Divisions in the Church and the need for Reformation

I was truly struck by the words of Don Underwood, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas, the other day when he posted a reflection on his blog entitled "The Church Is Dying". He made some very salient points about the state of the institutional Church and how divisions, animosity, and judgment will be the institution’s downfall. You can read more of his excellent refection here.

Thom Rainer, a church consultant, who I had the pleasure of serving with many years ago in North Carolina, posted an article on his blog about the Eight Warning Signs for Forced Termination of Pastors. Thom’s research is based on a series of different studies which have taken place in the larger church with the number one reason being division and strife. His post can be seen here.

From my own life experience of the past eighteen months, I understand both of these pastor’s positions all too well. Yet, with all that has happened over the course of these days, I am still convinced that the Church can be the place where people can find hope over despair, light instead of darkness, life instead of death. How can this happen?

It is not a revolution that the institutional Church so desperately needs. It is a reformation. It is a reclaiming of the idea that Jesus’ call to follow him was more about a movement than an established institution. The reformation that I see is a call to follow the Master into a new understanding about God, about abundant life in the here and now, about treating each other with respect and dignity especially when we disagree with one another, and most importantly, it is about helping others when they cannot help themselves.

Jean Vanier

Ever since I began my ministry twenty three years ago, I have followed the philosophy and writing of Jean Vanier. You may never have heard of this remarkable Christian but his story and witness is pretty close to the reformation of which I speak. Vanier was born in Canada and after an early career as a naval officer; he was led to follow a call to earn a degree in moral philosophy. In 1964, Vanier invited two men with Down’s syndrome to leave the institution and live with him. That simple act of kindness grew into what is called today the L’Arche movement, with nearly one hundred residential homes throughout the world providing care for the most vulnerable of this world.

In 1988, Vanier was asked by Harvard University to present two lectures about living the spiritual life in the contemporary age. These lectures became the inspiration for an insightful book entitled, “From Brokenness to Community.” Vanier’s philosophy about true community is very close to what I believe Jesus envisioned for his disciples. Vanier writes:

“It is my belief that in our mad world where there is so much pain, rivalry, hatred, violence, inequality, and oppression, it is people who are weak, rejected, marginalized, counted as useless, who can become a source of life and of salvation for us as individuals as well as for our world. And it is my hope that each one of you may experience the incredible gift of friendship of people who are poor and weak, that you too, may receive life from them. For they call us to love, to communion, to compassion, and to community.

“I am always very moved when I read the Gospel, and see how Jesus lives and acts, how he enters into relationship with each person: “Will you come with me? I love you. Will you enter into communion with me?” He calls each one he meets into a personal intimate relationship with himself. But as he invites people to follow him, he is also telling them that they must make a choice. If they chose one thing, it means refusing another. If they chose to follow Jesus, they receive a gift of love and communion, but at the same time they must say ‘no’ to the ways of the world and accept loss; they must own their choice.

“Then Jesus calls his friends into community with others who have been chosen for the same path. This is when all the problems begin! We see the disciples squabbling among themselves, wondering who is the greatest, the most important among them! Community is a wonderful place, it is life-giving; but it is also a place of pain because it is a place of truth and of growth – the revelation of our pride, our fear, and our brokenness.

“My experience has shown me that when we welcome people from this world of anguish, brokenness and depression, and when they gradually discover that they are wanted and loved as they are and that they have a place, then we witness a real transformation – I would even say ‘resurrection.’ Their tense, angry, fearful, depressed body gradually becomes relaxed, peaceful, and trusting. This shows through the expression on the face and through all their flesh. As they discover a sense of belonging, that they are part of a ‘family’, then the will to live begins to emerge. I do not believe it is of any value to push people into doing things unless this desire to live and to grow has begun to emerge.

“To live in communion with someone, to be in communion means to be with someone and to discover that we actually belong together. Communion means accepting people just as they are, with all of their limits and inner pain, but also with their gifts and their beauty and their capacity to grow: to see the beauty inside all of the pain. To love someone is not first of all to do things for them, but to reveal to them their beauty and value, to say to them through our attitude: ‘You are beautiful. You are important. I trust you. You can trust yourself.” We all know well that we can do things for others and in the process crush them, making them feel that they are incapable of doing things for themselves. To love someone is to reveal to them their capacities for life, the light that is shining in them.” (From Brokenness to Community, pages 9-11, 15-16).

What is happening in so many communities of faith today is a travesty. My heart weeps for what has happened to the faith community that I had been called to serve. But until judicatories, vestries, clergy (myself included), and the laity decide to follow the teachings and example of Jesus instead of the gods of the institution where power, manipulation, control, and malice persist in destroying the creatures of God, then we will continue to witness the decline, and perhaps the demise, of the intuitional Church.

I refuse to be part of dying Church. I would rather be part of the reformation. I desire to be part of a community and a movement where people acknowledge freely their woundedness and yet love one another in such a way where healing leads to transformation; where abundant life is seen and experienced in real and tangible ways. I wish to follow Jesus. Don’t you?

Love One Another - Brian