Our DNA: Who We Love

We are continuing our look at our DNA. If you missed our previous post where we dove into our guiding passage, I would strongly recommend you start with that. You can catch a link to it here.

The goal of this series of posts is to explore where God is leading us and how we need to start thinking and behaving in order to make the biggest impact possible in our spheres of influence. When I use the term “Our DNA” I mean OUR. Not just mine. Not just the institutional church or organization. Not just the leadership and staff. Ours. This is a journey we take together, hand in hand.

Who are we called to love? Now obviously the answer to that question is “everyone.” This conversation is more about who we are best set up to be intentional about. To put it simply, we are called to love the disillusioned, prodigals, and the wanderers. Those far from home and need welcomed back into the embrace of Jesus.

Over the past several years, I have had countless conversations. One of my favorite things as a pastor is having these heart conversations where we sit in the messiness of life. One of the themes that has arisen over the years is how many of us have people we love dearly who for whatever reason have decided to walk away from the church, or even more severely their faith all together. Those of you who have experienced the anguish and pain of watching those we love struggle with their faith. The problem that I have experienced is that more often than not, the questions and doubts many of our loved ones experience are rarely welcome within the Church. We don’t know how to handle them and therefore offer no room for it. The result? It is often easier to pack up our tents and move on.

Before we go any further an important distinction must be made. There is a HUGE difference between someone walking away from the Church and someone walking away from their faith. I have encountered several wounded people who have said “no more'“ to the institutional church who still have a real faith in Christ as their savior. The hard truth is that the church is often comprised of self righteous, judgmental, and mean spirited people. Sometimes the church appears to love tradition more than people. Even those of us with the best of intentions can accidently say or do the wrong thing that results in others feeling wounded.

This is not the same as those who have had issues with the core beliefs of the Church. Sometimes we build a culture that stifles exploration and questions. We minimize and ignore serious questions and doubts and force people to explore for answers in the wrong places. How many times have serious questions been met with “Just have faith!” Since the church was unsupportive and offered no real authenticity when it came to the messy aspects of faith… it is easy to come to the conclusion that it is all bogus. I don’t blame them.

Chances are, as you read this you find yourself thinking about people whom you love that fall into one of these two categories. It is my belief that we have opportunities that not many churches are willing to embrace. If not our loved ones, than those who are like them and are searching for meaning and are just waiting for a group of people to welcome them in to explore. A people who embrace the questions and doubts. People who are willing to be authentic, embracing their messy journey without the self-righteousness, judgement, and mean spiritedness.

We can be that people.

Bonus material: I recently preached on this topic.

Christopher PannellOctober 23, 2023DNAComment