Door Creek Church

This past year, we wanted to know more about how Christ wants us to interact with others, which in turn, brought our discussions to how we could reach out to all people who need Christ—and ultimately who might we not want to reach out to because it made us most uncomfortable. We are calling our study Becoming a Church for All People.

While we study, pray and discuss all board decisions, there is one over-riding conversation that resurfaces. How do we grow to be more like Christ? How does Door Creek grow to be more like Christ?

These two questions caused us to realize our discussions had another element that we needed to learn more about—the element of how does our church look when we are reaching all people for Christ.

We committed ourselves to have a period of biblical reflection before we began discussion on strategies to become a church for all people. This document reflects a year of study through the entire Bible. We chose to highlight themes, passages and concepts that arose from our discussion, to help the members of our church see the need for this factor in the decision making model at both the corporate church and individual levels.

Our study revealed to our hearts that being a church for all people is:

As you also wrestle with your growth in Christ, please pray that the theology of reconciliation would take root in your heart and help us change the world, one heart at a time.

Servants in Christ,

The 2009-2010 Stewardship Board

Darren Boyer, Jeff Christopher, Brian Gabrielse, Sarah Gibson, Karl Henry, Jill Jones, Greg Peterson, Brian Rust, Lisa Stearns [and Matt Desmond, board member until June '10]

Strategic Leadership Team Members who studied with us:  Marc Maillefer, Craig Heilman

Becoming a Church for All People

As a church leadership board, we desire that all who attend Door Creek Church mature spiritually to become as Christ-like as possible. Often we face conflict internally or externally that stems from a lack of reconciliation with who we are as followers of Christ and who we are when we are in relationship with each other. This conflict separates us from one another and keeps us from achieving spiritual maturity as we look to be more Christ-like.

Christ’s life is marked with examples of relationship and reconciliation with people of all types. In this day, we find it easier to be reconciled to those who are like us, however, we struggle to be reconciled and to develop relationships with those who are not like us—the unreachable, the rejected, the poor, and the socially outcast.

Since our spiritual goal is to be more and more like Christ, as a leadership board, we feel it is our job to understand what God may have in store for our church as we look to reach the whole world with his good news, including those who may not be like us.

It is with the goal of knowing more of what Christ calls us to be as a church, that we have studied God’s word to discover what it means to be a church for all people.

History of hatred and separation—The fall

Sin entered the world with the fall of Adam and Eve. This division from God left us each with a need for reconciliation with God. What we often don’t realize is that only by restoring our relationship with God can we restore other broken relationships in our lives.

We see separation as the consequence of a proud people in the story of Babel. And just as sin entered the world in the Garden, we see the consequence of sin as divisiveness, nationality and separation resulting from a people breaking relationship with God (Genesis 11, 12). 

Just as God’s original model was a relationship with humans without sin, God’s model was for us to be a united humanity, with one purpose and language (Revelations 5 and 7).  However, just as with the first fall, our pride and distance from God destroyed this model. 

Throughout the Bible, God provides a plan of reconciliation for his fallen people beginning in Genesis 3:15. The first story we find after Babel, is that of God’s call to Abram, the founder of our faith. God commanded Abram: “Leave your country, your people.”  It was an injunction to break ethnic and linguistic ties, ties of nationality and of family.  It was a call to “leave.” 

The call of Abram to be separated from what he knew was given with this promise: “I will make you a great nation … and all the people on earth will be blessed through you.”  Note, all the people of the earth will be blessed through Abram.

Galatians 3:18 connects the promise to Abraham and freedom from the law through life in Christ.

Galatians 3:18, “For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.”

The promise is linked to all the families who came to believe in Abraham’s God.  Pursuing this reconciling goal is an integral part of Biblical teaching.

Reconciliation to one another

Throughout our study of the Bible, we found that there is a need for reconciliation first to God, then others. Restored relationship is the goal of reconciliation. Without relationship with others, we can not thrive in our covenant relationship with god or mature into Christ-likeness.

Starting with Adam and Eve, there is a recurrent pattern throughout the five books of the Torah:

As we look at Biblical stories of differences separating us, we see the example of Aaron and Miriam as they grumble against Moses because his wife was a Cushite (Numbers 12). The Cushites are believed to be individuals with black skin from the region of Ethopia. In this story we see “a new normal” in the family and Aaron and Miriam don’t like it. They don’t address the issue (racism), they aim their grumbling instead at Moses.

This story brings out what sometimes appears as an underlying theme of the unreconciled: fear. Fear is often the root of the problem. It’s an obstacle to reconciliation. Fear is also often one of the roots of discrimination, meaning if we are to be more like Christ, we need to address the issue of fear that underlies being a church for all people. 

A follower’s reconciliation to God’s call

Within the Torah, we also see  another type of reconciliation between an individual and God’s call to that individual. Even though Moses agrees to return to Egypt to free the Hebrews, he is fearful and gives God excuses of why he would not be articulate enough to go. In this pattern, we see:

So while we, as a board, may be reconciled to the calling of being a church for all people, we need to understand what God’s pattern has been in providing for all of our needs as we strive to meet his call.

Our role in reconciliation

As in much of God’s economy, we find that the people God works through, do not fit what we would deem as “socially acceptable.”

For example: How many church leaders do you know that have murdered somebody, only to be redeemed by God as Moses was?

Often in our world, we fear being found in our sin. We believe if someone knew us intimately, they would not find us acceptable. There’s a lot in our paths that would disqualify us from relationships within the church.  Moses wanted the right thing (freedom for His people), but he went about it all the wrong way (murdering a man).

As we are reconciled to God, we are reconciled to one another. Part of our role becomes that of social justice, equality and integrity. How we treat those who need to be reconciled is reflected in God’s commands in the Torah. Exodus 23 gives the Israelites laws of justice and mercy in how they were to treat one another and commands us: “do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.” Instead we are to be fair, just and merciful.

Examples of hated people

Though we are called to reconciliation, we need to look at the types of people we may fear or misunderstand. Biblically, we see examples of despised races. For example, Ruth was a despised Moabite, yet she becomes part of the lineage of Christ. Her character stood out. Boaz crossed cultural lines.  God chose an outsider to be David’s grandmother.

We find hatred of the Jewish people in the book of Esther. Esther 3:13 shows Haman’s disdain for the Jewish race:

“ When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.”

Biblically we see biases against many, some due to racial backgrounds, others according to their lifestyle. A brief list includes:

How God used separated people

God uses cross-cultural, cross-economic relationships to advances his purposes. A few examples include:

God’s laws of justice for the Israelites

The history of God’s people provides us with examples of how justice across socio-economic, cross-cultural gaps were addressed within Israel.

In the book of Numbers, we see reconciliation and justice preserved through cities of refuge. Cities of refuge were created to provide a home for someone who accidentally killed another person so that vengeance would not take two lives as the result of one sin.

God’s justice and holy judgments didn’t discriminate between Israel and others. The city of refuge was provided as a place where justice was upheld. 

We also see our call to be involved in understanding our legal systems. Clear injunctions are found in the Psalms: 

Psalms 82: 1-4, “God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the "gods": How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Where’s the outrage for the racial disparities?  Why does the evangelical church expend so much energy spreading the gospel but virtually none defending the rights of the powerless? 

Economic justice

We clearly see that it was God’s intent to protect all people with the laws laid out for the Israelites. As we study further into the wisdom of Proverbs, we find examples of how the poor are treated or should be treated.

Proverbs 13:23: “A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away.”  This is not pointing the finger at the poor, this is saying poverty is because of injustice. 

Proverbs 29:7: “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” 

Proverbs 28:27: “He who closes his eyes to the poor receives many curses.” 

As we look at the economics of life, we see this Biblical pattern: in times of success and peace, you forget God. In these times, you don’t care about your neighbor.  This happened throughout Israel’s history, and it happens in our culture today.

As a church family, we need to be thinking and acting upon our role as a church during down economic times. Additionally, how can we remember God during times of plenty?

God’s reminders for social justice

As we move through the Old Testament prophets, we learn more of God’s heart for the underprivileged.

We see when there is an injustice, God provides someone to step in the gap for the needy. For example, Nathan goes to David when he has stolen Bathsheba from Uriah. The judges go to Israel when they sinned.  And Ezekiel 22:30 asks who “will stand in the gap?”  

Within the prophets, we find the categories of the marginalized haven’t changed from the law:

While specifically looking at verbs that go before the words “:poor, alien, or widow” in the Old Testament prophet books, we find  positive and negative reactions and actions associated with the less privileged:

Just as Ezekiel asked “who will stand in the gap?”, we need to ask ourselves, “What would it mean to non-Christians if as Christians we were more social justice minded and stood in the gap for the groups listed above?”

Sins of omission or ignorance

People can sin without recognizing that it is sin. This is a sin that runs throughout Jeremiah (e.g., Jeremiah 4:22). Could this be how the white church views multi-ethnicity today? Segregated worship appears “natural” and innocuous, but perhaps it is a grave sin that offends God, one that the church is practicing without recognizing it as such.

We are instructed to defend the rights of the poor and powerless, the oppressed (Jeremiah 5: 27; 6:6). God loves justice and hates robbery and inequity (Isaiah 61, 62). 

Micah 6:8 “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

In Amos, we find God rails against luxury and fancy living at the expense of the poor.  What is it worth to us to have a relationship?  Are we willing to align our lives with our values?  Money can be an idol and a great barrier.

Perhaps the antidote is that if we have a radical love for God, we are able to reach out in a serious way.  There is a connection in the prophets between the two great sins of this section: idolatry and not loving one another. The former begets the latter. If we are to be reconciled, we need to recognize what we idolize or that when we abandon our first love of God  and/or put anything before him, the result is that we won’t love our neighbor as ourselves.

The command and reason for justice

Consideration and action on behalf of the poor, widowed, alien, are driven throughout the Old Testament  by God’s call for justice and righteousness. Justice is a command—an injunction.

Zechariah 7:9 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’

God’s plan is for everybody. This is clearly seen in God’s desire for His Pople to be a light to all other nations.

Isaiah 49:6 I will make you to be a light to the Gentiles.

Systematic sin

Throughout the prophets, there are condemnations against individual-level sins and systematic-sin.  We are hard-wired to think about what I, individually, can do.  But we also need to bear in mind how we collude with systematic sin committed by the whole of our church community.

How might the NT deal with systemic injustice? 

New Testament theology on reconciliation

Christ’s example

In Luke 4:18, Christ reads from the scroll of Isaiah that he has fulfilled the prophecy, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

As we look at Christ’s example of how he fulfilled this prophecy, we find him reaching out to meet the emotional and physical needs of those who need him, including:

In Matthew 25:34 – 40, where Christ explains who we are to reach out to, as if onto Christ himself.

Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

While we each enter all relationships with our biases and perceptions in place, as a leadership team, we believe it is our job to become more like Christ, who reached out to all, especially to those in need.

Further teaching in the New Testament gives us direction on how to best develop this Christ-like character.

What reconciliation looks like for those living in Christ

Reconciliation with others requires that we see all others as better than ourselves (Phil 2:3).  Scriptures that directly tell us of our equality with all people include:

Acts 15:7-9—God who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them (the Gentiles) by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them for he purified their hearts by faith.

Galations 3:26-29—You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galations 4:6-7:  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Ephesians 2:11-13: 11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:19-22 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

I Tim 2:3-4 This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth

Scripturally it is clear that the gospel is not for one group, but that in Christ, all are equal.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

The practicality of living as reconciled believers is in our actions. Some of the New Testament teachings on reconciliation include:

Phillipians 2: 1-4: 1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Col 3:9-11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

James 2: 1 -4 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts.

Reality of becoming like Christ

As we look at the Scripture, we have to consider how to make this concept concrete—how do we live in unity and love with all?

Let’s consider bringing in more people with differing backgrounds to our church. There is a cost, a trade-off, to opening doors.  What if we brought in kids of rougher backgrounds to our youth programs? How would this work out in church? While many of us have a lot of questions and want to know more about how becoming a church for all people will actually look, we have reserved this paper on the study of what the Bible says. Our questions drive us to desire action, which is what we pray follows our study.

Ultimately, we have to live as people of Christ. We need to move from the knowledge of what Christ made us to be, to being what Christ has made us to be—this is what we as a board have been praying will become clear and concrete. Our next question: how do we move reconciliation of all from head to practice? 

Reconciliation in full

As a leadership board, we believe that reconciliation is at the core of who God is. He began in the Garden of Eden by promising a way of redemption to Adam and Eve. This redemption was fulfilled in the person of Christ. And ultimately, we believe the scripture when it says:

Col. 1:16 & 19-20 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Ephesians 7: 9-10 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

What does reconciliation look like in full?

We believe the church is made up of all types of people, from all nations, descriptions, and statuses. Just as Rev. 7:9 – 10 tells us:  

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

   "Salvation belongs to our God,

   who sits on the throne,

   and to the Lamb."

The ultimate promise for the myriad of people who will live in the presence of Christ is described in Rev. 21:22 – 27:

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Our job as a church is to help people reach the promise of Rev. 21:22-27 by presenting the gospel to all people, of all circumstances and statuses.

Questions for our church, leaders and staff