California Seeming by Pete Greig

Published: March 29th, 2005

Regular users of this website (and a very warm welcome to first-time visitors) may be aware that I’m currently living slap-bang in the middle

Pete & Danny
of the world’s only remaining super-power: no, not Belgium. America. On a recent foray from Kansas City, I had the privilege of travelling (with Dave Blackwell of 24-7USA & 'Doc' Pete Ward of 24-7Pluto) from the north to the south of California, safe in the knowledge that Arnold Schwarzenegger the eponymous Governator, was firmly in charge.
 
The 'Real Deal'
 
In northern California I spoke at a Pentecostal church which is growing fast and seeing many wonderful miracles of healing – mainly in the streets. “Surely,” I found myself thinking, “this is what it’s all about? Here we have the Real Deal!”
 
Next I visited friends in Los Angeles who are passionate about the poor and the marginalised, and had just returned from the ravages of the tsunami in South East Asia. “Surely,” I thought, “this is what it’s all about?” Prioritising the poor also seemed suspiciously like the Real Deal.
 
Finally I visited a pastor-friend in Ventura (the lovely Greg Russinger). His town
 
They were cuddling on the sofa, suffocated to death...
had just been hit by apocalyptic mud-slides. One man went out to buy ice-cream for his kids and came home to find that his house was buried under 40 feet of mud. He dug for two days and eventually found his wife and two children cuddling on the sofa. Suffocated to death. Ventura was still in mourning.
 
Confronted by such suffering my friend stood before his congregation and confessed that he had no answers, only questions. He then invited the church to express their lament by writing or drawing expressions of personal turmoil on black paper around the walls. The people of God were providing a unique place for a traumatised community to grieve and mourn. “Surely,” I thought, “this is what it’s all about?” This is the Real Deal.
 
Reflecting on that trip, I realise that the Real Deal has many faces.
  • Yes, it’s about that supernatural dimension I encountered in the north.
  • Yes, it’s about the poor and oppressed prioritised by my friends in LA.
  • Yes, it’s about creativity and community modelled compassionately in grieving Ventura.

To believe only one of these things would impoverish our faith and weaken our Christian witness. It is only in mutual appreciation that the Christian community can truly discover the full blessings of a God who is bigger than every box – theological, cultural and temporal.

 
Let’s remember the words of that great champion of Christian community – Count Zinzendorf:
“In essentials unity,
in non-essentials liberty,
and in all things love.”

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