One-Anothering

I didn't coin the word, but I think one-anothering is a great English version of the verb fellowship or the idea of being community. It comes from a colleague’s rendering of what the "one another" passages from the New Testament command us to do. In other words, it is the verb form of what we are to do to one another.
I'm attending a Sunday school class about community. It has really got me thinking. I've been in the church all of my life. I attended Sunday school and youth group through my school years, but when I took a break from college, I found that there was no longer a neat little slot that I could fit into at church. Because I loved ministry, I stuck around in the youth group for a few years and discipled jr. high and high school girls, but there was still this lingering knowledge that I really didn't have a place. That dilemma has continued, on and off, until now. The church leadership at Calvary apparently agrees with me. They are searching for a pastor for young people 18-30-something years of age. Of course, that is a monumental task given the highly dynamic nature of that age group, but I applaud the wisdom of the church leadership in attempting to address the need.
But I wonder how one is to go about ministering specifically to young people. We, as a culture, like neat little slots that we can assign people to. When someone doesn’t fit into any of the slots we have created, we get nervous and attempt to make a new slot. More and more, young people don’t fit into slots. Maybe it is postmodern influence, but I think it is a good thing.
Perhaps the church has gotten too slot-happy and needs to explore one-anothering. Perhaps we all need to re-explore being a community. Maybe having Sunday school classes or outings or pot-lucks for all age groups, marital statuses, or genders would be a good start. Perhaps we need to stop segregating ourselves so much and start integrating. Most of the most valued people in my life have not been people that are just like me. I’ve loved spending time with older, widowed women, young children, college kids, married couples, and single people, and I’ve learned precious lessons from all of these categories.
I don’t want to deny the value of spending time with people from our own homogenous group. Just today a friend spoke of how much he has grown by being in a men’s Bible study. I know that I have had similar experiences, but I just want to experiment a little more with this idea of one-anothering and see where it leads.

Torn Between Worlds

I love being back in Manteca. It is good to be close to family, and my new job is great. But I miss Southern California, the friends I have there, and sometimes even working in the ER. …and I long to be in Cameroon, to serve God among the Baka who need Him so desperately. Three different worlds, and somehow my heart is in all of them. But if there is one thing that I’ve learned in my travels, it is that this world is not our home. God designed us in such a way that I don’t think it is possible to be completely content in one place for very long. Maybe the longing that I have for those other places stems from a deep-seated longing for heaven. Just maybe.