Answer the call; live the words

What makes for a good Charge Conference? Having done my first round, I have some preliminary ideas. First of all, I don’t think a good Charge Conference is just getting all the paperwork done. The paperwork is a baseline requirement for the fundamental information flow between the local church and the connection. And it’s good to get it set for another year. But that isn’t what makes a good Charge Conference for me. A good Charge Conference is when people have a chance to reconnect with the large vision of our connectional church – to remember that every local church, no matter how small or how large – is part of a daring, bold, worldwide, comprehensive outreach to win the world for Jesus Christ. A good Charge Conference is when connectional servants have a chance to remind people that we know we value the extraordinary importance of the discipleship of the local church. The connection exists to enable, support, encourage and guide the irreplaceable work and witness of the local church. And a good Charge Conference is when people are inspired to put God’s word into practice. The theme for my first year of Charge Conferences has been Ephesians 4 – living out the high calling of Christ; maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; stop living like unbelievers; putting away all anger, wrangling, etc. and putting on kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness. In our heart of hearts, we know that this is what the church is called to live out. And people responded to the challenge of the high call. Over and over again, people seemed to recognize that this was the goal of church life. One person enthusiastically congratulated me on the Charge Conference experience…not just in person – but with a follow-up e-mail the next day. Best ever Charge Conference. And then, within hours of the congratulations, suddenly resigned all positions in the church because of a dispute with the pastor. I wanted to cry. Here we are talking about the high calling of Christ…talking about maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…talking about stopping the anger and practicing tenderheartedness and, within hours, striking out in the exact opposite. I wanted to say, “I know you thought it was a great Charge Conference. You said so. But did you hear anything the Bible said about how we are to live out this high calling?” I tell that story because the words of the birth of Jesus are ever-so-familiar. Even people who have only occasional contact with church recognize the message of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth, peace: good will to all”. The intention of God could not be more clear: God’s people – through the gift of Christ – are to live in peace and good will to all. Those words are straight from the mouths of God’s messengers. Those aren’t just words to sit in the sanctuary, listen to, have a warm, sentimental feeling about and then live in any kind of rabble-rousing, disruptive way we want to live. It’s a travesty if we listen to the message of the angels and then walk out to the door harboring ill will, disrupting the peace and ignoring an essential core of the gift of Christ. I know that there are people on the airways all around us who rant and rave and stoke emotions among people on earth. They slap labels and twist the truth and play on prejudices. That is not Christian behavior. Christmas must be a stark reminder to us of an eternal, unchanging truth: Jesus came that we might live with peace and good will to all. That doesn’t mean there won’t be differences. From creation on, the biblical story reveals a God who delights in diversity. But that diversity has a common bottom line: peace and good will to all. For all of us who join in this beautiful season, the question can’t be “do you know what the angels said at the birth of Christ?” The question has to be: Does the gift of Christ live in your life? Are you living with peace and good will to all? And, if there are relationships where you cannot extend the peace of Christ- – if there are people that you do not have good will for – then you have an invitation to really receive Christ this Christmas. No matter what else happens, it won’t be a good Christmas, in God’s eyes, without His people living out peace and good will.