Being a Transformed Community; Being a Community that Transforms

In many parts of the world, the church in all its forms, traditions, and denominations is coming to grips with, what for some, is an uncomfortable reality – that those who continue to attend church are those who are voluntarily deciding to do so. We are entering what some are calling “post-Christendom.”

During the time called “Christendom” it was assumed that one would be part of the church. In many parts of the world this assumption was so real that it meant that if you were not part of the church you were ostracized by the rest of the community. Christendom assumed that when a person was born, they were born into the church.

This Christendom understanding has been inherited in many parts of the world, often through the colonizing endeavors of European countries. This inherited Christendom continued the assumption that one must be both part of a certain nation along with its particular church denomination. To not belong to the given church was often to not belong within the community.

The church, however, is becoming less and less of a cultural and societal superpower. People are beginning to learn that to not be part of a church does not mean that one commits social suicide, as was the case in the past. In other words, those who are attending church on a regular basis are increasingly doing so out of a voluntary decision and because of a personal conviction.

For some, this loss of power and influence is uncomfortable. The numbers in some churches and traditions are dwindling. This is, of course, not true of all churches. The assumption is that without the numbers, the power and influence over society is also lost. This loss of influence and power is often mourned.

It is, however, possible to see this in a positive light. Those who are conscientiously being part of a church are increasingly doing so because they are in some way responding to some transformation that has occurred in their life. Fewer people are continuing to attend simply out of allegiance, duty, loyalty, or social convention. In other words, the church community is beginning to experience a transformation – being formed by those who are voluntarily participating and interested in the life of the church community.

So, there are two ways in which the church is becoming a transformed community. The move from “Christendom” to “post-Christendom” is transforming what we experience and know as church, and church is becoming a community that is formed by people who are themselves transformed.

Being a Community that Transforms

One of the challenges that we face, however, is the pervasive understanding that the Christian gospel, message, and therefore the existence of the church somehow exist simply to transform the individual and that they do not have any social implications. In other words, the challenge that we face is one that understands the church and the Christian message as something that revolves around the individual, an understanding that speaks to the individual person as to the way he or she lives, but not allowing the Christian message to be relevant to the larger social scene.

We are faced with the challenge to see the social relevance of the Good News; a Good News that declares the arrival of a new Kingdom. A Kingdom that, however, is quite different than other ones. A Kingdom that flips certain assumptions and understandings on their heads; a Kingdom where blessedness is found amongst the poor; a Kingdom where power is found amongst those who serve; a Kingdom where authority and might is found on a cross. This alternative Kingdom has social, communal, and even political implications.

The challenge, therefore, becomes how we can be a community that takes this alternative Kingdom seriously in how we live, becoming a community that transforms the different neighborhoods, towns, and cities we are a part of.

In being a community shaped by Jesus’ message of peace we can:

• Host a peacebuilding seminar. Learn how to be peacemakers.

• Teach within our communities how to respond to conflict in alternative ways than the use of violence or force.

• Be involved in mediating conflict.

• Create listening opportunities. Listen to the stories and lives of those whom you usually do not hear from, including those outside your church or those from a different socioeconomic or race group.

• Create a “Peace scholarship” fund in your church for those students who have economic need to attend University and who want to focus on peace studies or conflict resolution.

In being a community shaped by Jesus’ message of love we can:

• Get to know and build a relationship with a different church within a different part of town in order to learn some of the challenges they are facing and how together we can learn how to be faithful to the reconciling message of Jesus.

• Visit those whom you would usually not visit. Visit communities that you may not have visited before.

• Get to know your neighbours.

• Demonstrate ways to care for creation. Begin to compost and recycle at home and in your church.

In being a community shaped by Jesus’ concern for the poor we can:

• Start a food or clothing drive for a local program that provides a feeding and clothing scheme. Go and get to know the community and the people who will benefit from such a scheme.

• Find ways to get involved with different community projects, agencies, and programs. Find ways of getting involved in more ways than simply a once-a-year event or through simply donating money (although on going funding is important for many community programs and agencies).

• Have your church community “adopt a cause,” allowing all who are part of the church an opportunity to learn about the particular cause that is being adopted. Learn ways to walk with those who are struggling as a result of a particular issue. Again this allows opportunities to build relationships and learn from others.

These ideas are a few ways in which a church can demonstrate (witness) to a watching world what it means to be a community that transforms.

In these small ways we can begin to be a community—a church—that seeks to respond to the different social ailments that exist within our communities, cities, and countries. Poverty, violence, fear, greed, are all ailments that continue to affect our people, our neighborhoods, our communities, even our psyche. These are very real ailments that affect us on a daily basis.

How can we be the Good News to those who are poor, to those who are sick, to those who are suffering from violence and injustice? How can we also be the Good News to those who suffer from greed, to those who are willing to commit violence and injustice against others in order get what they do not have? How can we be the Good News in our communities where many are struggling with fear, not only of “the enemy” but also of the neighbour? How can we be the Good News in our communities where violence has taken hold as the one and only solution sought in response to crime, injustice, and even difference?

The first step that we can take in being this Good News is to take the social implications of Jesus’ ministry and teachings seriously for our daily lives as we strive to live according to a different ethic and demonstrate (witness) to a different Kingdom already present.