It’s easy for a Christian whose heart is on fire for God to think that they’re going break from the institutional church and charge out by themselves, setting a trajectory to change the world and make disciples in the name of Christ.  Even I find myself caught up in prolific daydreams about uprooting myself and starting a grand movement in some socio-economically impoverished neighborhood on my own. 

Or, there are churches already established who believe that their methods and doctrine are perfectly correct, and that those “other churches” would do well to conform to their ideas.  Again, I have felt this same way.  It’s easy to be critical of others (especially Christians, whom we find it so much easier to hold to a higher standard).  We all have ideas about what, where, when, why, and how things are to be done in the church.

In The Missional Church (edited by Darrell Guder), however, I was struck by reading that one of the ways we achieve catholicity and unity as missional communities is by recognizing that ours is not the only way to do it.  We quickly concede that people come from a variety of walks of life—ethnicities, economic statuses, religious backgrounds, etc—so why is it so hard to understand that people have different ways of connecting with God?  Some grow closer to God in prayer, or in nature, or through activism, or music, or conversations with others, inside or outside of a church building.  When we respect that others are inviting people into God’s Kingdom through different means, and perhaps attempt to participate in those means together, we begin to achieve our wholeness as Christ’s body, his living Church, and become a witness to the world around us.

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all”  –Ephesians 4:4-6

Breanne