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Following Jesus in nonviolent struggle for justice and peace, we love our neighbors and enemies as God loves us all, becoming a peace church to share in Gods work to save the world.

Vision: The Church As A Community of Support

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The Vision of ECAPC

3rd of 7 in a series.

3. The Church as A Community of Support

    Anyone hoping to contribute something to peace, whether locally or globally, needs a place to stand in the struggle to do that. Some of us are stronger than others in our own individual being, but none of us are strong enough, in the end, to “go it alone” over the long haul. At some deep level, if not consciously and honestly on a continual basis, we all recognize our need for community. We need others to help us become and continue to be ourselves.

    In the United States (not only here, but especially here) many, perhaps most, try to satisfy this need for others, for a larger community of support, by identifying with the nation as their corporate family. This may seem like a big jump-- from the individual to the nation state! And it is!   But it is real, and it is local and personal, as real as the American flags which fly from millions of homes and decorate cars from bumpers to radio aerials. This identification with the nation is summed up in the bumper sticker “United We Stand.” Oh indeed--united how, to do what? Mainly, to deal with threatening others, to deal with enemies by fight and annihilation, by flight and isolation.

    This trust in the tribe or nation for security is not surprising as a general human phenomenon, but it is astonishing and deeply disturbing as a public display by the followers of Jesus. That the typical church parking lot on Sunday morning will have more flags on bumpers than the nearby shopping mall will have should send a shiver of fear and sorrow through the soul of every person who has any intention to live and teach and Jesus lives and taught. The world will not survive, let alone be remade, by “Christians” who have no better sense than this of what Jesus made possible for humanity.

    This turn to the nation for support reflects, at its root, a failure to understand the biblical meaning of salvation and of Jesus as savior. The Bible’s concept of salvation is stated briefly and clearly by Zechariah in Luke 1 when he says:

    “God has raised up a mighty savior [horn of salvation] for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from the hand of all who hate us.”

That salvation coming in Jesus was not to be a restoration of the kingdom of David (Acts 1), but the realization of life in a supportive community (Acts 2), a life described in these words:

    “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at homes and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

    The support which we all seek from some community can be found in a church. I do not say “the” church, because I know that not every church, nor “the” church as it is in every place, will be a supportive community. However, as people go about that very human search for a larger community in which to find their identity and support, the community of disciples which Jesus modeled does offer a unique, demanding, and creative community for life and service. A central part of the task of Every Church A Peace Church is to support individuals in their (admittedly often very difficult) task of creating new, or transforming existing, house churches or congregations in

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