Why we exist…

…Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” _John 20:21

Sunday afternoon, we worked a bit on this question: why do we do what we do as a church-community? We’ve been trying to answer this over the last several weeks and months ever since we started gathering people together, building the community of Awaken. And our answers (coming from our Core Team) seem to be pretty clear…we (Awaken) exist to extend the love of Jesus to others by extending ourselves relationally, discovering ways to serve our neighbors and our city, and ultimately leading others to discover that their heart matters to God by creating an authentic community for people to belong to. …and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

This week, I’m attending the National New Church Conference with some of my friends from the Greensboro area who, with other pastors from all over the U.S., are establishing new church communities for similar reasons. While here, I’ve already been confronted with a deeper question I’ve been dealing with for some time – a question that every church must ultimately seek to answer: If our church ceased to exist, would your city be affected? If our church vanished, would our community weep?

Jesus’ message is clear on this: The Church (the hands and feet of Jesus in the world today, including Awaken) does not exist for itself, but for the world. As Rob Bell puts it, “The Church is the only organization in the world that does not exist for its members, but for the good of the world.” Sometimes we get this idea messed up, thinking the church exists for our good, a place for us to be fed, to grow and to benefit. But that’s not God’s heart. As we see in Luke 15:1-7, His heart is focused on the lost sheep, and that’s His heart for the Church (for us) today.

As we’ve shared some beautiful stories over the last few weeks about how our community has served to bless those who are part of it (answered prayers, a place of encouragement and support for those struggling with situations in life, a community of love and acceptance, etc.), we’re reminded of others in our city who still have not experienced and encountered Jesus in these ways through a community like Awaken. And that is, and always will be, the biggest reason why we exist. Wholeness and completeness in our own lives is found in nothing else than this very reason.

We do not exist for ourselves; we exist for the world.

When we discover this (not only in our church-communities, but also on a personal level) we discover a fulfillment and satisfaction in life, “laying hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:19) That’s God’s life. He proves Himself to be a servant through Jesus, and that’s the life He invites us into.

being a eucharist

Perhaps this Easter Sunday you found yourself somewhere celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus and the fact that the tomb is empty, that Jesus is alive and is risen so that we might have life. (However you celebrated this past week, I hope it was rich in meaning for you.) Easter brings with it a time filled with deep significance and celebration for Jesus-followers, reminding us of the purpose of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, but also reminding us of our purpose as His followers.

Central to our understanding of what it means to be a Christian (a Jesus-follower) is found in the familiar words of John 3:16. There, we are told that God has given…He has given us a Gift, and that Gift is His Son, His One and Only, the Only Begotten, Jesus. And that through Him, He gives the gift of abundant, everlasting life to all who believe.

Also central to the Scriptures is the act of thanking God for this gift: be thankful (Col. 3:15); give thanks… (1 Thess. 5:18); enter His gates with thanksgiving… (Ps. 100:4). We are encouraged/commanded through Scripture to give thanks for this Gift of life that God has given us through His Son Jesus. And that in itself is our reason to celebrate on Easter.

The Greek word for thankful is transliterated Eucharisimi (or Eucharistia or Eucharisteo) meaning to give or grant a good gift or grace. This is where we get the word Eucharist, which is another word we have for The Lord’s Supper or Communion.

If you celebrated Easter with a church-community recently, you more than likely observed The Lord’s Supper, or Communion. As Christians we meditate and reflect on this gift and what it means to us through by periodically taking of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, otherwise known as the Eucharist. It’s our way, as commanded by Jesus, to remember His body that was broken and His blood that was poured out so that we might have life…and to be thankful.

Yet, I think there’s a deeper, richer purpose that goes beyond simply taking of the bread (symbolic of the Body of Christ) and the cup (…the blood of Christ), to becoming. In other words, there is a call for those of us who follow Jesus to become to the world what Jesus is for us…broken and poured out so that others may have life. Think about it, What would be missing, what good would be lost if we, or our church were no longer in the community God has placed us? At the heart of the Awaken Community is the desire that we would be a Eucharist to the city of Greensboro and the world, broken and poured out, so that others would find life, wholeness and goodness in Jesus – through His Church.

As you move beyond this Easter, may you find yourself being to the world and the people around you what Jesus is to us. May we all be the life-givers that our neighbors would eventually be grateful for.

a healing community

What fears are gripping your heart today? Have you ever found yourself ‘running to the hills’ (so to speak), or even pulling away into isolation out of a fear of hurt or rejection from people? Think for a moment about the fears that were gripping the heart of Jesus prior to His suffering on the cross. The fear of torment, accusations, mocking, ridicule…and ultimately rejection; enough to make any of us desire to run. Yet, Jesus faced his fears, and as Scripture tells us, out of the joy that would come of it, He gave Himself away and endured the cross.

Have you ever loved, only to be rejected? Have you ever given, only to be unappreciated? You’re not alone. God knows all about this. I think it’s amazing to consider how even the greatest of love and generosity toward us – expressed in God’s Presence with us through Jesus, and our rescue found in His cross – can be returned with such cruel rejection. Yet, that’s the risk Jesus took, giving us the choice to love Him or reject Him. That’s essentially the risk we all take when it comes to loving and giving in life. Our tendency, when it comes to giving ourselves away in love, is to play it safe, minimize the risk, only go after the battles we’re sure to win, avoiding rejection, and perhaps even people, in the process.

Have you ever thought that your journey with God would find it’s greatest fulfillment if you could only remove the obstacles of people? If you’ve ever had your heart wounded through the rejection of others, you may find yourself tempted to pull away from not only those who have hurt you, but from people in general. I’ve found myself here, and I’ve found myself empty in that place. You see, I think we find ourselves in an extremely dangerous place when we pull away from people, specifically meaningful, authentic relationships where we’re walking with others, learning more about ourselves and what it means to follow the Way of Jesus. Perhaps that’s what’s so dangerous about referring to church as ‘community;’ it involves giving yourself away to others, and sometimes that’s a risk we’re unwilling to take.

A part of the challenge in the journey with God is to never give up on people, because the journey is lived out in the context of relationships. And if we’re ever to find healing from the wounds of rejection, it will only be found when we give ourselves away to a higher purpose than ourselves. Simply put, we get better when we give ourselves away.

Jesus’ joy was knowing that His suffering would bring us life. And by giving Himself away, He has shown us that wholeness and completeness of heart in life is only found when we do the same…and that begins in the context of relationships and ‘community.’

What are your fears when it comes to ‘community?’ Face them, and discover the joy of Jesus in giving yourself away!