Bright Threads
Repeating themes in the EFCA tapestry
by Tim Isaacson
A tapestry is a piece of art woven from many different strands. The Evangelical Free Church is a tapestry of sorts. Since the movement’s beginnings in 1884, four specific threads have been especially visible: church planting, international missions, reconciliation/diversity and holistic ministry.
Back then, planting churches was a necessity for this immigrant movement of Scandinavians. “And we had to wrestle with issues of reconciliation and holistic ministry as we served in the name of Jesus,” adds Fritz Dale, executive director of EFCA ReachNational.
But how do necessities from our past become threads throughout our history, and not just byproducts from a bygone era? They remain a priority because they matter in Scripture, says Alvin Sanders, executive director of EFCA Samaritan Way, the movement’s ministry of reconciliation. In this sense, the Bible is the shuttle, the wooden tool that guides the threads across the loom and between the strands of history, culture, politics and people.
“Just as Jesus cared for the whole person, you have to do that in missions.”
Each of the bright strands within the EFCA tapestry, properly understood and lived out, reinforces the other. Take missions as an example.
“International missions by its very nature is about reconciliation,” says T.J. Addington, EFCA senior vice president and executive director of EFCA ReachGlobal. “In many parts of the world, the biggest obstacles to the church moving forward are the animosities, tribalism, provincialism and racism that you encounter.
“Healthy mission is also always holistic. It is the reality of a world where 54 percent of the world lives on $3 a day or less, and 91 percent lives on $10,000 a year or less. Just as Jesus cared for the whole person, you have to do that in missions.”
Despite the emphasis of these threads in Scripture, it takes courageous leadership to keep them at the forefront of the movement as well as the forefront of each local congregation. It’s far easier to simply hold them as ideals rather than actually live them. Living them requires a measure of selflessness and rigor that flies in the face of our nature (let alone our church budget). According to Gene Wilson, church-planting director of ReachGlobal, our commitment to these threads will show up most clearly in how we disciple others to follow Jesus and how we invest our resources.
Fritz Dale agrees. Each thread echoes the prophetic voice of Scripture, forcing the people of God to ask, “What does it mean to be the local church? How do we live out our faith? Are we where we are supposed to be as a church, or just where it’s more comfortable? Are we doing what Jesus taught?”
These questions take us to the heart of faith and lead us to desperate prayer as we stay faithful to Jesus’ vision and the commands in Scripture. Let’s grab hold of the threads of church planting, international mission, reconciliation and holistic ministry and begin to weave them into our congregational lives and the life of the communities we have been sent to serve. This is what formed us in the beginning and what will continue to reform us as our movement grows and matures.
Tim Isaacson attends Open Table Community EFCA in Atlanta, Ga., where he is starting an Immigrant Hope center to serve the immigrant community where he lives.
Bright Threads
A tapestry is a piece of art woven from many different strands. The Evangelical Free Church is a tapestry of sorts. Since the movement’s beginnings in 1884, four specific threads have been especially visible: church planting, international missions, reconciliation/diversity and holistic ministry.
Back then, planting churches was a necessity for this immigrant movement of Scandinavians. “And we had to wrestle with issues of reconciliation and holistic ministry as we served in the name of Jesus,” adds Fritz Dale, executive director of EFCA ReachNational.
But how do necessities from our past become threads throughout our history, and not just byproducts from a bygone era? They remain a priority because they matter in Scripture, says Alvin Sanders, executive director of EFCA Samaritan Way, the movement’s ministry of reconciliation. In this sense, the Bible is the shuttle, the wooden tool that guides the threads across the loom and between the strands of history, culture, politics and people.
Each of the bright strands within the EFCA tapestry, properly understood and lived out, reinforces the other. Take missions as an example.
“International missions by its very nature is about reconciliation,” says T.J. Addington, EFCA senior vice president and executive director of EFCA ReachGlobal. “In many parts of the world, the biggest obstacles to the church moving forward are the animosities, tribalism, provincialism and racism that you encounter.
“Healthy mission is also always holistic. It is the reality of a world where 54 percent of the world lives on $3 a day or less, and 91 percent lives on $10,000 a year or less. Just as Jesus cared for the whole person, you have to do that in missions.”
Despite the emphasis of these threads in Scripture, it takes courageous leadership to keep them at the forefront of the movement as well as the forefront of each local congregation. It’s far easier to simply hold them as ideals rather than actually live them. Living them requires a measure of selflessness and rigor that flies in the face of our nature (let alone our church budget). According to Gene Wilson, church-planting director of ReachGlobal, our commitment to these threads will show up most clearly in how we disciple others to follow Jesus and how we invest our resources.
Fritz Dale agrees. Each thread echoes the prophetic voice of Scripture, forcing the people of God to ask, “What does it mean to be the local church? How do we live out our faith? Are we where we are supposed to be as a church, or just where it’s more comfortable? Are we doing what Jesus taught?”
These questions take us to the heart of faith and lead us to desperate prayer as we stay faithful to Jesus’ vision and the commands in Scripture. Let’s grab hold of the threads of church planting, international mission, reconciliation and holistic ministry and begin to weave them into our congregational lives and the life of the communities we have been sent to serve. This is what formed us in the beginning and what will continue to reform us as our movement grows and matures.
Tim Isaacson attends Open Table Community EFCA in Atlanta, Ga., where he is starting an Immigrant Hope center to serve the immigrant community where he lives.