Manuscript

Back in third grade, I distinctly remember the day a classmate of mine leaned over to me in his desk. He whispered, “they took gullible out of the dictionary!” I was shocked. To think that a whole word had been taken out of the dictionary! And what did gullible even mean?! I sat at my desk, flummoxed, until we had a break. Then I rushed to the dictionary to find the word, only to be greeted by jeering laughter from my classmate. I learned the hard way the meaning of the word gullible. 

Sometimes, it’s hard to know what to believe. 

Years later, I faced a decision point. Should I join the ministry or not? Should I raise my hand and say that I felt called to ordained ministry? It was hard to know exactly what to do. I felt in my soul that calling, but there was much to consider. There were many unknowns. In the end, it’s clear what direction I chose, but at that time, there was doubt and questioning. 

Sometimes, it’s hard to know what to believe. 

Such is the case for the churches in the region of Galatia. Paul writes to them to help them understand what they are to believe because they’re saying to themselves that sometimes, it’s hard to know what to believe. Let’s hear our scripture for this morning, selections from Galatians chapter 5:

Scripture: Galatians 5:1, 13-18, 24-25

Eight Simple Steps Toward Church Revitalization

The Number One Rule of Church Revitalization

Six Proven Ideas to Increase Church Attendance

Twenty-five Actionable Strategies for Rapid Church Growth

These are headlines from a simple google search of “grow your church.” Were we to read them, they would contain some of the same ideas but, quite often, we would find competing ideas. For example, some say go all in on holidays and don’t worry about the other Sundays; others say treat every Sunday like it’s Easter. Some say traditional worship is dead, others say contemporary worship turns off younger generations. Some say the Lord’s Prayer and Creeds detract from growth, others say we must go back to our roots. 

Were you to peruse the books in my home library, there would be several with competing ideas about how to be the church in the United States in the twenty-first century. Some argue we must change what we believe and proclaim. Others say we must stick to our guns, holding fast to the truth we have known. In a memorable case, one author says that the Lord’s Prayer is okay, but we must change and remove some aspects. He encourages us to say, “Our Father and Mother,” and then skip “who art in heaven.” According to him, if we did this, the church would grow by leaps and bounds. He has a whole book built off this idea. And it’s sold more copies than my books! 

Now, let us be mindful that his encouragement is to change the very words of Jesus Christ himself! It’s laughable, and yet it’s still one among many strategies for being the church today. Books on this topic are big sellers. There are bloggers and podcasters and authors making tons of money off telling churches how to be the church today. They capitalize off challenge and fear. Most churches today struggle with attendance and giving, especially among a younger demographic. And for many of those churches, they wrestle with fear: fear of irrelevancy and fear of closing their doors. 

With all those competing ideas and voices, mindful of the challenge and fear:

Sometimes, it’s hard to know what to believe. 

Indeed, Paul writes this epistle because the churches in Galatia find themselves struggling with what to believe. 

Paul had brought them the gospel. All across the Anatolian peninsula, modern day Turkey but what was roughly called Galatia back then, people are being converted from paganism. They are forming churches. And as they do, they have questions. They are Gentiles, not Jews, so they’re confused about how much of the Judaism of their neighbors they’re supposed to keep. Are they supposed to follow Torah? Are they supposed to be circumcised? Or are they now free from the constrictions of Jewish law, no longer bound by its requirements and symbols? 

Different Christian teachers, passing through Galatia, have different answers. Many say yes, you must keep Torah to be a Christian. Some say you must be circumcised. Others still have different forms of the gospel, proclaiming that Jesus was merely a prophet, not God, or that Jesus wasn’t human at all but basically some divine ghost. There are many teachings floating around Galatia and the people there, new Christians, trying to figure out how to do this church thing, are struggling as a result of this doctrinal dissension. 

For them, it’s hard to know what to believe. 

Paul, elsewhere in the Roman Empire at the time he wrote this book, receives news of what’s happening in the Galatian churches. Most have chosen to believe differently than Paul taught, specifically embracing the keeping of Torah and circumcision, while some others have embraced totally different gospels, especially the gnostic gospel that said Jesus was basically a divine ghost. 

As he receives these messages, Paul gets angry. We see this in the way he opens this letter to the Galatian churches. All of his letters in the New Testament have a formulaic flow: he has a greeting, he offers thanksgiving for the church, he issues instructions, and then he gives a benediction. Every letter Paul wrote has that formula. Except Galatians. Rather than a nice flowery, “I give thanks for all the great work you’re doing” language after the greeting, he completely skips the thanksgiving and moves to his point. Hear Galatians 1:6, the first verse after the greeting: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel!” No thanksgiving, just rebuking. Paul is angry. 

And so, he spends the letter telling them what to believe, sometimes forcefully, sometimes gracefully, but always pointing to Jesus Christ. In Galatians, he makes the fullest case for the freedom of Christ; a well articulated defense of this theological conviction: that we are set free in Jesus Christ to go and do what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do. Galatians is the ancient version of the blogposts, podcasts, and books about church growth: Paul is telling the churches in Galatia, and us today, not only what to believe, but also how to be an effective church. 

And what would we title this letter of Paul if we were to turn it into a blog post or church growth book? Ten simple steps toward freedom in Christ? Twelve different means to grow your church? Eight reasons why those haters are wrong? Seven ways to increase giving? 

Those titles are tempting because we want things in soundbites: easy to digest pieces of information. That’s the seductive power of these blog posts and books that offer tips and tricks for churches in list form. The posts aren’t long, the books are short, and they come prepackaged in ways that make it easy to envision following them at your church, inferring that if you follow their seven or ten or twelve steps, all will be well at your church and you’ll see results in growth. They easily turn into gifs and graphics that can be posted to social media, moving their points into easy to digest soundbites. 

The problem is, the Holy Spirit can’t be reduced to a check list. God will not be tamed into soundbites.

And that’s just the point Paul wants to make to the churches. It’s not about which teacher to follow, what set of rules to follow, or whether or not to keep up with Torah; it’s not about lists and soundbites; being the church is about being led by the Holy Spirit to be the church God has designed you to be. In freedom, Christ came to die and rise again for us. And in giving us the Holy Spirit, Christ passed that freedom on to us. 

Paul’s call to the churches in Galatia, and Paul’s call to us today, is to be led by the Spirit, seeking to follow where the Spirit leads, trusting that God will provide what we need to be the church God has designed us to be. 

If Galatians were a blog post or book on being the church today, we might title it: Forget all those checklists, just listen to the Holy Spirit.

Paul makes a clear point: follow the law, the Torah, if you want. But it’s no longer necessary; Jesus Christ set you free from having to follow the law, from having to keep up with those checklists and tasks, to be justified in faith. The Spirit provides the way forward, the vision, the change in our lives so that we can be followers of Jesus Christ, true disciples who lead others to life. That’s why Paul, quoting Jesus, can say, “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We are set free, “for freedom Christ has set us free,” our scripture began this morning, and then continues, “for you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters…” We are free from the law, from checklists, from having to wonder what to believe. We are free to simply be the church we are, seeking to follow where the Spirit leads. 

The churches in Galatia aren’t required to keep up with those lists, to follow the 5,324 simple steps of Leviticus to living a holy life. Yes, that’s the actual number of laws in Leviticus. The Spirit provides all we need. As he continues his argument past this chapter, Paul makes clear: churches aren’t to follow checklists or rules laid out by this teacher or that apostle; they’re to be Spirit-led, following where the Spirit leads, trusting that they have all they need to be the church God has designed them to be. 

Think of Paul’s argument this way: churches are like individuals: all are gifted in different ways to offer those particular gifts to their communities. These checklists, found in books and blog posts telling churches how to be and what to do, want all churches to follow the same formula, like a fast-food restaurant model that would make all churches just about the same. But churches are not McDonald’s franchises; churches are farm to table restaurants, found only locally and unique to their particular surroundings. 

For just like individuals, when we are who God has made us to be, we shine forth the Spirit into the world, having a transformative effect. Churches that are simply who God called them to be naturally exude those fruits. They put aside the works of the flesh. They grow each other and their communities in love, in justice, and in care and concern for others. When we choose to simply be ourselves as a church, living out our individuality and led by the Spirit, we will, in short, naturally grow the Kingdom. 

Paul calls on churches to simply live out their individuality through the freedom Christ gives us. That’s what we are to believe. Eschewing checklists, soundbites, and fixes that would make us more McDonald’s-like, we are to be that farm-to-table restaurant, unique to Cashiers and serving locally-sourced ministry. 

But what, in particular, does this mean for Cashiers UMC today? 

I recognize that I preach at a moment of change; unexpected change to boot. You and Aryn have done great things together. When my family and I moved up here full-time, Aryn and I quickly grabbed a meal together. We’ve been friends since seminary, many years ago; a friendship deepened by a trip we took to Venezuela for a class. That trip in particular stands out in my mind; we all awoke every morning far earlier than we wanted to because of Steve Spurrier, what we had nicknamed the gamecock that crowed about 4:30 a.m. each morning.

Up early, and the up until late at night, Aryn and I and our class focused on supporting the ministries of local clergy; clergy up against tremendous odds in a dysfunctional and violent country, clergy who exercised their freedom as they witnessed to the liberating power of Jesus Christ. They taught us what Paul shows us in Galatians; that the church is to be Spirit-led, undeterred by challenges and change in fulfilling the mission of the gospel: to alleviate suffering by witnessing to the liberating power of Jesus Christ. And they each did so differently, but as the Spirit led them to do through their churches, meeting various needs of the Barquisimeto and surrounding communities.

Aryn and I both absorbed that message. When I met up with Aryn last summer, I heard all about the great ministry you had done together, the dreams you had together for impact in Cashiers, and the pride in past work that had made a difference, such as the dental clinic. We rightly celebrate the ministry of this church under Aryn’s leadership. 

But I confess to you an important reality: a pastor is only as effective as the church she inherits. I have lived that reality myself. How much ministry a church and I could accomplish together depended greatly on how ready that church was to engage in mission, how sensitive the congregation was to the Spirit, and whether or not that church was driven by fear. I have served churches where fear was the primary driver of ministry: the fear of closing and the fear of irrelevancy drove decisions for how to engage the local community, which made me ineffective, made the church ineffective, and worsened an already bad situation. A fear-driven church is a church like McDonald’s, focused on ministry as a form of profits, trying to get more people in the door and more money in the offering plate in attempt to shore itself up, lest it go out of business.

But churches that understand God has gifted it like an individual, ready to witness in its own unique way to the liberating power of God’s love, is a church ready to receive and work well with a pastor to do real, honest, good in the community. This is a church like a farm to table restaurant, taking on the local flavor, presenting in beautiful fashion its gifts so that people can be spiritually nourished. And doing so without fear, trusting that as it spends its resources, God will provide.

Aryn found you, Cashiers United Methodist Church, that way. Because you were ready to offer your gifts to the community, because you understood yourself as gifed by God for a particular ministry, you were ready for her good leadership. A pastor is only as effective as the church she inherits. 

So the challenge this morning is this, like it was for the churches in Galatia: stay Spirit-driven. Stay sensitive to how God is calling you. Keep dreaming the big dreams of ministry in this community. Operate in the freedom Christ has given you by following where the Spirit leads, even if it seems counterintuitive and especially if it seems risky. Don’t allow fear of irrelevancy or fear of closing to drive decisions. Recognize that fear when it comes up in conversation: conversations that focuses themselves on shoring up budgets or lowering the average age of the congregation. Focus instead on how God is calling you, today, to bear witness to the liberating power of God’s love in Cashiers, North Carolina. Trust that God will provide you with all you need, including money and people, to make that a reality. That’s what it means to have freedom in the Spirit, to be Spirit-driven as a congregation. 

As you receive your new pastor, you can continue in effective ministry. Your lay leadership has impressed me when I have had opportunity to interact with them. Trust them, and convey your sense of mission, your giftedness, your calling, to your new pastor; while also ready to hear from her the ideas she brings as she is also listening to the Holy Spirit. Together, following Paul’s admonishment to be Spirit-driven, you will find yourself taking the next faithful steps as a congregation, focusing on the mission, being authentic to how God has uniquely gifted you, and trusting God with the rest; operating like a farm-to-table restaurant as you serve your unique giftedness into this community.

In short, believe what God tells you to believe through Paul in Galatians: exercise your freedom in the Spirit to boldly dream how God is doing a new thing through you and your new pastor. 

Change is hard, no doubt. But change is the crucible in which the fire of the Holy Spirit can ignite new work, new passions, new ministry. Don’t fall into the traps set by fear. Recognize it when it comes up, for fear is a natural consequence of change. Instead, embrace that change, prayerfully. Be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

Paul’s argument is a radical departure from what the other teachers were preaching around Galatia. And we must admit, Paul’s argument today is still radical. It’s not easy, like so many steps or tricks or tasks. It’s not easily digested in soundbites. Following one of those lists, becoming more McDonald’s-like, is easier because you just follow the steps. But God didn’t design the church that way. Doing church requires prayer, discernment, patience; it requires practicing love, joy, and peace during times of change and anxiety.

But isn’t that freeing? To no longer feel tossed and turned, wondering if we should be doing what that church over there is doing or what this church over here is doing? Isn’t it freeing not wondering if we’re missing the point, or missing the people, or defective somehow? Isn’t it freeing not fretting over young people or budgets? If we are Spirit-led, we have all we need as a church to be the church God has uniquely called us to be, witnessing to the liberating power of God’s love.

What are we to believe? 

The Spirit is leading and we are free in Christ to follow. So let us pray daily for this church and let us practice the golden rule. Let us be ourselves; living out the gifts God has given Cashiers United Methodist Church. No matter the change coming over the next several weeks, you already have everything you need to live out the liberating power of God’s love in Cashiers.

In freedom, Christ set you free. Go, then, and be the church. 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Amen.