Choose Joy

“We’re tired. We need new people to … [fill in the blank].”

James K. Wellman, Associate Professor at the University of Washington, sent graduate students to visit churches across the Pacific Northwest. Their consistent impression of the mainline liberal congregations was sobering: they seemed tired.

This does not represent God’s promise.

God’s church is a vital force revealing God’s reconciling work in the world. It is a body of energy, passion, promise and joy, and God’s people reflect these qualities. When Christians plant ourselves in the soil the Holy Spirit is cultivating, our mustard seeds yield beyond our imagination.

This yield isn’t measured as Sunday attendance. It represents our impact in God’s reconciling narrative, not just in our congregations, but in our communities and our world. Rather than being tired because we can’t find someone new to mow the lawn or host coffee hour, we are energized and passionate about our role in God’s work. We find joy, not exhaustion.

The psalmist sings: “You have turned my wailing into dancing; you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.” (Ps. 30:12)

People ask, “What can we do [to save our congregation]?” My answer is this: seek God’s joy. If what you are doing does not bring joy, stop doing it. (The reverse is also true: if it feeds you, continue – including mowing the lawn and hosting coffee hour.) People don’t join a church because they need a lawn to mow. They join to be with people who radiate God’s joy, who are filled by their faithful work in God’s kingdom.

We exist in a time and place where the organized church sits away from the center of our culture, and where people look skeptically upon institutions (including ours). This is great! We are freed from the false vanity of inviting people to our wonderful institution. Instead we can share the Good News of God in Christ Jesus, and invite them into a joyful relationship with God and us. We can get about the business of contributing to God’s reconciling work in the world.

Greg