Structure

Last week our youngest son was puzzling out some thoughts on homelessness. 

“Most of the world is homeless isn’t it?”

“Well, no, I don’t think that’s accurate.”

“But most of the people in China and Africa don’t have houses like we do.”

“True, but if you don’t have a house like we do it doesn’t make you homeless. Most people have a place to call home.”

“So, like a shelter then?”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be just a shelter…but yes there are different degrees of homes. Some are more simple,and some are more elaborate. There’s various kinds of structures.”

“Like huts? I wouldn’t really call that a home.”

“It’s a home. A house doesn’t have to be made from bricks or be very large.”

“Well, we have a lot more than we need in our home then.”

The dialogue continued, discussing what qualifies as a home, how that might vary according to culture or geography, and the needs versus luxuries that certain homes provide. You can always count on a thorough and arduous explanation with this one, but he does make you think about things that you wouldn’t normally. He has a way of making you define things and come to a firm grasp on them.

Thinking about things differently seems to be a repeated refrain in our life and ministry experience. With hearts to teach and be taught, it seems like in some way or other we are always observing, comparing and contrasting churches and ministries; the way it’s done and the structures employed. 

Czech worship services nearly universally conclude with a time of open congregational prayer and an opportunity for sharing testimony. Frequently, this sharing time is utilized to introduce a visitor, communicate greetings from sister churches, or share an answer to prayer or a prayer request. Occasionally, someone makes a rather inaccurate doctrinal statement or over discloses someone else’s personal business and we squirm in our seats a bit. There’s obviously pros and cons to this approach to structuring the church service, especially ending it on this note, which can occasionally prove to be a sharp or flat one. 

In a recent service we attended at our church-plant’s mother church, this time of sharing was sharply punctuated by a church member, with Greek New Testament in hand, criticizing the translation of the passage used for the text in the sermon, and why the adverb present in the Greek but left out in the translation, was vital for understanding the passage. The pastor then rebutted the church member’s arguments with his own arguments about why the translation used was indeed accurate and how the adverb’s absence did not change the meaning of the text. Yet another church member then came forward and shared some context from ancient Jewish culture that would help to explain why the adverb in the passage was actually a moot point based on the calendar and the feasts to which the adverb was related. In the end, the subject had been thoroughly discussed and while the original complaint may have been a well-intentioned correction, the pastor’s response and further context showed that he had not mishandled his interpretation in the sermon.

This was all rather uncomfortable to behold. On the other hand, I gained a certain respect for these church members and pastor and the process they were participating in. It seemed very “Berean” in the way that they were comparing everything the pastor was saying against the scriptures they held in their hands, and the way that there was a Biblical accountability to the text being observed. Uncomfortable to be sure, yet somehow comforting that there would be little room for erroneous teaching going on among this congregation. The structure is not one that would sit well with most American congregations, but it works here, in a land where criticism is a national pastime alongside frankness and open confrontation. 

January usually seems to be that time which we commit to evaluating the structures we’ll be adhering to in the coming year and this year has proved no different. Why the New Year is wasted on January, I have never discerned. I suppose if freezing temperatures, lack of sunlight, and colds and flus are your motivational muses you’re in good shape. While we did manage to set our goals for the year, we also managed to spend the better part of the last month and a half enduring another round of COVID, with mostly mild symptoms, followed by a round of strep throat which is currently afflicting several in our family. Our school was shut down for a few days of online learning as the bulk of teaching staff were simultaneously down with Omicron. 

Nevertheless, life and ministry chug along through the snow and sleet bogging down our sun-loving California hearts. 

This week is national marriage week and we sponsored and organized a couple of seminars for the community our church is located in. The first was a seminar on the effects of pornography on relationships and the second was a seminar on healthy marriage expectations and tools for improving relationships. We’re excited that the mayor of our city district decided to officially endorse the seminars, which gave them greater legitimacy and will hopefully open doors to future partnerships.  This weekend we’ll have our annual missions conference for all of the baptist union churches.

Please pray with us for the fruit of the seminars, that the teaching and wisdom shared will help strengthen the marriages of those who attended, and that as a church we might continue to connect with more people from our region of the city in whom the Holy Spirit is going before us!

Pray with us for the many pastors and lay leaders who will be attending the missions conference and that they would be committed to making the Great Commission and outreach among the top priorities for their church vision and program.