8/4/09
Exponential has posted an adaptation of Francis Chan’s message he gave at their conference. May his exhortation to trust in the Holy Spirit and strive for authentic, loving, and a true Biblical community sink deep.
Here is an excerpt:
“A little over a year ago, we baptized this guy who came out of the gangs. I remember loving his fire and passion. A while later, someone came up to me and said that this guy had stopped coming to Cornerstone and had told him, “I had the wrong vision of church. I thought that when I got baptized and joined the church, it was going to be like when I got jumped into the gang. Immediately, we became family. They had my back 24 hours a day. If I was sleeping in the street, they were sleeping there with me. We didn’t get together just once a week; it was all the time. I guess I just didn’t understand church. It’s like Satan stole God’s playbook, and people are attracted to gangs because they’re doing things biblically—except for the killing part.”
That kills me! It’s so sad that gangs are a better picture of family than the body of Christ. And it just makes me say that it’s not this guy, it’s us—we are the ones who don’t understand church.
And I’ve heard the arguments. I know people say that even though it’s biblical, you can’t pull off that kind of bold community in today’s culture. And to that, I ask, Have we forgotten who the Holy Spirit is? If Jesus could look at 11 people and say, “You’re going to get the message to the whole world without Internet access,” then we can grab 11 people and reach these three or four blocks. It’s the same Holy Spirit. I’ve got to believe that the Holy Spirit still can and will do these amazing things. We’re going through this as a church right now. The leaders of our church are my best friends. I trust them. I know that if I die tonight, these guys will take care of my family. They’ll treat my kids like their own. We’re seeing that type of bond happen. Today’s Church can foster bold and authentic, 24/7 community.”
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Springs of Grace is becoming more and more of this kind of community. Tonight in our small groups we prayed that relationships that are personal, deepening, supportive, and faith-building might abound more and more in our church family to the glory of God. Love must not stay in some sanitized form but must be exercised in relationships. I believe this is happening this summer in our church family and I trust that people coming into Springs of Grace might never again feel what Francis Chan describes this former gang member feeling.