The Pastor's Pen
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Bethany Christian Church The Pastor's Pen |
It
is so good to be here at my new church.
I
was deliberate about my choice of language in that first paragraph.
Did you notice I spoke of the church as my church and as your
church? I guess that makes
it our church together.
Those words can be kind of funny, especially when it comes to church.
I
was deliberate about my choice of language in that first paragraph.
Did you notice I spoke of the church as my church and as your
church? I guess that makes
it our church together.
Those words can be kind of funny, especially when it comes to church.
I’ve
been thinking a lot lately about those little possessive pronouns, especially
when it comes to church. I know that
sounds a little strange, but bear with me a moment.
These are words we use all the time, and, at first glance we would all be
fairly certain we know just what they mean. Those
little words? They are variations on
my and our – yours,
mine and our. If I
were to say, “That’s my coat,” you would be safe in assuming that I
own that coat. It is mine. If
I were to say, “Our car broke down the other day,” you can safely assume
that Nel and I own the car. We have
both possession and responsibility for it. When
we hear those two words in that sort of context we understand them to be talking
about ownership and responsibility. In
a sense these are legal terms.
But in a different context these two little words, my and our,
take on a different connotation. If
I speak of my wife, or talk about our friend, you would understand
that those words are no longer referring to ownership; we have moved into the
very different realm of relationship. I
do not own my wife or my friends. But
I am connected to them in relationship. Sometimes
the differences between ownership and relationship get confused. When
a husband treats his wife (or vice versa) as property, the difference between
relationship and ownership has become skewed, and the relationship becomes
unhealthy. We cannot treat others as
though they are property.
I want you to think about whether the following sentence is referring to
relationship or to ownership. Bethany
Christian Church is my church Do
I own Bethany Christian Church? Clearly,
I do not own any church. I may have
some responsibility for the building in which the people who call themselves
Bethany Christian Church is housed, but, if there is any ownership of the
church, that belongs to Jesus Christ. When
I speak of my church I am talking about a relationship with Jesus Christ
and the people who have joined together in common bond in their life of faith
together.
When I speak of my Lord or my God, once again I am talking
about a relationship, not ownership. Once
in a while I encounter folks who confuse relationship with
ownership. They have some sense that
they have some ownership of God; God should do their bidding. They
may not say that, exactly, but if God doesn’t do what they expect then God is
written off as not much help. If
their church doesn’t do things the way they expect, or how they would like,
then the connection slowly dissolves.
In the Christian faith, in church life, your and my offer
the hope of relationship – relationship with God and with God’s people. These
words are not about ownership. It
takes work to have a healthy relationship. But
the rewards and blessings of relationship are so much better than the burdens of
ownership. We can own neither God
nor the church. And that is good
news.
I love my church. I
love my God. Thank goodness,
I own neither.
-Dan
