Last week I received a text from a friend in Rhode Island. (For context, our family was part of a church planting team sent to East Providence, Rhode Island, a little over 10 years ago.) One of the first families to join the church became good friends of ours. And, to this day, their personal transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit is one of the reasons why I haven’t completely given up on my faith.
That might come across as melodramatic, but it isn’t.
The text I received was a simple request for our family to fast and pray for them as they enter into a big decision about church planting. And just like that… the Holy Spirit gently pulls.
The words I place here aren’t meant to convince anyone of anything. They’re merely a way for me to chronicle my faith journey… for my kids. Because the truth is very simple… almost everything I’ve been taught about “the church” has been wrong. And as I’ve slowly been dissecting those teaching, I’ve had to take a very hard look at WHAT I believe and WHY I believe it.
Some people would eagerly pounce on what is written in the previous paragraph and accuse me of deconstruction, a process of systematically dissecting and often rejecting the beliefs you grew up with… and they’d be right. But, here’s the thing: The word “deconstruction” has such a negative connotation because, in our neo-political “evangelical”church narrative their is a lack of nuance… and critical thinking. And in a lot of cases… a lack of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
But, over the past few years, I’ve also seen the Church… often from within circles of those who have left the institution of “Christian” religion.
Here’s the truth: We haven’t given a regular tithe to a church in YEARS. And there are a lot of reasons for that. But, the biggest one is because we believe it’s important to support the work… not a building. So, we put our money into organizations doing the work Christ calls us to.
And, honestly, even though our organization isn’t a “faith-based” organization… it most certainly IS faith inspired. And that’s the point. The beauty of the church… the body of the church… it that we all have a part to play. Some parts are outward facing, boldly proclaiming… and some are quietly tending to the absolute carnage the neo-political movement is leaving in their wake.
We all have a part of play and, if we are a part of the REAL church, we all have work we’re meant to do.
Searching for Jesus in A̶m̶e̶r̶i̶c̶a̶ Chattanooga 