person, even if that person has not been personally impacted by your sin. The key word in this scenario is a trusted person. Trust takes time to build up in a community. You are looking for someone who knows the grace of God, someone who is in touch with their own brokenness and someone who will use your confession as an opportunity to remind you of the Father's love. You are looking for a person who will say shame off you, rather than shame on you. This type of confession is far more powerful and healing than the anonymity of a confessional. You get to look in their eyes, see their love and experience the grace of God through their embrace.
As John Mark Comer writes, "the more we hide the less we heal." I think he means the less we heal from the deep lie and insecurity that we are unlovable at the core of our fractured self. When we live in the dark we are always vulnerable to the lie that, if they knew this about me, I would not be loved. Or because of this thing I have done I am unlovable. But God knows everything about us and He still loves us. Some people can as well. But we will never know that's true unless we decide to live in the light. Confession with a trusted person gives us that opportunity."
Question: "Is it necessary for me to be surrounded by Christians? Having friends who have alternative beliefs, morals, experiences, sexualities, it offers me a diverse perspective that I am grateful for?"
CP: "Having a diverse group of friends can be a beautiful thing. I always want to cultivate relationships with people different from me. Moving to Vancouver and befriending all kinds of neighbours has been a wonderful opportunity to see the world through eyes different than my own; especially since none of our best neighbourhood friends are followers of Jesus. Though Jesus frequently hung out with people who shared a similar faith tradition, and though his closest friends were his followers, he certainly made time for those who were on the outskirts of his religious tradition—the sinners and tax collectors and outcasts, for example.
Nevertheless, Christian fellowship is crucial for our spiritual growth. That is why the New Testament tells us to not neglect meeting together regularly. We need to be with people who love Jesus to help us love Jesus. We need to be around people who know Jesus to help us know Jesus. We need to be with people who pray to Jesus to learn to pray to Jesus. The illustration that has always stuck with me is the one with coals in a fireplace. If a coal is in a fireplace with other coals it remains red-hot. If you pull it out of the fireplace, it gradually cools. You place it back with other hot coals, it gets hot again. It is like that in our faith."
Question: "My follow-up question to that: Can I be in both worlds? Or is that considered unauthentic?"
CP: "When the New Testament talks about the world it is in both a positive and a negative sense. The word world can refer to the material creation that God made and loves, which is the positive sense. The world can also mean the systems and values of the world that are opposed to God's word and God's wisdom, which is the negative sense. As followers of Jesus we are told not to love the world, or the things of the world, in the negative sense. Nevertheless, we are still called to love the world and the people of the world in a positive sense. After all, God so loved the world that He sent His son.
Not only that, Jesus prays that his followers would be "in" the world, not taken "out" of the world. We are meant to be accessible to people, all kinds of people, while remaining faithful to Jesus; to be in the world, while pledging ultimate allegiance to Jesus.
It will always be easier to pull out of the world and create an insulated Christian bubble, or to be fully in the world and think the way the world does. Both options are more simple. Neither option will be a faithful one. We are called to the tight-rope walk of being in the world, but not like the world so, in that sense, we are in both worlds, like Jesus in his ministry."
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Questions? We are still accepting submissions for our "Life Together" sermon series.
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