Jesus is the reason the parish exists

"It is not to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians. Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evil doers and mockers...So the Christian, too, belongs...in the thick of foes." -- Bonhoeffer (Life Together)

The Christian community, the local parish, is God's gift to His children. For the Christian, the congregation and its morning worship on Sunday is like the central fountain of the ancient town, a place to gather not only for life giving water but also for fellowship and renewal.

The Christian community is born of blood -- the blood of Christ. I have served as pastor for several congregations and spoken with many Christians. People would give me many different kinds of reasons for why they are in the church. They like the style of worship, its location, they have friends there, the programs, even sometimes (though less often) the doctrine. But in truth the individual parish exists first by the blood of Christ -- for He unites us together with all fellow believers. And secondly the parish exists that we might be nurtured with the Gospel, the good news that announced to us in God's Word that our sin is forgiven and life eternal is to be had.

Monday through Friday I am reminded of how important the promise of God is for the reality of the human condition hits me in the face every single day. No matter our creed, our race, our gender, or our politics we are all the same in the most important thing: we die. Right now my military assignment is ceremonial funerals at Arlington. Every day - I honor the military service of someone who has died - usually a veteran who has lived a long life, sometimes an active duty death. Death. Reality. Grace - what a wonder and a joy it is to hear in the face of reality that God promises something beyond - salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ.

People flock together based on their similarities. Congregations tend to develop a personality. Conservative / liberal. One race or another. Even congregations with ethnic ministry and outreach tend to find that they have multiple services with those who feel "comfortable" with one another worshiping together. Differences lead to competition, conflict, and so forth. Differing values, different preferences -- conflict.

These words of Bonhoeffer speak to me when I think about what leads people to unite and what also leads them into competition and conflict with one another:

"One is my brother only through Jesus Christ. I am a brother to another person through what Jesus Christ did for me and to me; the other person has become a brother to me through what Jesus Christ did for him. Not what a man is in himself...what determines our brotherhood is what the man is by reason of Christ." -- Bonhoeffer (Life Together)

Before I ally myself with someone or a group of someones within the Church, or before I consider myself in competition or contradiction with someone or a group of someones - it is good for me to first remember who they are in Jesus Christ.

Now, I am not advocating a praxis of pure open ended toleration. God's principles are His own. Where He has spoken there is only room for preservation and keeping of that Word. And where people have a disagreement over that Word, or dismiss that Word itself because it is too alien to our human way of life, then it is incumbent upon the faithful Christian and faithful congregation to recognize the contradiction.

Sadly a great deal of conflict within the parish is related to disagreement or even disbelief in God's clear Word. There can be no answer to that except clear proclamation, patient teaching, and in the face of obstinate rejection - a recognition of cleavage of the fellowship. But a great deal of conflict is also driven by human personality, experience, and preferences.

It is an interesting dychotomoy that I have observed: on clear principles of God's Word the people who claim Christ's name will argue and disagree because they are uncomfortable to practice. But then people who claim Christ's name will take issues that Christ nor his disciples spoke too, issues that God allows us liberty in, and give to these practices a crucial go to war importance.

A key principle I have always shared with my parishes. This is Christ's house and it exists solely on the foundation of Christ's Word. No Word - no house. No Word - no Gospel. No Word - no hope. No Word - no reason for us to be here: any old social club would do. And Word means all of it. Not the parts I like while ignoring the parts that are uncomfortable. Not the parts that fit with our human sensibilities while dismissing or improving the parts we think obsolete. Word - all of it. As it is.

Word - if God has declared it - then we keep and preserve it. We cling to it for dear life. For I believe if God took the trouble to speak it and have it recorded for us in the Scripture - it is important. And second God should know what he is talking about in regard to human life - since He created it.

But on the flip side - if God has not spoken - then there is certainly liberty - with responsibility. Mission first. The world is at war and I'm not talking about the War on Terror.

Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We are in a war. Death comes to us all. Victory comes only through the victory of Christ. We see it only through the eyes of faith. When I stand over the grave, with the body in a nice shiny casket about to go into a 12 foot deep hole to be marked by a stone, and I see the family that will depart never to see their loved one again upon this earth there is hope only in the promise of God. Our parishes exist so that we may constantly hear and live within this hope.

The Christian lives wholly by the truth of God's Word in Jesus Christ...the goal of all Christian community: they meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation." -- Bonhoeffer (Life Together)

Black, brown, or white... democrat, republican, independent, or apathetic...male or female...American or not... as Christians we exist in a brother/sisterhood - not of death but of the promise of life united not by our own distinct bloodlines but by His blood.

If we must have struggle, competition, even conflict - let it be only when necessary. Let it be when the very foundation of our existence is at risk - when God's Word is challenged, dismissed, changed, or ignored. Let it be when the very lifeblood of the Church is threatened because the promise of threatened because the truth is not kept.

Don't let it be over that which is truly not that important - the color of the carpet, will we buy the air conditioner, will we start a new worship service, or any other of a million things that are merely preference. Nor let it be over slights and harsh words or taken offense. Was the offense really intended? And if so, was the offender so different from any of us - all born in sin -- all destined for the grave -- all in need of forgiveness - forgiveness of my Lord and forgivenss of my brother so I can come home.

In the end isn't that what is important - to have hope in Christ - and a home and a family in which to find encouragment as we live out the realities of this life.