Joe's Blog for Week 3

Well, we knew that something that is called “Evangelism” was going to get difficult, and by this third week, it certainly has. I’m sure many of us in small groups are wondering why we ever signed up and find ourselves wishing this book were edited for Heights Christian Church.

But many of us are determined to see this study through to the end. The emphases on prayer and on sharing what our faith means to us can’t be all that bad! We’ve already seen some new people in church and so many are working so hard to make all of this come together… Just look at the prayer wall at the back of sanctuary, for one example.

This third week, Martha Reese talks about the essentials of a thriving church in her study: (1) people having a vibrant, real relationship with God, and (2) people having a real, caring, honest relationship with each other, and (3) people having a care for people outside the church. She invokes the image of the Trinity as understood in theological circles as one God who IS a relationship: a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! So there, she says, God wants us to relate not only to Him/Her, but to each other. And then she tells stories from her interviews of churches that have achieved a balance among the three essential relationships: (1) the relationship with God (too many churches have a “lite” relationship with God); (2) the relationship among church members (so that we know they have our back; we can trust them with any revelation; we are not about mean-spirited gossiping about our pastor nor about each other); (3) our relationship with those outside the Church.

Now that last relationship is the one with which we have great difficulty. We are working like crazy through daily prayer and group prayer to grow in our relationship with God. But relating to people who don’t go to our church is another matter. I get a glimmer of a possibility, however, if I follow Reese’s argument that if the other two relationships (with God and with our fellow church-goers) have changed my life for the better, have made ME better, have filled me with joy, have decreased my fears, have increased my love for my church so that I wish EVERYONE could come here, then I can see how I may want to express that to others in some way that is comfortable FOR ME.

This study is now starting to talk about interviewing people who don’t come to our church (or to any church) to ask them what they think about the word ‘church,’ and if anyone has ever invited them to their church, and (here’s one) “If you had one question you could ask God and knew you’d get an answer, what would it be?” Now, who among us has the courage to do such an interview? My wife said she’d interview ME (and I’m looking forward to it).

We could always tell people: “I’m doing this study for my church, and we have to find someone willing to answer a few questions. Could you help me out so I have something to report on? We have this REALLY mean facilitator who will get REALLY angry if I don’t do my homework!”

From discomfort to comfort: we’re going to see this thing through. Keep praying for us!