Written by: Pastor Bethany Walker
I’m not sure where I first heard two things that recently came together in my mind:
- If you get the right answer to the wrong question you still have the wrong answer.
- The question isn’t what do our church members want but rather what do our neighbors need?
I heard both of these things at some point in my seminary education from I’m sure some very wise teachers but at this point I can only credit the Holy Spirit for bringing them to mind as I prepared to preach on the theme Neighbor for the month of September. Beginning year two of an off the lectionary form of thematic preaching called Uncommon Preaching, I recently looked at the texts suggested for the Neighbor theme. As I dove into the scripture that will be preached on over the next four weeks I realized that each passage has a poignant question in it. So, I decided that my congregations and I were being led to ponder these questions together as it relates to being in relationship to our neighbors. For far too long the institutionalized church has been asking the wrong question (see #2 above.) When we only ask what our church members want, our focus turns inward, our actions become self-serving to be sure our members stay happy (read comfortable), our jobs stay secure and the offering plate stays full. However, the Gospel we are called to live and preach is counter-cultural. The Gospel is supposed to challenge us to turn outward. It is supposed to make us uncomfortable as we struggle with issues of justice and equality for all of God’s people. Our work as pastors isn’t a job to secure but a call to serve. A call that often requires us to ask the difficult questions over and over again until we get to the right questions so that it can lead us to the right answers that ultimately minister to our neighbors. If your members are comfortable and you don’t need name tags because everyone has known everyone else forever, it’s probably time to start asking some different questions.
