Why church?  I hope that church is a place people can connect with friends.  I hope it is a place where we can remind each other of God’s grace – that we are loved, accepted, forgiven, and cherished by God just as we are.  I hope church can be a place where we can learn from one another how to rise above the tough circumstances in life and support each other along the way.  I hope that it can be a place where we can learn from each other how to be generous and give ourselves away for the good of others.  If meeting these expectations is what church is and we make every effort to do these well and keep growing, the church will be a worthwhile investment of people’s time, energy, and resources.  This is the kind of community people need today, that is worth giving our lives to create.  This is the kind of community we are striving to build here.

I agree with many of his comments about the church.  As you can tell from this website, I am the lead pastor of the United Methodist Church of Elmwood.  Church -- religion -- whatever name you give it has misinterpreted the teachings of Jesus, has been hypocritical in its actions, has resorted to violence and exploitation all in the name of Jesus, has piled on the guilt on many people, rather than setting them free.  You remember I am a pastor of a church.  There is an ugly history that churches have to overcome and separate themselves from.  I don't need to defend what the church has done.  The church today has much work to do to restore people's trust.  All I know is that having faith, holding on to hope, and making a difference in this world for the better still happens in community -- with others.  The great religious leaders throughout history from the Jewish prophets, to Jesus, to Mohammed, to Buddha, all had this pattern of time apart from people for reflection and formation and time with people in community to teach, to build up others, and to help them to cope in this world.  When does a community of faith become a system, a relgion, that excludes and divides and compromises values and loses its way -- I don't know.  My point is... we need community to hold on to faith.  It's just too hard to stay strong and committed to our faith all alone.  It is good to be picky about what community you connect with -- to discern where there is genuine care and compassion for one another and for others beyond the community -- especially the poor and all those who are on the fringes of society who have no power and no voice.  If you find a group of people who are genuine, who are resilient, who are mindful of others,  are diligent with their generosity and are ready and willing to give themselves away to help others in need, then hang on and hang with those people.  You don't have to agree with them 100%.  No group is going to be perfectly consistent.  But if you see the truth in them and the motivation to keep learning and growing and getting better at living authentically -- that's the kind of community to be with.  

Another thing, that video of Bethke's -- When you put your thoughts and beliefs out there... well you can become a target.  Bravo to Jefferson Bethke.  He's taken a risk, he's told his story, he has shared what has made the difference in his life, and he is having an impact.  Jesus said, "You are the light of the world.  Let your light shine for all to see..." (Matthew 6)  What I conclude from Jesus is this:  there are many people of faith who just hide their faith and their thoughts.  True, they never become targets.  But unless you take the risk and let your light shine, you will never know what hope, what faith you may draw others to.  It is a risk to tell your story, to put your thoughts out there.  But it just might make all the difference in the world to help someone else to find their way.    

Those who first followed Jesus varied greatly in the decisions about following.  Some in the crowd followed from a distance.  They showed up to hear Jesus' inspiring words, some followed just to see if Jesus would perform a miracle; others followed Jesus wherever he went.  They were like sheep without a shepherd.  Jesus gave them hope and direction and a connection with God.  And Jesus had an inner circle -- those who followed him closely, the ones known as the twelve apostles that followed Jesus behind the scenes.  Even in the twelve disciples, there was an even smaller group, Peter James, and John, who basically followed Jesus' every move, knew what no others could know. 

How you and I follow Jesus is up to us.  We can follow at a distance or we can follow up close.  We can follow out of curiosity or even out of skepticism and doubt.  Or we can follow because we think there's something there that gives us hope and gives us life.  No matter our motivation that first drew us in, or our state of mind after years of following,  anyone and everyone is welcome.  Jesus' words to all are the same... "Follow me."