On the Ground in Portland

I was in Portland, Oregon for about three weeks this summer, deciding about whether or not to return to Santa Barbara after finishing my Bachelor of Arts at Westmont College in Religious Studies. During this time, I had the opportunity of visiting the more 'popular' churches among young adults and adults in the Portland area. The friends that I knew prior to Westmont College kept talking a lot about a college group called 'The Way,' which hosts about 500 college students every Friday night in a warehouse for worship and a sermon. After the sermon, I approached the pastor of the night, a youth pastor, whose name I will not mention and started asking him questions about the church. Our conversation went something like this:

What is the denominational tie to Solid Rock church?
Well, I don't really know, I know we are a church plant of Cedar Mill Bible Church..
And do you know where they originated?
No, not really.
Do you do any work with any other churches in the area and any other denominations?

At this point in the conversation, the man I was questioning looked at me as if I had one of those 8 inch lollypops in my hand and as if I was taking crazy pills.....It was apparent that working with other churches was not a priority for this church. At this point, I told him about my interest in church reconciliation and how Christ wills his church to be one for the sake of evangelizing the whole world (cf. Princeton Proposal--section about what it means to truly be evangelical). I asked him about the Catholic Churches in the area and told him about how rich Catholic theology is (most, in my opinion), and how it is important for the church to work together... At this point, his interest turned toward the Catholic church and he started asking me questions about my own salvation, if I was saved, if I believed in Jesus...questions that were very hurtful to me, as a Christian and his brother in the Lord. I did not play according to his game, but kept right to the point at hand, and since he did not have a satisfactory answer about interchurch work and dialogue, he turned the conversation towards me and told me that if I had a passion for this, then I should pursue it, and then abruptly ended our conversation by praying that God would show me the way and what He had for me....

In case you couldn't tell, the irony here is incredible....This is where God has revealed his will to be, in church unity, a unity that Paul picks up and rebukes Peter for when he won't socially embody the Jew and Gentile unity in Christ (cf. Galatians). It was as if Christ calls us to be him in this ministry of church reconciliation, called to go out and stand next to him, on his side. And I am not trying to be a martyr, believe me, but I think in this ministry, if people are serious about what this looks like on the ground, we have to be willing to stand next to Christ, and this means sometimes getting hurt in the process. But our sufferings are His, and we share in them and do not bear them alone.

May Christ continue to teach all of us his pain.

In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever, world without end.

Amen.

-Brett Stuvland-