Finding the Commonality Among Cultural Differences

So, I realized that I think I grossly read my own context into my last blog. Matt & I ended up having a big discussion later today with Nate (on staff here with Josiah Venture) about what Czech church is like and what the word means to Czechs.

Here, the negative feelings toward church are more toward Catholicism rather than Evangelical Christianity like in our country. Where in the US, society is taking an increasingly disdainful view of the Evangelical church based on factors like homosexual opposition, hypocrisy, and judgement, here in Czech minds Catholicism has become both the stale, irrelevant religion of grandmothers and also an incredibly greedy institution (after the Velvet Revolution & the fall of communism, many catholic churches went to the government demanding payment for their property that had been siezed when the country had fallen to communism--these demands amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, were plastered across the news, and left a bad taste in the mouth of people across the country)

In some senses it sounds so similar: God's people not being what they were designed to be, and people being turned off to it, but in other senses the reactions differ. Here, once someone has a chance to experience evangelical Christianity for themselves through someone they know, an English Camp, etc., a very distinct difference from their negative perceptions becomes apparent. Well, I guess it can be the same in our country, but the perceptions are sometimes over nuances between "traditional/conservative", "pragmatic/seeker sensitive", and "emergent" models rather than the more drastic theological differences between catholicism and evangelical christianity. In that sense, the church is able to keep things more simple.

So here, perhaps the solution isn't a church in a bar like it could be in our country, but perhaps in both contexts the solution is a community of authentic Christ followers who are engaged with their world and sharing the gospel/bringing the goodness of God's reign through that.

Maybe amidst all the differences we aren't so different after all.

The heart of a Czech

I just heard a czech share his heart in an amazing way: "I don't like church...I feel like they want something from me sometimes, like not drinking alcohol. I don't drink alcohol, just beer" (a cultural note--here, beer is very common just as an everyday beverage, and alcohol is typically just used in reference to hard liquor).

I thought that part was hilarious.

But then I also started tearing up because his conversation was so reflective of some of the same shifts that are taking place in our culture. He talked about the new openness to spirituality, but then also a dislike of church.

It made me think of Dan Kimball's They Like Jesus, But Not the Church.

Maybe we should come live here for a few years and then plant a church in a bar. It becomes a tricky line though when people leave their faith communities because they are frustrated and think they can do better. I think there might be a lot of people in my generation doing this right now.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it looks like for us to bless the Church of today, in all its forms and diversity but at the same time to come alongside her and help her reach my generation who is saying things just like this Czech? How do we do this in a way that is not helpful, that is not angry or reactive? How can we instead be a positive force? How can we create rather than tear down? How do we maintain a humble posture while at the same time passionately pursuing opportunities that we believe to the best of our understanding God is placing in front of us?

Jesus. Enough.

It's funny how we learn the same lessons over and over again, isn't it?

With all the transitions coming up, my ability to trust God and his goodness has been sorely shaken. Then fears of failure and shame began to bubble to the surface the past few days as well.

But God has been sending those subtle but consistent reminders like he does--those echoes, those whispers of what we need to hear. For me they have been of the simplicity of Christ. To truly know I am deeply loved. To know I am completely forgiven. To know that Christ walks beside me, freeing me from fear of failure as I trust his sufficiency. Sufficiency not only for the past, but also for the present and the future. Sufficiency that means he will guide my steps and restore my heart.

Christ. Enough.

May you find true rest in that, my friends.

czech updates

matt's been keeping the team blog up w/ what's going on, so stop in!

http://czechteam2008.blogspot.com/

Czech, here we come!

The last two summers, I got to travel to the Czech Republic to help lead the team LCBC sends each year. We have been partnering with churches in the Czech to do English Camps for somewhere around 10 years now. These camps create environments for Czech students to bring their friends, have fun at camp together, learn some English, and talk about faith. Since the Czech Velvet Revolution didn't take place & free them from communist dictatorship until my lifetime, the country remains largely foreign to christianity. Many students haven't even had an opportunity to talk about faith, God, etc. at all, so camp becomes a place for them to develop relationships with Christ followers, to see we're not all crazy, and to ask questions together about what the heck all this is about.

This Sunday, Matt & I head out with this year's team, so we're working on getting together last minute details for work coverage while we are away, figuring out what to do with our dogs, how to pay bills, etc, and making sure we are ready for leading a team of 9 highschool students alongside our other two adult leaders.

We created a team blog where we'll be posting a few updates along the way, so check in when you think of us and send up a prayer:

http://czechteam2008.blogspot.com/

The News is Official

Well, the news became public yesterday with my volunteer teams and the LCBC staff and today with the rest of our young adult community, so that means it can officially be blogged as well. I'll just share what the rest of the young adult community received:

Dear Liquid Community, We are excited to share that God has been leading us both to a new season in life. We both have a deep love for working with the church. That is not changing, but we have also experienced increasing stirring toward a new phase. The sad part is that this means we will no longer be working with young adults here at LCBC. Instead, over the next few months Pearl will be transitioning to working in the community, discovering what faith and loving people looks like in that context, and Matt will be transitioning on as well. We are both also exploring the possibility of grad school at Biblical Seminary with their LEAD Master of Divinity program. We are so thankful for these several years we have had working alongside you all. We feel so privileged for being a part of what God is doing at LCBC, and stand more and more in awe every day about what's happening here. We can't wait to see what God continues to do here! We are both available if you have questions or want to talk more about our transitions, so feel free to email or call. May you continue to know Christ and how deeply you are loved, Matt & Pearl Parks

So that's the big news. I think it had been a while coming but I didn't realize it. When you're in the middle of things it just has a way of being cloudy from all the factors involved, but one day God gave me the stimulous he knew I needed as I always struggle with major decisions and it just became really clear deep down in my gut that the right next step for me was a transition. I love working with the church, but I haven't quite found my voice in it yet. I thought I could find it along the way while I was working in the church, but I think instead I just started getting kind of caught in a rut that I realized I needed to step out of to start exploring my heart more. Sooooo, I did.

I'm so excited for this new season, but it's also terrifying at times. It's so easy in my head to say "trust God, he led me here, so he'll take care of me", but when I'm actually having to drive around turning in resumes feeling like I'll never be able to find something I love doing that makes more than $9 or $10 an hr trust suddenly eludes me.

When you think of it, send up a little prayer for us. We appreciate so much the way you all have already been coming around us with encouragement, tips, etc. Thanks for loving!

Thank God he journeys with us...

a must listen cd

very creative i think--both musically & lyrically.

makes me want to listen to "worship" tunes again as it is not only creative but also reflects my heart. after all, that's what worship is anyway isn't it? our response to God? i guess if that's true, all worship doesn't have to be so creative the way i like it for it to be good or true. maybe it just becomes more true worship for me because the creative stuff is more true to my heart's response. hmmmm.....