Naomi's Notes - 04/18/08
Brett Younger, Texas pastor and humorist is a regular contributor of witty, yet insightful articles for Baptists Today. The church he serves, unfortunately, has been in the headlines recently because of diversity issues that have deeply divided that congregation.
Sometimes Brett writes in a serious vein. In light of all that is happening around him, his March 2008 article, "Singing Harmony," seems particularly poignant. Here are some highlights*:
- "...Unison is easier, but at the best churches—in our best moments—we sing harmony. Churches should be more spirited harmonization than unthinking agreement, more Baskin Robbins than plain vanilla. ..Not 'My way or the highway,' but 'Our way is spaghetti junction.' Diversity is more complicated, but it's also more interesting. ...When visitors come, we should be able to say, "We've got people like you...."
- "...We sing harmony because we're the church. The best churches encourage creativity and new ideas. It takes courage to bless a variety of opinions, but Carlyle Marney said, 'The church that has not lost its courage will never have to advertise its location...'"
- "...We sing harmony because we're Baptist… The people with whom you disagree are often the ones from whom we can learn the most..."
- "...We sing harmony because we're following Jesus. If you take seriously the hard questions of discipleship, you have to make room for answers that aren't always simple. The Kingdom of God is bigger than we have imagined..."
- "..When people suggest that churches have to be all this or all that, those who sing harmony know it isn't true. A choir with only tenors isn't really a choir. Christ's followers listen carefully to one another and add our different parts to the one song..."
- "...The best churches are big enough for everyone who wants to sing of Christ. What holds us together is the affirmation 'Jesus is Lord.' God calls us to be loyal to Christ before anything else—even before our opinions. We don't have to sing the same notes at the same time. We just have to sing the song of God's love together."
Once again, a well-functioning choir is a metaphor for a well-functioning, diverse church: sopranos, altos, tenors and basses all blending their voices in harmony, following a conductor with a vision for the overall sound.
At Immanuel, we've been celebrating our diversity for quite some time. Our history is that we deal with church and ministry issues as they come along, one-at-a-time, with attentiveness and respect for each member's unique voice. What holds us together is not only our love for God and each other, but our desire to follow Christ. Occasionally we sing in unison; mostly we sing God's song in rich, glorious harmony.
See you in worship this Sunday -
Naomi