A vision for a real church

Rev. Tchividjian,

What a glorious Resurrection Day service! How good to hear your challenge to the new congregation (the two are now one, us)!

My question: How will the gospel you preached be lived out in our midst in our small corner of the world? Each congregation needs to figure out how the expression of truth impacts their particular congregation. Of course, many things are ecclesiastically universal. We all espouse one gospel of grace. We all have worship in word and song. We all worship with baptism and communion (I wish we celebrated the Lord's supper more frequently, to be honest). But what vision will continue for CRPC, and what will change? I would love to see us adopt a more intimate group mentality. For a church of this size it is easy for members and non-members alike to feel isolated and cut off. Personally, the past few years have been very difficult and trying. God has sent great trials our way, and we have at times felt separate from the body, especially when we are prevented from attending church. Of course, we also have great friends who have come along to support us.

What I would like to encourage in our expression of the local church is the development of a more “whole” community concept. In our culture, we are divided according to what is comfortable. The young hang with the young, teens with teens, singles with singles, married with married, married with young kids with married with young kids, married empty nesters with married empty nesters, widowed with widowed… etc. This is just as true in the Church, and no matter how hard I try, I fall into the same pattern. This is the age of catering to particular groups. Of course, we can also include those who have similar struggles or similar interests. But I think we may be missing the boat here. While this can indeed have its benefits (we can indeed sympathize with each other in our pains because we’ve had similarities of circumstance), it can also be a curse as we become isolated from those who are different (have a differing perspective), and thus, miss wisdom. God delights to put us with those who are different from ourselves. Just as you said, God honors sacrifice not comfort. It is comfortable to be with those who are similar. It’s uncomfortable to be with those who are different. Let me give you two illustrations. When I grew up, I used to visit my grandmother in a nursing home. I remember them as horrible places with terrible smells. I would often encounter elderly people who drooled or no longer had their faculties. I wanted to leave as soon as possible. In fact, I didn’t even want to go there in the first place. I wanted to be comfortable. I knew almost nothing of sacrifice as a young person. The other example is one of marriage. I don’t think you could find two more different people than my wife and I. My wife is outgoing, friendly, and a people person who loves to stop and smell the flowers, watch the clouds, listen to the birds, and speak a kind word to an elderly person. On the flip side of the coin, I am task and goal oriented. I see an obstacle and look for a way to master it, and then help. I didn’t know such things as flowers, clouds, birds (and sometimes even people) existed until we got married. Imagine with me, a body of people who share their homes with each other and gather together on the Lord’s Day (and other days as well) to break bread. Here we have those who are elderly sharing the wisdom of years with the younger (have we totally neglected the rich treasure of the elder brother or sister!), those who have older children sharing with those with younger ones, those who are married sharing with those who are single, those are older kids sharing with those who are younger. We have those who are well tending to those who are infirmed, those who are able helping those who are handicapped (or their parents) those who are struggling being helped by those who once were struggling in that particular area but now are healed. Imagine such a community where people gather together and share Christ and what He has done in their lives. Imagine discipleship!! Imagine the Body being the body and living out the gospel! Can we imagine that at CRPC?