From the Pastors Desk

 

“so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” I Corinthians 12

 

 

“Where Do I Belong?”

 

The last couple weeks I have had some seemingly unrelated conversations that have struck me as oddly related.

 

A pastor nearing the end of his career said:
“Where does the time go. They say I am too old, I will have to retire.” (What I heard him say was, “I’ve done this all my life. This has been my community for years. Now what do I do, where do I belong?”)

 

A young person of about twenty said
“As soon as I graduate I am out of here. I’m headed to Florida where all the action is.” (There is no one and nothing here for me, maybe if I move somewhere else I will find where I belong.”)
 

A person with a debilitating illness said:
“I have my God, my church, my family and my friends, that’s all that matters.” (“I may be sick, without money or a job, but I am loved, because I have a place to belong.”)
 

A parishioner responded to my mentioning I have been a pastor here for 18 years:
“And you’ll be here for another 18 years, right Pastor Tom?” (“You won’t ever abandon me will you?”)
 

My answer:
“That’s not going to happen.” (Go back to the other pastor’s answer above.)
 

People are desperately searching for a place to belong. We talk about our clubs and activities, our work and our school, sports teams, families and friends. All we want is a place where we can be accepted as having value for who we are. We used to belong to a village or neighborhood, we worked for the same people all our lives, our family lived in the same community with us, and we made friendships that lasted a lifetime. That world seems so far away for most of us now. What we find in this new society is that everything seems to be temporary. We change jobs, neighbors, friends, activities and homes. Even our families move, and change and break apart. We hear from our friends that their churches are even closing. So naturally the question everyone is asking is, “Where do I belong?”
 

I don’t know if I will be the pastor of our church in eighteen years, but I would love to believe I can still belong here. In the past couple months God has given me an understanding that we need to be more “tribal” as a church. More a lifetime community, or extended family that’s stays together no matter what. I’m not sure what that means, but it seems right. I am not sure where it will lead us, but it seems more important than anything else we are doing. We may not know everyone in our “tribe” but we should know and be known by some people. Our clan, our people, where we belong.
 

For too many years churches have operated like an organization instead of an organism. We have seen the members as interchangeable parts. But we are not cogs in a machine, we are the body of Christ. Each of us is a part that is essential to the rest. We may not always agree, but we need to always belong, and to love each other. That’s what life is really about. People everyone else thinks are too old or too sick we call our beloved elders. Our young people need to feel so loved and accepted the lure of money somewhere else doesn’t matter much. And we never feel abandoned, discarded or devalued.
 

God is moving in our church, drawing us closer to him, and closer to each other as the tribe of God in our community. And you belong here.
 

See you soon at the tribal gatherings,

Pastor Tom