Unpacking our mission statement

Real people learning to follow Jesus together. This mission statement for our reverb community is one I came up with a few months ago. It may undergo some revision as we work out our identity, but at this point I like it.

Real People - I don't like buzz words so I opted not to use "authentic" but that's what I'm shootin' for. (In addition, one of my English professors used to say don't use the 50 cent words when a 10 cent word will do - I liked that man) So, real. I spent too many years of my life looking shiny. I lived in a family that looked shiny. And when I got old enough to figure out that all was not what it seemed - something I'm sure I knew in a child's way - I knew that I needed to get real. I mean really. Why play the game.

Albert Ellis talked about the tyranny of the shoulds and oughts. I lived with that for a long time. I still battle it. But being real is essential. And the Church should be the place where we are most real, shouldn't it? I mean, come on - the whole message of forgiveness is that we're off the hook. None of us is perfect. But grace and love erase the need for shame. Shame says, if you know who I really am, you'll reject me. Well, listen here - God sees, God knows, God loves. Being real in community says I see you, I know you , I love you. That is when the grace and love of God becomes a reality.

Learning - Life is not something that is stagnant. In spite of the popular book of the late 1980's - we did not learn everything we needed to know in kindergarten. Learning requires humility. Learning says "I don't have it all figured out". Learning implies a journey. Learning implies change. Learning implies saying I'm wrong, I made a mistake, I'm sorry, I wish I had known that before. Learning is being open. It is discovery.

I reject the notion that we can represent faith in propositional statements. Concise or lengthy summative conclusions about what we believe. For too long, learning to be a Christian has relied too heavily on believing certain statements. People have been counted in or out based on their mental assent to doctrine. Something doesn't jive with that for me. I can say that Ray is my husband - very hairy though he be. But saying he's my husband means nothing, really. I have to learn to live that out.

To Follow Jesus - This is about surrender. It is about a voice that leads, guides, informs our lives as "Christians". I do think everyone follows something - pleasure, wealth, Benjamin Franklin, Oprah. Whose voice is shaping your life? As a Christian, I'm looking to Jesus. That is our agreed upon example and pace setter at reverb. We want to learn how to love like him, how to live like him, how to think like him, how to forgive like him - how to be like him.

Together - Community keeps us in check. Community forces our ideals to be reality. I guess it sort of circles back on being real. I'm dying for community. I'm dying for a group of people who want to get honest and work out what it means to love God and love others. Church is a funny word. We make it a place when it's really about people - a group of people, a community of real people learning to follow Jesus - together.

*The art is a painting entitled Happiness 2015 the Goal of the Millenium by Fabián Mowszowicz. See more of his work at http://www.art-mine.com/ArtistPage.aspx?ID=CT9CF5673E_FD96_4961_BE0C_BC7D17BBA47D