Words and THE Word

St John’s adopted a new vision and goals for the next five years:

God’s grace guides St John’s to grow

as a Christ-centered, inclusive, and active community.

We’ll be unpacking that over the next few months, but let me try to take a few ideas out of the box here. My big question: what excites you about it?

I’m excited about the first two words: “God’s grace.” It’s an amazing gift of God that Jesus rescued us from the devil, forgives us, and makes a part of God’s kingdom forever! It is God’s grace that makes us Christian! There is no church without God’s grace! God’s grace is the starting place and guide for who we are, what we do, and how we do it.

I’m also excited about St John’s “grow”ing. I’m not just talking about growing numbers (there are many numbers in the goals!). I’m most excited about people trusting Jesus more and knowing the Bible better. I’m excited about people sitting across the worship space growing relationships of trust and care. I’m excited about new partnerships that open doors to new relationships that offer opportunities to tell people about Jesus.

The core of the growth of this vision is in being “Christ-centered.” It is easy for individuals to get off-center these chaotic days, for churches as well. Some churches look more like political rallies than worship of God through Christ. Some seem more focused on raising money than on raising trust in Christ. Some want to be “relevant” and “impactful,” which can bring the crowds to an event but not necessarily to Jesus.

What about “inclusive”? This word excites me when I think about Jesus bringing fishermen, zealots, and a tax collector together to follow him. That’s “inclusive”—not just welcoming people to observe but to get involved, to change each other. One of the reasons I like the TV series The Chosen is because it shows the messy interplay between very different disciples and how Jesus changes them and how they change each other. Even if this aspect of the chosen is only imagined, it fits how life together, truly including others, is a messy and transformative experience.

The Vision Team and the Adult Forums struggled with “inclusive” because it has become a politicized word, loved on the Left and disparaged on the Right. Does “inclusive” mean that St. John’s is taking a position in the culture wars of our time? No! It just means we couldn’t think of another word that captures the both welcoming AND including, both open to others AND involving new people in decision-making and leadership. Doesn’t being “Christ-centered” mean we will be inclusive by definition? In the ideal, yes. Unfortunately, it is possible for say we are “Christ-centered” and not allow new people to make decisions, to insist “we’ve never done it that way before.”

Words do matter: “God’s grace,” “grow,” and “inclusive” all imply different things to different people, some implications lead to a closer walk with Jesus and others to confusion or distraction. But above all, our human words always will fail to capture what God is doing with THE Word, Jesus. We will never quite get the words right. But we can trust God’s Word always as we grow with new people into Christ’s body!

Trusting in THE Word,

Pastor Peter