A POWERFUL WITNESS
Can you think of any more important challenge that a presbytery has than working to prevent the fracturing of our denomination? Given the cynicism of our society and the rejection of the church by an increasing number of people in our society, can you think of any single witness the church could make that would impact our society more than demonstrating how churches can visibly learn to love their neighbor (and enemy) among the family of believers? Imagine what it might say to our ideologically divided distrustful community to see how Christians can live together as family and benefit from diverse beliefs rather than be split into competing groups by our differences.
TAKING THE INITIATIVE
We might all agree in the abstract that this would have a powerful impact, but where do we begin? In 1992 in Winson-Salem, NC, when several events had led to heightened racial tensions, several Presbyterian pastors, black and white, met for lunch. We decided we couldn’t solve all the world’s problems but we could draw on the strength of our shared faith to show the community what Presbyterians can do among themselves. The result was over twenty years of the Presbyterian InterRacial Dialogue that demonstrated how you can reach across divisions.
My thought is that Presbyteries can take that same type of initiative, begin small, but show people what we are made of and what we believe. We don’t wait for others to solve the problems of division in our society or even among our churches, but we act with the willing Spirit based on our shared faith and heritage. Given that this is the week of Thanksgiving, it might be an appropriate time to give thanks for the faith we have been given and consider Advent to be a good time to look forward to making preparation to receive what God can do among this part of the Christian body.
IT BEGINS WITH YOU
After Thanksgiving, in the first week of Advent, I will offer some initial ideas about actions that presbyteries can take. In the meantime, however, I want to ask you to consider if , in the words of Mordecai to Esther, you may have been called “for such a time as this.” Maybe as you read this blog, you may consider that there are some things you can take the initiative in doing that might be a beginning in providing a witness to reconciliation among some of our churches.
SO THAT THE WORLD WILL KNOW
It has long saddened me, as I am sure that it has you, that we have been the cause for ridicule by so many because of our fractional fighting. In John 13:35 Jesus says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Maybe this Advent is a time of preparation for God’s miracle to be born and maybe it begins with us.
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