The Power of Partnership
By Reggie Hunt
This series of posts has been made possible by our wonderful partner High Country 365 Dining Passes!
I have spent more than half of my life serving in various ministry capacities in the High Country, and during this time I have benefited from several life lessons that this area has taught me. As a leader, I have been challenged and have grown through partnerships with fellow pastors, leaders and community officials that significantly contribute to progress of Boone.
Jason English, pastor of the Heart Church, has been a wonderful friend of mine and I welcomed the opportunity for the two of us to preach together and during our respective worship services a few Sundays ago.
Consumer-Driven Christianity
Jason and I share a strong desire to see healthy Churches thriving together in the High Country. Our opening conversation during our shared service centered around Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. In the 3rd chapter of Corinthians Paul writes to expose the need for maturity and perspective within the body of Christ.
Establishing healthy churches has challenges. One of the ever present issues with today’s church is that some approach their involvement with a consumer mentality. With this perspective, it becomes the Church’s duty to keep members’ preferences at the forefront of consideration to maintain attendance at a local church. This idea is unhealthy and divisive; it treats the member as a consumer and the church (including its programs, preaching, and services) becomes a vendor required to please its customers.
When Paul writes to Corinth he mentions envy, strife, and division. To be spiritual we should stop seeking for ourselves, stop contributing to behaviors that pull us apart and stop allowing division to rule.
We must also recognize what Paul says at the end of the chapter in verse 21: “All of this is for you.” Often we fail to remember that local pastors serve communal positions: one plants, another waters, and God gives increase. As members of the church and followers of Jesus, we should not allow our preferences to replace what only God can do. The increase in our faith is a result of intimacy with Jesus, not programs, preaching or personality.
Additionally, we should encourage each other’s success and progress even if we find ourselves in different congregations come Sunday. The focus of this community needs to make a shift from consumer-driven Christianity to collective efforts on spreading the Gospel of Jesus.
At the end of the day, it’s not about an individual’s preferences. Conversely, our collective efforts are for the growth and maturity of individuals called to a body.
Recognizing Our Differences
Naturally, there are moments when God transitions people to serve in other fellowships in an area, and we have seen these healthy transitions facilitate growth to the local body. There is an important distinction to be made here between healthy transitions in membership and the immature transitions of a church; the division, envy, and strife lead to a more fragmented body of Christ.
With this idea in mind, Jason and I’s unique conversations and friendship led us into a dialogue on race, family, and an overall heart for God to be glorified in the High Country.
“As a person of color leading a church in the High Country, I found that systemic and systematic issues of race are often neglected in present day church dialogue. My tenure of assimilation into the majority culture has not been easy; the current challenges we face in Boone in regards to race are just as heartbreaking as those that have been playing out on the national stage. The most painful and visual effect of this division is the present bewildered response by the church, which has been on the wrong side of such issues in the past. ”
During these challenging times, both for our community and for me personally, Jason has been a faithful friend. While Jason and I share two very different experiences, basic compassion and active listening has brought healing and understanding.
Often times people are tempted to dismiss the creativity of God by saying things such as, “I don’t see color.” Or “I’m color blind.” In our Sunday sermon, we shared the importance of avoiding this type of dismissive phraseology, none of which is supported in scripture. The Bible doesn’t suggest that I lose my unique distinction; if we don’t recognize our distinct differences we will miss the opportunity to be compassionate and empathize in our unique struggles.
21 years ago, I arrived in Boone with a heart for reconciliation. A young man with a desire to see people returned to God and joined across racial, ethnic, and socio economic boundaries. I believe it is a part of the biblical mandate for the church. Jason and I do not have all of the answers to the issues that churches are facing. However, we are committed to work together, as friends and co-laborers in the community, and for that I am grateful.
This article was originally written for the Winter 2016 Edition of The Journey magazine.