The Journey

    I have been doing a lot of reading recently on the emerging church movement and I am encouraged by what I read. There is an increased spiritual yearning in our world today and it is a yearning that impacts our culture and, potentially, our church. On the upside, people are seeking an experience of and a relationship with God. On the downside, the

current condition of many churches is that they are ill prepared or even unwilling to consider new and different ways of being church, therefore they are perceived as being anachronistic, stiff necked and judgmental.

    One of the metaphors for the life of faith that makes a lot of sense today is that of "journey". The Christian life is not a destination, it is a journey. This was certainly true

With the early followers of Jesus, before the church became mainlined and institutionalized by the Roman emperor, Constantine. These first, second and third generation followers of Jesus referred to themselves as "Followers of The Way". Each seeker and each Christian finds themselves in a different place on that road, and we are called to welcome and love. Each community finds itself in a different place, and we are called to be continually moving, continually pressing on.

    The Christian journey in the 21st century doesn't have a road map. We are charting new territory. There are many twists and turns; even times when we need to backtrack to find our way. Our Polar star must, however, always be Jesus. This is how we navigate, but the way ahead is not always clear.

    Because we are in uncharted waters it is imperative that the church be in a constant process of discernment, seeking to answer the questions: Who are we? What does God want us to do? Discernment involves Bible study and prayer, communal Bible study and prayer. Discernment is not democracy. We don't take up and down votes to determine God's will. We pray, we listen, we love, we act. We pray, we listen, we love, we act. It is a pattern. We find ways to equip one another to the ministries God calls us to do. And we celebrate the journey, the road behind and the road ahead.