The Meaning Of Redemptive Community
By Clair Hein
When the elders met in a cold, windy, outdoor retreat the first weekend of December, we were very conscious of what we were experiencing today in this pandemic. We have no place to call home, and the cultural and political turmoil and incivility we were witnessing was taking their toll on us.
In our meetings, we reflected on several questions.
What is God doing?
What is God’s plan for us? Surely we are not abandoned by God!
What is our vision now in the face of our current environment and financial challenge?
Do we need to change direction?
Our answer is that we do not need to change direction. We elders joined Trinity Park Church because the church proclaims the hope of the gospel in Jesus Christ to broken people in a broken world. Sin broke us, and we need healing. These sentiments are not religious rhetoric. In all our imperfection, can we work together to move forward as the body of Christ?
Christ’s prayer for us is to be one in Christ with all our differences. We are people whom Jesus has touched and set on a journey of hope that promises to fulfill all our deep yearnings; partially now, but completely in heaven with Christ. We are a redemptive community.
We want Trinity Park to be a community that touches lives in such a way that points us and others to the hope in Jesus Christ for whatever challenges we have. And we hope all of us will reach out to our neighbors, into the world, to share the Word of God made visible in the life of Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Scriptures that guide everything we do in reliance upon the Holy Spirit. Our slightly revised mission statement now reads “Proclaiming Christ in redemptive community among neighbors and nations.
We have many cultures and nations represented at Trinity Park. We must cross any cultural boundaries that may exist in our midst so that we become one in Christ. When our focus is on Christ rather than our differences, we are one. When we arrive in our new location on Maynard Road, we will find ourselves in a different mix of people. We must find ways of reaching out to that community with the gospel. We will have to be deliberate in reaching out and sharing our lives. We cannot remain smug in our holy huddle.
The pandemic hinders us from fulfilling our mandate of becoming a complete body of Christ, with every part properly functioning. We are limping along. People feel alone. We need a response to the cultural voices calling us to deprogram ourselves, support cultural marxism, cancel the culture, demonstrate for social change- the list is endless.
These voices base their calling on human reasoning, not the Word of God. Human reasoning is inadequate. It keeps us from finding life-changing hope and diverts us into endless blind alleys. We are in the world but not of the world. What a challenge! John the Baptist had it right when he said, “Repent, change your ways; Jesus said, Repent, and believe the gospel.”
If we tell our stories with openness and vulnerability, we will find where Christ faced the same challenges as us. So we still believe that the good news of Christ is the answer we are seeking. We must share this good news and apply it to any cultural issue in this world. Our hope and our future are in the gospel. That’s our vision. But we can’t do it alone. We need God’s help to do that.
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Clair Hein is an Elder at Trinity Park Church.