When you’ve been part of system where the default stance is to be in hostile conflict for a lengthy period of time, it tends to be bad for your soul.  This is because the system sucks in you energy, hopes, and passion and gives back only bitterness, burnout, and anger.  This is not a good thing.

Such was the world I pastored in up in MA for two years, and such was the world that I entered into here at Central five years ago (wow, five years).  Folks were just used to being at each other’s throats, and it was choking the life out of the community.  I knew the cycle had to be broken from the moment I got here, I also knew the simply white-washing the internal conflicts and the lack of direction in the Central Baptist community would put this community into a sedated “maintenance-mode.”  I’ve made mistakes, and have certainly been sucked into the dysfunctional system more-often than I’m even aware of – but we’ve all made progress, and for that I’m grateful.

One of the best behavioral changes that’s happened here over the last 2 1/2 years or so is that we’ve pretty much nipped the mocking, “But we’ve never done it that way before” chant.  This statement would pop out any time we tried something creative in the Central community.  One of the folks setting up, or playing-out, a new idea would put it out on the wind and the rest of those present would chuckle and add to the remark.  I played this game myself.  It’s poison.  There is no other reason for making such a remark then to remind those “in the know” that what’s really important is beating those people who don’t like what “we” (the “real” Christians) into submission – causing them to repent of the error of their ways.  Does that sound like Jesus to you?  Me neither.

It finally dawned on me just how poisonous that statement was, and I not only made an effort to prevent it springing from my lips – I also took people aside who made the comment and told them, “We’re not going to do this any more, and here’s why.”  After all, if our target of ministry is “them,” rather than a reaching out towards Jesus, we’re not going to experience the breaking-in of Jesus’ kingdom very much!

It took a while to douse the fire, and there are still flare-ups (old habits die hard), but I haven’t heard this for a while and the less I hear it the more I see the community beginning to come together as one.  There are still people who want no part of being one body (both young and old), and who still try to stir up some of the old fights in an effort to regain some power, but they are having less an less success – and I really think it’s because many folks finally figured out that trying to “win,” rather than striving to be “faithful,” was going to kill this community completely.

We don’t do that any more – and a small wound in our collective soul has begun to heal.