*This is the third installment in a series of articles that are designed to help unpack the practical implications of the We Have a Dream declaration that has been entrusted to us as a family of Friends here in Mid-America. Using Acts 2:17 as a holy compass, We Have a Dream seeks to discern and describe the specific directions that God is currently calling the people of EFC-MAYM to take so that the “dream of the gospel is lived out … in our local churches, in the communities where our churches serve, and in the family of churches called Evangelical Friends Church-Mid America Yearly Meeting.”
When people ask me how I feel about serving as general superintendent or “lead pastor” for EFC-MAYM, my response typically goes something like this: “I knew that this job would have no shortage of significant challenges, and there has been no surprise in that regard, but I honestly had no idea how many blessings there would be along the way as well.”
For example, one of the greatest challenges for any superintendent is dealing with an unusually heavy travel schedule. To be honest, maintaining personal, on-site, face-to-face contact with more than 60 churches in 6 states can be downright exhausting at times. On the other hand, it is probably the most important and rewarding part of the job as well. And then there is the unforeseen blessing that such frequent travel provides to rub shoulders with an endless variety of people from all walks of life, many of whom would never darken the door of a local church.
During a recent business trip I had the privilege of engaging in a meaningful conversation with a friendly young man as we shared a meal together while waiting to board our connecting flights at a busy airport. As is so often the case, our discussion quickly took a spiritual turn when he asked me what I did for a living. In the process, my friend began to open up about the sordid details of his personal life, including a failed marriage and an unplanned pregnancy that continue to haunt him. “We are all sinners,” he confessed, “but I guess the best we can do is just keep on trying to get it right the next time around.”
With my friend’s permission, I was able to share a good bit of my own story, including my own struggle with sin and a growing realization that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, that all of my self-righteous attempts to be a better person only make things worse, and that there is an indescribable and irreplaceable peace that comes from simply resting in the liberating grace of Jesus Christ, the one who was known as a “friend of sinners.”
My friend listened attentively and expressed genuine appreciation for what I had to share with him, and he expressed a deep and genuine longing to know and follow Jesus more closely. And yet, he expressed nagging reservations as well, based primarily upon the fact that he had been deeply wounded by a number of people who claimed to be Christians. As Dan Kimball has articulated so well, it is increasingly common to find tortured souls, like my friend, who Like Jesus but Not the Church.
As I reflect upon this conversation with my friend that day at the airport, and many similar conversations that have taken place in recent days, I am reminded of the third portion of our good and beautiful dream:
We have a dream that we as a family of churches would become known as Friends of sinners, where our churches would become places of forgiveness rather than judgment. What if we shared openly of our own weaknesses and stories of brokenness, and how God’s love and grace is so much greater! What if our neighbors were our friends and not our projects? What if the Word became flesh where we live, and also in the places where our unbelieving neighbors hang out? What if our co-workers and class-mates knew that we loved them as they are rather than as they “should be,” but what if they also joined us side by side in this dream and pursuit of heaven?
Thankfully, we do get to see glimpses of heaven from time to time in our local churches, don’t we? Just the other day, for instance, I received a call from Gerald Mendenhall, pastor of our Oasis Friends Church in Dodge City. As some of you may know, the ministry at Oasis has been focused primarily upon an intentional and compassionate outreach to those who are serving time behind bars in our local prisons. According to Gerald, the church recently held a reconciliation ceremony during a Sunday morning worship service. When he asked anyone in the congregation to stand if they had ever been in jail, approximately one half of the adults rose to their feet. Gerald then invited them to come forward for prayer, along with two other members of the church – a local judge and a deputy sheriff. But there was nothing to fear as they knelt in prayer together around the altar that day, just tears of joy and heartfelt expressions of gratitude for God’s amazing grace. The ground really is level at the foot of the cross, after all.
All of this reminds me of an old movie called Friendly Persuasion, based on the book by Quaker author Jessamyn West. Set in southern Indiana in 1863, the story follows the lives of the Birdwells, a peace-loving, Quaker farming family that is confronted with the harsh realities that accompany the onset of the Civil War. Even though the film deals with some very gritty issues, it’s a sweet, gentle, funny movie. The title is inspired by the traditional Quaker tenet of meeting hostility with mercy, illustrated by Mother Birdwell’s gracious offer of food and lodging to Confederate soldiers when they invade their land and attempt to commandeer their home. The strategy is successful, and the enemy is won over by this family’s selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love or “friendly persuasion.”
Based on the conversations I have had and the new friends I have met during my recent travels, it certainly appears that we could use a lot less armed resistance and a lot more friendly persuasion in our churches these days. If not, we will only find ourselves perpetuating yet another round of futile religious wars, producing even more spiritual carnage along the way. As my great-grandfather was known to say, based on his firsthand experience as a young man who was raised in the South during Reconstruction, “There is nothing ‘civil’ about Civil War.”
Lord, have mercy.
-David O. Williams, General Superintendent
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