In Support of Church

One of the benefits of a blog is that you get to share your thoughts about various issues.  It’s not so much that I want people to read my blog or even agree with me (ha!); it serves as a kind of public diary, a testament to what goes on in my crazy brain.

Look, I’m not just a follower of Christ, not just an ordained minister, but a church planter!  I’ve got crazy written onto my heart by the Lord our God!  Most planters get restless in the “established church,” and they have such a passion for sharing the Lord, that they strike off in a new way.  I like to describe myself that way, but with all my dreams and hopes for a new kind of community that is faithful to our Stillspeaking God, I must stand up for “the Church.”

Believe me—I’m not tied to the old way of doing things, and I have several opinions about organized religion and how she often fails to be bold for the Gospel—the kind of boldness talked about at Pentecost and in Acts.  But still, I feel blessed to be part of “the Church.”

First of all, I believe it is more faithful.

Now you have to understand that everything in our society, everything in the United States encourages us to think first of ourselves.  Our individualism is destroying us.  Even modern day Christianity is influenced by it.  Some even turn our faith into a totally individualistic concept, that the only thing that matters is your “personal relationship with Christ.”  Well sure—that’s important, and I do hope it’s personal (meaning intimate) for you.  But what about the community of believers?  What about loving your neighbor?  What about serving others?

What we often forget is that the Word of God was written to a community of believers.  Indeed, the letters of Paul were written to specific groups of people.  Jesus came to save all of us, the ones he has a personal relationship with as well as everybody else.  So often when we read Scripture it’s like we imagine God is speaking just to us.  That’s helpful at times, but not all the time.  Try reading God’s Word as it speaks to a community, not just to you personally.

I’ve heard reports of a growing segment of “nones,” folks who do not identify with any religion.  And then there are the “spiritual but not religious.”  Look, I get it; I really do; I understand why you don’t like the Church—hypocrites, behind the times, judgmental, irrelevant, the list goes on.  It’s what I’ve been trying to tell other "churchy" folks for years, and that things need to change.  I get that you’d rather just do your own thing, get fed spiritually your own way, and I’m cool with that.

But the whole point of my post here is that maybe you are missing something, and maybe, just maybe, you are succumbing to your own ego rather than understanding the power of being part of something that is bigger than yourself.

The bottom line is that we need community.  Not only does it help us, but it grounds us in a way that brings a higher purpose.

Our faith in Jesus Christ calls us into a community, with all its flaws, to be the body of Christ, where community is highlighted over individualism, God over ego, and the neighbor over ourselves.

In a community, one can find folks who will support you, but also challenge you from time to time.  I hope you recognize that all of us need ways to hold us accountable to the Gospel and what God wants of us.  We belong not to ourselves, but to God.  And being part of a community, we take on responsibilities for that community because it contributes to the whole, not just ourselves.

Let me end by saying that it’s possible that some may be finding these things, this sense of faithful community, in a setting outside the Church.  And that’s great.  But I’ll take the Church, even with all its flaws, cause you know what?  They took me, even with my flaws.

Ron Trimmer is pastor of Hope United, a new church in Georgetown, Texas.  Click here to visit Hope United's website.

www.HopeGeorgetown.org

Hope for Racial Justice

When the verdict of George Zimmerman’s trial in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin came out this week, I can’t say that I was that surprised. Sad.

And it has sparked another look at race relations and the ongoing, even perpetual sin of racism.

It is hard for me, a white, protestant, heterosexual, male to always understand what it means to be in the minority. I am privileged. Now for me, I believe that God puts a higher responsibility upon me to use my privilege to help others. But all the same, I stand in solidarity with all those who have felt prejudice.

I must point out that I believe our justice system has some serious flaws. I don’t have any answers or ideas of how to make it better. But the reality is that if you are poor, you have a very hard time getting justice. And if you are rich … well, you can purchase leniency. Certainly the big money is in defense, not prosecution, and thus in these high-profile cases, we see the prosecution, obviously funded by state and local governments, not able to offer the same level of legal expertise. Of course, in this particular case, the Stand Your Ground law did not help. As a disclaimer, I must admit my knowledge of the law in general and the Stand Your Ground law in Florida in particular is very limited. It’s just that our legal system is built upon an adversary model, which I think is in direct conflict with the justice and reconciliation of God and Jesus Christ. Enough about that; I’ll have to comment on that another time.

Systemic Racism is a tough thing to talk about, and easily denied. The Conservative Right certainly jumped on Obama when he tried to talk about it. Again, sad. Let me share a personal experience.

I have the best parents, and I am thankful for the values they imparted upon me—a strong sense of compassion and justice—God’s justice. They are both great people—kind, giving, working for a better world. I say this because I am about to share a story where my mom looks kind of bad. She’s not a bad person, not the least bit racist, at all! But this is an example of the systemic problems of racism and how it creeps up without even realizing it.

We were in a poorer part of town, perhaps North St. Louis. It was an African American neighborhood, in the middle of the afternoon. I think I was in high school, so about 25 years ago. We were in the car waiting. Maybe my dad had gone into a store or some other short errand. Waiting in the sunshine, an African American guy came walking by. He was just walking by—nothing suspicious, and he didn’t seem to take notice of us.

But at that moment, my mom locked the car door.

It was kind of instinctual. She didn’t mean anything by it. I’ve been in plenty of “bad neighborhoods” (Jesus is always there!), and you do take precautions. But the inherent systemic racism is in that somehow when my mom saw this innocent black man, she was reminded we were in a neighborhood where crime was a greater possibility. So she locked the door.

That’s the way racism lingers on.

May God help us to build a world where we are not judged by the color of our skin.

Here you can read a statement from the United Church of Christ.

Check out Rev. Sharon Watkins, Disciples of Christ General Minister & President, speaking out about gun violence & racism in our country.

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. –Galatians 3:28

Ron Trimmer is pastor of Hope United, a new church in Georgetown, Texas. Click here to visit Hope United's website.