The Wilderness Way #19

The Lord is leading His church through the wilderness in the 21^st century. What will it take to survive and hopefully thrive on this wilderness journey?

Recently I found myself stuck in a small regional airport trying to catch a flight home. Bad weather had delayed flights all over the region. Because of those weather delays other flights had been cancelled as well. The small size of the airport meant there were very few options. The airline counter attendants were overwhelmed by people trying to change plans so they could get a flight home. One attendant kept repeating to everyone who asked, “We are not responsible for the weather.” When I got to her, she repeated the mantra. “We are not responsible for the weather.”

“I know,” I replied. “It never occurred to me that you were responsible for the weather. What you are responsible for is how you respond to bad weather.” We needed help in making connections and developing alternative ways to get to our destinations. What was not helpful was the refusal of the airline attendant to offer timely, meaningful assistance.

The same issue can be put to us. We are not responsible for the decline of Christendom. The enlightenment is not of our making. But, we are responsible for how we respond.

In the wilderness it is massively tempting just to repeat a mantra placing responsibility on someone or something else. The list can be almost endless. Blaming is a game any can play. It is not helpful and, even more, it is not faithful. The wilderness way calls us to walk faithfully into an uncertain future. Rather than just plow ahead, as opposed to bewailing the demise of a church culture and seeking someone to blame, faithfulness calls us into the wilderness walking in faith. That is to say, we need to move forward in ways that paradoxically gain strength from past faithfulness and yet are open to a new and unknown future. This can only be accomplished through a deep connection to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. While there are many elements to faith-walking into an uncertain future, I lift up five for our thoughtful reflection: 1) deep covenant commitment; 2) heightened worship and spiritual connectedness to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit; 3) unflinching perseverance; 4) real courage; 5) tough trust in divine leading.

In upcoming Wilderness Way articles, I hope to explore each of these topics. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^* and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

By: Bishop Mike Lowry On 8/21/2009

Topics: Bishop Columns