Seeking Good in Good News

~ by James Mills, a husband, father, member of the Emergent Village coordinating group, and pastor of a newly forming community of faith called Straight Street Commons in Colorado, blogging as Ecclesial Dreamer

Almost two thousand years ago, a man was breaking out of his cocoon of faith in pursuit of a more excellent way. He is remembered by many as an Apostle and Evangelist for the Christian faith. But certainly Paul would not have thought of himself as a Christian in the same way we think of Christianity today. Equally lamentable is the fact that the Good News Paul proclaimed has become so transformed into a narrow reflection of what it once was that it leads many who encounter it in its current form to ask, “What's so good about it?”

As a pastoral steward who stands in the Christian tradition I have not always been comfortable with that question. I find that one of the most challenging obstacles to answering this query is that many in my own tradition have taken ownership of faith in such a way that insights from other traditions have been completely excluded from the process. While the entrance of Jesus Christ into human history was originally proclaimed by heavenly host to be “good news for all people,” some have attempted to make it applicable only to a select few. Some have mistakenly come to believe that faith as a communal way of life can only be experienced within our carefully controlled belief systems. In the process we not only expect all people to become like us, but we fail to open ourselves to the redemptive influence of those who are not like us.

When we close ourselves to the other it affects all of our senses. We refuse to acknowledge the diverse scents and flavors found in other cultures and as a result we cannot honestly “taste and see that God is good.” We lose our ability to see the good in those who our own faith tells us are image bearers of God. We reach but fail to touch (or, even worse, to be touched). Thinking we are the only melody of faith, we no longer hear the harmonious voice of the Holy. To those who are seeking Good News it is painfully obvious that something has gone tragically wrong. It is easy to understand why many feel alone or believe that such a community of Good News in our moment of history is seemingly impossible.

Through my involvement with the coordinating group of Emergent Village I have met people who give me reason to hope for my community in Parker, Colorado. People like Samir Selmanovic and communities like Faith House Manhattan are creating spaces for people to seek Good News together. These people take the call to be ambassadors of reconciliation seriously and remind us that it is not good for independent subsections of mankind to make the journey alone.

As we dream together I am beginning to welcome the question, “What’s so good about the Good News?” This change of heart did not come about because I have the answer, but because I am confident that when we ask this question together we discover things we cannot find on our own. Most times, even as you are seeking Good News for your own journey, others discover that you have plenty of your own to contribute. If you have not yet found a place to share it with others, I encourage you to start right here, right now. Leave a comment on the Faith House website and join in the task of exploring, creating, and learning with a community who needs you as much as you need them. I know they will be happy to participate in your conversation. Together you will discover Good News and might come to share these hope filled words of Vaclav Havel:

“We must not be afraid to dream the seemingly impossible
if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality.”