(e)mergent Voyageurs

Immediately, emotionally heated demands for an explanation began, with the young man’s defensive justifying retorts their answer. The angrier each person became, the less progress was made, with arguments going in circles over the same points, again and again. It was a recipe for disaster. No matter who was right in this situation, what we were heading for was broken relationship. I silently cried out to God for wisdom.

Up until this point, I had sat quietly listening to the exchange, occasionally asking specific questions, hoping to calm the situation, but to no avail. But as I prayed, I felt God speak clearly to my heart, “Apply what you’ve recently learned about culture.” Shocked, I asked the Lord for further understanding. I had not anticipated such an answer.

Over the previous few months I had been studying the cultural worldview of the Native people of North America, the First Nations people. Specifically, I had been examining their traditional views and understanding of justice (specifically "Returning to the Teachings"). I could not have been prepared for what I found. More than any formation of justice I had ever seen, short of the Biblical record, these values I studied were powerfully consistent with the concepts of justice, mercy and grace taught by Jesus Christ. In both understanding and practice, they embraced a justice that served the betterment of the whole people, with the ultimate desire to restore the wrongdoer to the community. And yet, historically, these people had been forced into abandoning their whole way of thinking and living, in the name of “Christian conversion”.

As I prayed that night in the dark, asking God for more guidance, He challenged me to apply the practical concepts of restorative justice that I had learned. He showed me that to resolve this situation, I needed to lay down my right to use my gifts of debate and logic, as well as my contention that we, as his leaders, were in the right. He showed me, through the values and practical models He had placed in the First Nations people, that what He cherished most was the heart of each individual there and their relationship to one another and to Him.

When I was able to jump in, I quietly requested if I could ask a few questions. Up to this point, as school staff, we had been sitting on a low, stone wall, facing the student who sat on the ground. While there was no specific intention in the seating, I walked closer to the student and sat down in front of him, slightly to the side. I wanted to be on the same level as him, not to appear as though I was sitting above him in judgment in any way, intentional or not. I waited a few seconds before speaking, letting the silence calm us all.

I do not remember all that I said that night, but I remember calmly asking questions of this student, my friend. In an attempt to both understand where he was coming from and guide him to the understanding of our position on his own, I avoided making any finalized statements or judgment of the situation. Before long, he had quietly assented that not only had he been wrong in not telling us, but had honestly not intended to deliberately deceive us. In truth, he said, he was afraid. Suddenly, as these words left his mouth, his face twisted with grief.

Through out the school, this young man had shown very little external emotion. Even when he learned of the death of a beloved family member during the school, we saw little more than the straight-faced sadness of his mourning. However, in that moment, when we calmly talked our way into the heart of the issue, he began to weep. He poured out his heart and tears before both us and God. He shared for the first time of relational mistakes he had made in the past. Not wanting to have repeated those painful mistakes again, he had become defensive to our challenges.

He interpreted our questioning as a statement of disapproval of the marriage, when in fact we were simply challenging his lack of communication and openness. We interpreted his defensiveness as a stubborn refusal to accept responsibility, when in fact he was rightfully defend the integrity of intentions. We were both wrong. It was then that we understood that his reaction to our harsh inquiries was not rooted in being “caught” deceiving us, but rather out of the terrifying prospect of repeating those things he had so adamantly vowed to never do again. When we understood this, our attitude changed from anger and hurt to compassion and love. Within minutes, everyone was asking for forgiveness for wrong emotions or judgments that had surfaced, as well as the failures that brought about this situation in the first place.

There in the darkness I wept. I did not weep so much for the obvious work God was doing in this young man’s life, though it gave me great joy. I was weeping at the revelation that the beauty of this truth, that had transformed this situation- a revelation that seemed so new to me, so far outside my worldview- had been hidden, neglected and openly rejected by Christians through their treatment of the indigenous peoples. For God had hidden that aspect of His character in a unique and powerful way within the culture of the First Nations people. It was there for the entire world to discover if ONLY they were to embrace and learn from these children of God.

Diversity is an increasingly important value within the emerging church movement. This commitment to diversity, not only in EC, but also increasingly in the Body of Christ, is a positive reflection of the health and growth of Christianity in the world. God is calling us even deeper. As this emerging generation of leaders takes their place in missions and ministry, it will be our responsibility to explore the next level of the diversity that God is calling us to.

There are threer major areas that I would like to consider as we strive to enter into this fuller diversity: Culture, Christian Traditions, and Genders. While there are many factors to consider, the development of these three aspects of diversity is key to reaching the unreached world. In an increasingly small world, where change is occurring at an unprecedented rate, these areas are necessary for us to be prepared to respond to the challenges coming.

I will explore each of these factors in upcoming posts.

emerging church