Sunday, May 10, 2009

Waiting.

7:33 PM by Christi Bowman

Kevin and I have been desperately seeking authentic community while we are still state side. To be blatantly honest it has been a lonely road; authentic community that lasts past the excitement of the "getting to know you" phase is extremely hard to find.

Last October Kevin and I went to investigate a long standing group of Christians living out community together in the city of Chicago; it wasn't what we were looking for. Soon after that we left institutional church and began fellowshipping in our home with a few couples; we had some good times, learned a lot, but we still found we had a deep longing for something different and we were not being filled even within that group.

Once again, finding ourselves in a very restless spot, we checked out another existing community within the Chicago land area, Reba Place. Grant it we are still in the "getting to know you" phase, but it is looking very promising. Kevin has always said that if he were ever to leave the Church's of Christ, it would be for a Mennonite community and we were pleasantly surprised and very pleased when we found out that that is exactly what Reba Place is...it was a confirmation of sorts.

Today was the second Sunday in a row that we attended Living Water, a church affiliated with Reba Place and pastored by one of its members. I am not a fan of pulpits and although Living Water is still filled with "pews" I heard some VERY promising things...things I have never heard from a pulpit in the church's that I have attended.

Living Water is looking for a new pastor, as the current pastor feels the Lord is moving her on. As she stood before the congregation sharing with them the interim plan, she asked fellow congregants to step up and fill her shoes by putting their name on a roster...but that was not all...what floored me was the plan to invite people to speak in their pulpit from other denominations so that they might learn something...WOW...the humility!! Other denominations that I have been a part of could really learn from that example. It seems refreshing to me to be growing closer to a community of people who are willing to admit that they don't have all the answers and are also willing to admit that they could learn something from people who don't see things quite the way they do.

"If God can forgive a host of sin why not a host of bad theology?"

We should really be asking ourselves, Why don't we want to hear anything different? What are we so afraid of?

The second thing that I heard and felt my spirit leap with joy for was that Living Water believes that the church is still growing and learning and that God is still revealing new things to the church via revelation. I know that it is easy to believe something with all your heart and then when faced with it resist it, but if Living Water lives this belief out than it is a place of freedom and not the frightening place I found my last church to be. Denominations exclude; they exclude people who do not subscribe to the same set of beliefs that they do...down to the littlest of jots and tittles. Living Water, from the pulpit at least, acknowledges that the Spirit is living and active and they seem to be receptive to Him breathing fresh new life into them...that is promising!

"Blessed are not the enlightened who's every question has been answered and who are delighted with their own sublime insight; the mature and ripe ones who's one remaining action is to fall from the tree. Blessed rather are the chaste, the harassed who must daily stand before my enigmas and cannot solve them."
~ Hans Urs von Balthasar ~

Last but not least, from the pulpit, violence and greed were not only denounced but it was said that an individual Christian who is growing in the Lord will need to denounce them as well...that sets a higher bar than the places I have been affiliated with. I received an email forward the other day filled with "great christian" bumper stickers against Obama. The sticker I found to be most shocking and egregious stated:Sadly, most church's today are still believing that God's dream is the American dream. It's not!

I came home to the suburbs with a sad heart. I was sad that I could not stay in Rogers Park and experience what that community experiences on a daily basis. I get a taste and then I must go home. Sadly that is the season I am in right now. God gives me a fabulous taste of what He is doing...in Africa, in Lexington, in St. Louis, in Gainseville, and now in Rogers Park...but than I must return to the home that I am burdened with to do life on my own...the American dream way...because God is not ready to loosen our bonds yet.

In my sadness I did something I do not usually do. As I opened my Bible I asked God to allow me to land somewhere spontaneously that would be an encouragement to me. I opened to Isaiah 40:31:

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I am a in a season of waiting, but He is clearly waiting with me and He cares enough about me to personally speak into my life...that alone is encouraging and will sustain me.

Labels: authenticity, community, Living Water, Reba Place

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