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From Connection to Communion

I have been intrigued by the idea of rebooting the mission.  The idea may stem from the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the chance for the Roman Church to elect a new Pope.  But the idea of rebooting the mission is more comprehensive than the Catholic Church.  I think it applies to all of us in the Christian tradition.  And perhaps, it is even more widespread than that.
           
As I have given it some thought, the first thing that came to my mind was the opportunity---maybe, the need---to repackage the message.  This has been an ongoing obligation for spiritual leaders throughout the centuries.  The heart of the gospel must be presented in lucid, understandable ways to the culture in which it is proclaimed.  It does no good to proclaim a transforming message in fourth century language to a scientific, pluralistic, global 21st world.  The message is affected by the medium.
           
As I thought further, a sense of the process begin to emerge.  Let’s assume the heart of the spiritual message is one of transformation.  All humans need and desire to be transformed.  We long to be lifted out of our small, narrow lives and lured into the big picture.  We want our lives to be played out so that justice, compassion and joy are the dominant themes.  We want lives that matter and that culminate in victory.  We do not want to settle for meaningless lives that succumb to the debility of deadness.  We pine for the last word to be “Yes!”  The question is, how do we get there?
           
I would like to propose three simple and general ideas about repacking the message and redirecting the mission.  The first idea has to do with connection.  I think contemporary American culture is basically fragmented and tending toward disconnect.  This I affirm in spite of our technological advances.  Miraculously I can instantaneously send an email to China or Russia and get a response immediately.  I can be friends with 500 people on Facebook.  And yet, I can feel very alone.  Much of modern life is isolating and compartmentalizing.
           
It is easy to be with people.  It is more difficult to connect with people.  And it may even be more difficult to connect with the message of the transforming Spirit.  I put it this way for good reason.  Of course, I could tell someone to read the New Testament or to come to church and hear a sermon.  Reading and hearing are not necessarily connecting.  Connecting goes deeper.  It points to a level of engagement and, even, incarnating.  To incarnate means to take it into my flesh---into my very being.  I am sure this is exactly what Jesus did.
           
Jesus incarnated the message and, then, connected people he met with the message he incarnated.  He was the Word become flesh.  Then he went about the neighborhood and the world.  He contacted people and connected with them.  He shared the message.  It was a transforming message that liberated people (disciples) from their bondage, stuckness and addictions to the ordinary.  He communicated the possibility of the Kingdom.
           
He connected through communication, the second idea.  Communication may be a matter of words.  But when it is transformational, it is so much more than words.  Communication is more than simply sharing some words.  It is sharing the Word---the same Word that became flesh and dwelt among us.  Jesus did not come to people to say, “I’ve got a few words to share with you.”  He came to share the message of radical love that leads to new life.
           
This has to become the spiritual message today.  It is not a fancier sermon.  It is not a more eloquent book.  It is a message that disorients those of us who are stuck in old patterns and old ways.  It reorients by planting us right in the middle of the kingdom.  In fact kingdom is probably the language of the old message.  The new message will likely use language of community or some better word or idea.
           
Finally, when we find ourselves in this new place, we will know that we are in the place of communion.  This is also an old word.  If the message delivers us to the kingdom---the new community---then we will be in the place where our spirits and souls are nurtured.  Spiritual communities have much competition from the secular world when it comes to nurturing souls. 
           
I suggest most people are living in a fast-food kind of world.  So many are nurturing their souls with television, the internet, junk food and the like.  People are full, but not satisfied.  Like any addict, it takes more junk to give us satisfaction.  But that satisfaction turns out not to be satisfying!  And that is a vicious cycle destined to be repeated.
           
People long for the bread of life.  That is what spiritual communion offers.  That is what spiritual communities inevitably provide.  Churches may or may not be these kinds of spiritual communities.  Providing the connection, communication and communion is the spiritual priority of our day.  It is an old message that often needs to be rebooted and repackaged.

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