How A Church Listens
The Intention of God
At the root of our faith is an assumption that God has an intention for the Church. Too often we
slip into the assume on that a church is a voluntary organization made up of people who choose
to gather for a community with like-minded believers. We hear the Scriptures, sing, say prayers,
and share the sacraments as a way to connect with God and confirm our connection with each
other. At our best, we are trying to love God and love neighbor as Christ commanded.
Yet our Scriptures suggest that we are more than a voluntary association.
Faith speaks of God intentionally calling people to the church and that God has provided the church with every spiritual gift needed for the building up of the Body of Christ. That does not mean that every
individual or church uses the spiritual gifts as intended but that God intentionally calls us
together and provides us the gifts that enable us to fulfill God’s purpose.
God’s Call Reflected in the Ordinary
As the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper reveals, God speaks to us through ordinary elements in
life to speak to us of transcendent truths. During the isolating experience of the pandemic,
churches have grown in their capacity to make use of the internet. I want to suggest that a
church could have a valuable spiritual experience by using the internet to listen to God’s call in
their church.
Depending on the size of your church, you can either do this as one body or in several small
groups. Set up a time when you will connect with Zoom or a similar program. Remind your
listeners that based on the assumption that God can make use of ordinary life experiences to
gather people into a church, you are going to ask each of them to share what event(s) in their
life brought them to membership in this church. Events may range from the family association,
geography, quality of worship, music, spiritual hunger, and many others.
As you make note of the variety of life events that helped form your church, look for patterns in
their responses and the type of ministry that God has used. Make a summary essay, without
names, of these responses and share it with the whole congregation.
Suggest that you would like to engage in a second round of conversation and the question for which you are seeking a response will be: “If we affirm that Jesus is the head of our body, the church, and given the
variety of ways that he has gathered to form this one Body, what do you think Jesus would say
to us at this point in time.”
Consider engaging your church, or a group of Christian friends, in a spiritual conversation. This can be
augmented through sermons, study groups, etc. While the Scriptures are clear that our gifts
should be used to build the unity of the church, it also recognizes that there will be great
diversity within any part of the body. What unites the body, as Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians
13, is a love that seeks the best for each other even as we seek to give glory to God.
EXPANDING THE CONVERSATION
To add fun and depth to the conversation, you can explore the possibility of inviting other
congregations, in your neighborhood or around the world, to have similar conversations. After
you have had at least a couple of rounds of conversations within your church, share what you
are discovering with your partner churches. Then, making use of the internet, consider
connecting two or three churches together, including having music, prayers, Scripture, and
perhaps the sacrament as an experience of the larger “One Body of Christ.”
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF WAYS THAT MEMBERS OF A CHURCH OR A COLLECTION OF CHURCHES COULD ENGAGE OVER THE INTENET IN A CONVERSATION THAT WOULD DEEPEN A PERSON’S FAITH AND ADD VITALITY TO THE CHURCH.
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
THE BEAUTY OF IT IS YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR OTHERS TO START IT. IT ONLY TAKES ONE PERSON–YOU–TO BEGIN THE CONVERSATION.
