Last week I went to the Fullsteam Brewery for their open mic night... great place, great time, great beer, definitely going back soon! While there I met this really cool gal who is a local singer/songwriter. We were having a great conversation until she asked me what I do (never a fun question for a pastor at a bar). When I told her I am starting a new church her demeanor visibly changed from open to guarded. Much to her credit she continued the conversation, asking, "So, I guess your looking for a building then?" I responded, "No, we're really more interested in people than we are in buildings." Immediately her demeanor changed again (back to open) and she said, "Wow. I could be into a church like that." It was a great moment when surprise conquered assumptions and an imagination was opened, if only a little, to new possibilities.
A little surprise can go a long way.
I am constantly thinking about how to describe The CityWell to people, about how to express our emerging identity in ways that are surprising and intriguing. We need surprise and intrigue because people inside and outside the church have deeply ingrained ideas of what the church is... ideas that often have little or nothing to do with who we hope to become, ideas that are loaded with assumptions and baggage that are the very reason so many people want nothing to do with the church. I hope that surprise and intrigue might help break through those preconceptions so that we have the opportunity to invite people who think they are not interested to join us in the journey of following Jesus.
So here are a few surprising statements about The CityWell:
1) We want The CityWell to be a church that no one goes to. So often in our culture church is tragically reduced to a place people go. We will not settle for such a flaccid understanding of ourselves. The CityWell is not and will not be a place to go, we are a people trying to live together in the ways of Jesus.
2) We want The CityWell to be a church that desegregates Jesus. We believe that the church is one of Jesus' most tangible ways of being present in the world. This is why the Bible calls us "the body of Christ." We also believe that the rampant segregation of the church (less than 8% of churches in America are multi-ethnic) presents an unclear picture of Jesus to the world, as Jesus is the One in whom every dividing wall and barrier of hostility is torn down. We must not and will not settle to be another homogeneous congregation, so we will strive to embrace and reflect the diversity of Durham.
3) We want The CityWell to be a church that lives to give our lives away. Jesus said, "If anyone would follow me, let them take up their cross..." He also said, "whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." Jesus calls us to come and die... to die to ourselves, to die to the small world of self-centeredness, in order that we might live Him and for the sake of others. To be His people, we must learn to give our lives away and so become a people marked by generosity, goodness, beauty and joy.
What do you think? Would you be surprised and intrigued by a church that people don't go to, that desegregates Jesus and that lives to give our lives away? I am.
