Living at Godspeed
“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.”
(Luke 4:14–15, ESV)
Wes & Jodie Smith recommended a film to us, and it has been a significant reminder for me both personally and pastorally. I encourage you to click on the image above and watch the film (it is approximately 37 minutes in length); it is also on RightNow Media if that is an easier place to watch it for you.
As a young pastor, he is assigned to two different small rural congregations, and it is in these he learns much about living in community. Two key pieces are revealed to him. First, the notion of living life slowly instead of as a race, and, second, the concept of living and serving within a parish perspective.
In many ways we feel forced to live “slower” due to current health and societal dynamics; we are just not able to do all we are used to doing. And, yet, I am not sure I have slowed down at all. My mind is racing about what to believe, how to respond to protocols and opinions, and how to deal with the mental and emotional stress of the day. Am I really slowing down? Am I using the space created to connect with God and others? Externally life has been slower, but internally it feels faster and faster. How can we slow it down and live at a pace that walks securely with Christ?
Parish is a concept many of us have a sense of but do not really understand. It comes from the many smaller rural communities who had one church, and that one church took spiritual responsibility for all the people of that community - no matter what they believed or who they were. Who is our parish? Who do we take spiritual responsibility for?
The sad part for us as a church is that, like most churches, we take spiritual responsibility for those within our church family, but outside our church family the lines are really vague. We do not have a clear answer to who our parish is, and I think we need to work at defining our parish.
Who is my parish? Who are my neighbours? Whose circles do I travel in or cross paths with? How will I begin to pray for and seek openings into the lives of these people?
Who is our parish as NCC? This is not only who is part of NCC but it is identifying who the Lord is asking us to reach out to and serve. Who are our neighbours? Who lives in the homes and works in the businesses around our church home? What groups of people are we being given opportunity to serve? May we develop a corporate vision here.
Let us slow down and take a spiritual perspective of the very community and neighbourhood God has placed us in. Let us live at a pace of being known.