The complexity of community

This fall, I had the privilege to travel across Canada connecting with pastors and leaders of the Christian Reformed Church. I had conversations with people who found the current state of the CRC to be absolutely devastating, and others who viewed our denominational community with hopeful optimism and excitement.

It reminded me of what is often known as pastoral whiplash. If you’re a pastor, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re not, it’s easy to imagine: A pastor may spend a morning sitting bedside at the hospital with a couple who is trying to make sense of the loss of their unborn child, only to officiate a wedding soon after. They may visit a senior member in the nursing home whose loneliness refuses to let the visit come to a smooth conclusion, and then get a text from someone who is excited to tell you they’re hoping to bring their friend to church this Sunday.

During the same week, they may receive an email from someone who doesn’t like their preaching, but has some ideas on how to improve it.

It’s pastoral whiplash. Jumping from one emotionally-charged experience to another, and trying to navigate where one’s own soul connects to each person. What makes this hard is that we tend to seek coherence to this variety of experiences. Consciously or unconsciously, we start asking ourselves simple questions like: is this community full of pain or full of joy? Is it a good community or a bad one? Is it healthy or dysfunctional? Should we pay attention to the people crying or the people laughing?

What I love about the birth story of Jesus is just how many different experiences it draws in. An unmarried couple facing an unexpected pregnancy, the joy of the shepherds coming from the field, important Magi bringing expensive gifts, a prophet who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, a whole community being forced into a census by an oppressive regime that later murders their children.

It’s a complex story for a complex community.

And it’s ok to allow that complexity to stand. You can be okay with weeping with those who weep and laughing with those who laugh. It means being open to a lot of unexpected turns, sometimes in rapid succession, and being open to the full range of experience as a community.

Because this is the community that Christ came for.

This page is made possible through a partnership with CRC Ministries within Canada.