For Further Reflection and Discussion
- Although the author’s great-grandmother, Bessie, was never a Community of Christ member, her strong heritage of faith, expressed in another denomination, played a pivotal role in creating a faithful foundation for her family. Who in your family was or is an inspiring foundational figure of faith?
- As a church we have witnessed great change. What major changes within the church have you experienced? Were these changes difficult to accept?
- What key issues separate generations within the church? How can these separations be reconciled?
- The author says, “The future of our congregations depends on our ability to place Jesus Christ at the center of our mission…” How does your congregation embody the mission of Jesus Christ?
- Paul persecuted Christians before his awakening and name change. The author writes, “…because of Christ our history is not our identity.” How did God’s grace give Paul a new identity? How has becoming vulnerable to God’s divine grace transformed your identity?
- Read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32. How does judgment prevent the older son from recognizing the younger son’s true identity?
- The author states, “We are all children of God and must share this message with those who call themselves by another name.” What are some names we call ourselves that separate us from God? Why do we call ourselves these names?
- Who, impressed on your heart by the Spirit, needs to hear he or she is a child of God? What is preventing you from sharing this message with that person?
- The author feels called to carry on the legacy of his grandfather. Whose legacy do you feel called to continue in the church? How can that person’s legacy be continued?
Your Way? No; My Way? No;
God's Way? Yes!
by Jake Davis,
Thompsonville, Illinois, USA
Herald, January 2011
My great-grandmother, Bessie Hause, was born to a poor Pennsylvania Dutch family in 1899. In 2001, Bessie passed away at 102. During her lifetime, 19 US presidents served in office, and six of our eight prophets led the church. She was born when people traveled by horse, friends communicated through telegraphs, women could not vote, and blacks were segregated. In her life, automobiles replaced buggies, humans walked on the moon, people carried phones in their pockets, all American citizens could vote, and the words computer, Internet, and e-mail joined the English language.
My great-grandmother witnessed major cultural, social, and technological advances. I imagine she sometimes felt disconnected with the present generation. The world today is much different than the world Bessie left, just as our church today is much different than it was 50, 100, or 150 years ago.
Just as Bessie may have felt disconnected with younger generations, some in our church may feel the same about my generation—young adults. We dye our hair funny colors, wear strange clothes, spend too much time on our cell phones and computers, don’t call enough when we move away, focus too much on social and environmental issues, and don’t tithe enough or at all.
We appear unreliable and disloyal at times. We have trouble committing, especially to church. We are frustrating and appear disrespectful because we multitask while talking. We seem to have endless skepticism.
If I have not given you my undivided attention during a conversation, I apologize. If I have not called enough to express how much I love you, I apologize. If I have not visited when you fell ill, I apologize. If I have not expressed how much I appreciate the heritage and legacy you created by joining this church, I apologize. If I have been impatient with the pace of change and neglected to appreciate how much transformation you have undergone, I apologize.
For too long there has been tension between the young adults and the greater generation. For too long it has been “your old” way or “my new” way. As Tony Chvala-Smith once said, if we evaluate our history theologically, the focus shifts from prophet-centered during the founding of the church, to church-centered during the Reorganization, to becoming Christ-centered, with one result being the change of our name to Community of Christ.
Doctrine and Covenants 163:1 reminds us, “Community of Christ, your name, given as a divine blessing, is your identity and calling.” The time has come for it to be God’s way that calls young adults and the greater generation to reconcile, to unite by the power of the Holy Spirit, and to work together within the mission of Jesus Christ. We are called to be a God-centered, multigenerational, multiracial church.
The future of congregations depends on whether multigenerational stalwarts, well-versed in church history and scripture, can unite with converts who never have read the Book of Mormon and have no idea who Joseph Smith Jr. is. Our future depends on whether people who prefer traditional worship, prayer, testimony, and classical hymns can worship with contemporary-minded, technology-loving, campfire-singing, and service-oriented young adults.
Our future depends on whether generations that worshiped in beautifully sacred buildings on Wednesdays and Sundays can blend with a generation meeting to drink coffee and discuss the mission of Jesus Christ or a generation playing basketball in a church where the gymnasium towers above the sanctuary.
The future of our congregations depends on our ability to place Jesus Christ at the center of our mission and our ability to embrace diversity in unity through the creation of blessed communities.
If we are to unite as one body we must begin by righting our relationships with God and with each other. If we are to exist in community that upholds the worth of all persons and promotes the peace of Jesus Christ, we must reevaluate who we are. We must look to Jesus Christ as our model.
When we strip away all the names ascribed to Jesus, such as Lord, the Word, Messiah, Christ, and Rabbi, he simply was the Son of God. Jesus is a child of God. Jesus’ relationship with God reminds us of our relationship with God—we simply are children of God.
The good news of the gospel is that persons no longer are defined by their nationality, race, gender, education, socioeconomic status, or culture. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:27–28 (NRSV):
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Our prophet, Steve Veazey, extends our understanding of the Galatians scripture with a verse from our newest addition to Doctrine and Covenants, Section 164:5:
It is imperative to understand that when you are truly baptized into Christ you become part of a new creation. By taking on the life and mind of Christ, you increasingly view yourselves and others from a changed perspective. Former ways of defining people by economic status, social class, sex, gender, or ethnicity no longer are primary. Through the gospel of Christ a new community of tolerance, reconciliation, unity in diversity, and love is being born as a visible sign of the coming reign of God.
It is no different for us here today. When we walk through the doors into this sacred community we undress ourselves of our titles and our ages. No longer am I defined by my occupation. No longer am I judged because of my past behavior or how I dress. No longer am I limited by my age.
This does not mean that our history, individually and collectively, is not important. Rather, because of Christ our history is not our identity. Is this not the testimony of the prodigal son, the woman at the well, and Paul? My identity is a child of God. If we walk into church and do not experience right relationships with God, with each other, and with ourselves, we are not walking into a community of Christ, but an empty building.
As expressed in the Enduring Principles, a church is an accepting community that expresses “compassion for and solidarity with the poor, marginalized, and oppressed” in response to the divine grace found in Jesus Christ. We are all children of God and must share this message with those who call themselves by another name.
Someone at some point in our lives shared about Jesus and explained our sacred name to us. Someone challenged us to be vulnerable to God’s grace.
My grandfather, an evangelist, taught me about the mission of Jesus Christ and how the church lives out Christ’s mission. We would sit at his table with our scriptures open, and he would explain their meaning. I cannot remember his words, but I remember that I was so important to him that he had to teach me about God’s love and Christ’s mission to the church. I know his teachings changed my life. I know without his instruction, interest in my life, and passion for the gospel message, I would not be a church member today.
My grandfather shared with me a lifetime of disciplined discipleship, a passion for study and scriptural knowledge, a rich heritage of faith, and a legacy to continue. His life bore witness to this community, the Community of Christ, and its ability to provide eternal joy. To him, I am forever indebted.
It is my prayer that all generations may experience validation of our heritage, which has caused many to join the cause of Zion, reconciliation of issues, and the challenge to right our relationships with our God, ourselves, and each other.
May the love of God expressed through Jesus Christ be at the center of who we are and what we do daily as an individual and church. May the words from II Nephi 13:29 in the Book of Mormon guide us:
Wherefore, you must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men.
—Excerpts from a sermon at
the Brush Creek Reunion in
Xenia, Illinois, in June 2010.