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A Church Beyond Belief

Lost and Found

10/19/2016

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Despite all your efforts, sometimes you lose things. Keys. Phones. Notes. Lists. All disappear from where you left them. Suddenly the day goes awry. Your plan falls apart.

In a frenzy you look. But the frenzy produces nothing. The very thing that was needed has vanished. You are stopped in your tracks. You may become agitated and act out. Admit it. But still no keys or phone or papers. You may feel guilty and depressed. An emotional reaction surfaces. Now the situation is not about keys or phones. Now it is time to find someone to blame.

Your focus turns to those with whom you live. They must have moved what you needed. Maybe they did it to frustrate you, to interrupt your day. It’s easy to turn paranoid. As you do, a storm cloud forms over you. If no one is around to blame, you may blame your parents, a convenient target. If they hadn’t been so judgmental and demanding, etc., etc. Then, often, having blamed everyone who comes to mind, you see the missing item and feel guilty relief.

It’s bad enough when you lose an essential item, just when you need it. Everyone does that at some time. But what happens when you fear you’ve lost your country and your way of life? According to a recent CNN poll, nearly half of all Americans express fear and anger about the state of life in the United States. Something precious seems to have vanished. Many people look for someone to blame.

There is evidence to justify the fear and anger. The level of drug addiction. Divorce and broken relationships. Homelessness and joblessness. Personal struggles such as depression. The list goes on. And, of course, nagging fear of terrorism and anxiety about the economy. There are various sources of concern. Many of us conclude we have lost our way as a nation.

But imagine what we need is right in front of us. Amid our genuine challenges, a way forward is within sight. It is the local congregation, the faith community in our midst. Inside, people are finding pathways toward healing and reconciliation. The difference is, they are doing so together, finding support and direction from God and one another.
​
Together anything is possible. As our new book, Fragmented Lives, describes, life need not be divided, fearful and alone. We can find what we need. It is right in front of us. It is faith and a community who strives to embody it. 

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At the Top of the Guest List

8/30/2016

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Some of my best travel moments have been with cab drivers. Often treated by passengers as if they weren't there, cab drivers can offer fascinating insights into human nature and they can tell the real truth about their city. They see all aspects of life and can speak candidly. A few years ago, a young cab driver who had come from Ethiopia excitedly described his new American life to me. Such a chance is lost when passengers are preoccupied with themselves.

A similar opportunity can be overlooked when we host dinner parties, as Jesus describes while observing people’s habits around such an event (Luke 14:1, 7-14). We invite people we already know or to whom we feel a social debt. That is not bad. But what if we used the cab driver example? What if we sought out people, for dinner parties and other occasions, whom we would not ordinarily meet? What if we chose to expand our horizons by hosting and being hosted by people we would not otherwise consider?

Jesus uses a meal as an image for God's eternal kingdom, and uses our approach to a meal as a measure of our approach to this kingdom. Do we see moments together as restricted to those like us, or do we see an open door to discovery of others? To grow in faith, Jesus suggests, is to approach as equals people who are not like us, and to build relations with them. We do this because all persons are equal before God, all are invited by God to his heavenly banquet.

Don't overlook your family and friends. But take time to chat with the cab driver. Chances are, your day will be enhanced, and you will learn something about the city--like I did from the young Ethiopian who was excited to describe life in Richmond.

William L. Sachs


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Where Did You Grow Up?

8/12/2016

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It’s a natural question when you’re introduced to one another: where did you grow up? The answer might be interesting and sometimes life stories overlap. Even with perfect strangers there are not many degrees of separation.

If we’re willing to speak candidly, we ask the question in a more probing way. Not just where did you spend your childhood and adolescence. Rather, as what point in your life did you become a mature adult? Where were you and what were you doing?

Of course, what we mean by “growing up” is worthy of discussion. Have you grown up because you reached a certain age? Because you left parents and family for work or education? Because you have gained certain skills or had certain experiences? What must you be or do to grow up?

As faith leaders, we believe you begin to grow up when you are connected. This means, first, being connected spiritually to a reality beyond yourself, in ways that encourage you to be more and be better. Christians, and other people of faith, call this reality “God.” We experience God as goodness and love, prompting us to be connected in life-giving ways.

Life’s journey entails bringing this experience of goodness and love into every moment, every relationship, every task. It doesn’t happen quickly. We must grow into it.

Second, you have grown up when your connections to others move beneath life’s surface. You discover you are engaging with others in terms of real feelings, real challenges, real joys. You value other people and they value you. In short you care, and that care is apparent.

It doesn’t happen obviously or readily. It’s not becoming old enough to vote; it’s not like graduating from school or getting a job. Growing up spiritually has much in common with falling in love and building a relationship. It is like finding where and with whom you feel at home.

Growing up is an awakening to depth and possibility in life. You see what you had not seen before, even in people and places that had been there all along. But this awakening is just the beginning. A dazzling spiritual journey lies ahead. Where did you grow up? With whom? Into what sort of life?

William L. Sachs 

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Does Mission Get Lost?

8/3/2016

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No word seems to energize churches and church people more than “mission.” Yet try to drill down and define what Christians mean by “mission” and all sorts of answers surface.

For some in the churches, mission means evangelism. Full-throttle efforts to convert the unconverted. Evangelism is the preoccupation of Evangelicals. “Don’t laugh,” an Evangelical cautioned me. “They want to convert you too. Episcopalians like you aren’t real Christians.”

I may have a suspicious view of mission in Evangelical hands, but Episcopalians and other old-line Christians also speak of mission. We mean service to people in need. We shun high-pressure efforts to convert. We view Muslims and Jews and members of other faith traditions as people of God. We emphasize aid and support for all people. We also think of forming faith community and promoting dialogue and education. Noble ideals all.  

The problem is that such clear views of mission easily get lost. For one thing, clearly, Christians differ. For another thing we are self-critical: we lapse into moaning about what we’re not instead of what we are. Worse, we can be long on talk and short on action. Our words don’t often translate into concrete acts.

Mission is a topic we must discuss. There is sufficient confusion, among the churches and beyond them. Clarity is needed. We start here: mission is not a set of programs based on the assumptions of religious institutions. Mission is about core purpose: why we are Christian and what we are called to do as a result of faith. Mission should be a road map for being the church. Mission is about how we can live the ideals of Christian faith genuinely and effectively.

As we have said in A Church Beyond Belief and in Fragmented Lives, faith is not focused on belief. Faith is a way of life, together, that is unfolding, being discovered. If faithful people do not address the why, what and how regularly, mission becomes confused and half-hearted. No wonder religious institutions struggle. They easily lose focus. Then, whatever we mean by mission, it does not happen.

William L. Sachs ​
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The Question You Can't Avoid

7/27/2016

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Within your daily routine there is a question waiting to be answered. Among all the things that preoccupy you, a basic reality needs attention. It will wait for a while. But eventually you must face it: in who and what do you believe?
 
This sounds like something two ministers would say. It sounds like the start of a boring sermon. And we admit it: we are ministers. But this is not a sermon. We’re also human, and we’ve had this experience ourselves. So we wrote a book about it, as people, not just as pastors.
 
We wrote about faith, not because we have all the answers, but because the path to faith involves more questions than immediate or clear answers. You have to ask the questions to begin to find the answers. Simply asking questions becomes the way forward when you’re stuck.
 
On most days you don’t feel stuck, so the question about what and who you believe in seems like something that can wait. “I don’t have time for this,” you think. Fair enough, for the time being. Most days we swim through lots of details. That’s all we can see.
 
Then life veers off course. Something that matters takes a turn. Someone that matters disappoints us or disappears from our lives. The script we were following no longer works. The life we presumed is shaken. Trying to regroup, we must ask: who am I? Where am I going? What do I believe?
 
Life’s most important journey begins with these questions. They are the questions of faith. These questions force you to decide who you are; the questions force you to think about values, trust, flexibility, resilience, and hope. We talk about such qualities in our new book on faith, and we will give some snapshots of them on this blog.
 
We will also tell you what faith is not: it is not a rigid system of belief or moral laws. It is not rigid answers. Faith begins with honest, inevitable questions. From there a new and better life can unfold.
 
We want to encourage conversation about faith, as you seek it, as you find it. We don’t have all the answers. We are in our own journeys through life, just like you. Tell us what you think. Push back. That is what we seek.
 
The book we wrote is called Fragmented Lives: Finding Faith in an Age of Uncertainty (Morehouse). It will be out in August and is up on Amazon (https://goo.gl/xNhPfp).
 
We look forward to your thoughts. Thanks. 

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    William L. Sachs
    Michael S. Bos

    Rethinking the place of belonging and belief 

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