Have Your People Call My People

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

This past Saturday I attended a 2-hour retreat for our church. The focus was supposed to be on setting goals and communication. What happened instead was a 2-hour conversation about having conversations.

The general feel of the retreat, or should I say conversation, was that those who were there felt good to be able to say the things that were on their minds and hearts in an open and honest way. It was good to listen to, as well as speak about the things we were discussing outside of the usual places; as a gathering of the whole versus a gathering of the parts, so to say.

Most churches, especially the larger ones, do and say things through committee. A church member has an idea. They are asked to approach a member of a committee that best represents that which is being proposed. The idea is heard, discussed and a consensus on how to proceed is made. A representative of that committee goes to another committee to make the proposal. That committee has a question nobody considered along the way, and it all has to go back to step 1.

There's nothing wrong with this process, I've seen it work and it really is one of the better ways to ensure proposals get a fair and balanced consideration. However for some, the process can seem repetitious and time consuming. Also, depending on the proposal or the person proposing it, divisions along certain lines can be made.

It's within those divisions a church can become stuck. People take sides, they say one way is better than another or they like one person's ideas over another. Sometimes, depending on the proposal or issue, the discussion can go on for quite some time, never leaving the confines of a certain committee.

It's in those times that as a church we need to reach out and be willing to cross our lines of division. We need to be able to act as a church of the whole, not a church of the parts, and listen to the ideas of others, regardless of how far-fetched or varied from our own they are. Paul reminds us that we are not a church of one particular person or idea and are instead a church with Christ as our center and focus. It's because of Christ our church exists, and it's through Christ our church survives.

The comment was made this past Saturday that it sometimes feels like we don't do enough conversing as a church. Maybe there's some truth to that, maybe not. What I can say is that if our churches can let go of our preconceived ideologies and at listen to the thoughts and ideas of others then we can find a way to move forward together on our journeys towards God.