My favorite web browser recently released its latest upgrade, but I downloaded the beta (test) version some time ago and have been using it because I couldn’t wait. Beta is defined as “a nearly complete prototype.” It takes a certain kind of personality to use something that isn’t perfect and learn to work with it – flaws and all. It is a lesson we can adapt to our lives and our walk with Jesus.

As a follower of Jesus, I am still in beta mode.  While my spirit may be perfect in Christ, my flesh is beta and being commanded by an operating system that is often more temporal than spiritual. This results in crashes (stumbling), the occasional screen freeze (stagnation), and exposure to an occasional virus (sin). Oh let the madness of computer-to-faith comparisons stop here!

Where the concept of BETA really hit me was reading about George Barna’s new book on American Christians entitled:The Seven Faith Tribes – Who They Are, What They Believe, and Why They Matter. The website description of the book as written by the author says, “In The Seven Faith Tribes I provide a research-based profile of each of the faith tribes: Casual Christians, Captive Christians, Jews, Mormons, Pantheists, Muslims, and Skeptics. Despite the differences in their beliefs, religious practices, and worldviews, the twenty shared values are what have kept America knit together until recently.”  I am going to take the book with me on the plane to London next week and will give a review upon my return.

Before I jump into the book, I have been pondering what the difference is between the Captive Christian Tribe and the Casual Christian Tribe. Could it be something as simple as Captive Christians get that the church, although perfect in her design, is shepherded by a bunch of developers who are always working in beta mode?

How would we approach working in God’s world, kingdom and His church if we approached it like our Microsoft operating system? What if we expected mistakes and failures to happen? Would we be more willing to be authentic in our approach, communication and acceptance of others?

One of the joys of working on the mission field is seeing how willing the average participant is to be humble, accepting and learns to go with the flow. What if we applied that to the mission field inside our home, church, and community? What if we didn’t let the common language and experience get between us and those who God has put in our path? What if we showed the world that we are flawed in our humanity and it is only through God’s grace and the sacrifice of Jesus are we able to reboot and try again? Wouldn’t that change how the world sees Christianity?

I know it has changed how I deal with other Christians. I don’t put anyone on a pedestal expecting more of them, regardless of their position or maturity, than I do of myself. God’s church and his people are in beta mode; let’s try hard to love one another with the love given by God, and then once we understand that we are all flawed, we reach out to help each other grow in Christ. Just an idea.

By the very nature of who Jesus is, people want to be like Him or run. Jesus spoke to the prostitutes and didn’t judge them. He didn’t go to them after they got their lives together. He also didn’t ignore or avoid them. He met them in their need and reflected God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and repentance while holding them accountable, but loving them with the grace of God. He allowed them a chance at changing their life because of His love and mercy. And for the most part, as members of the church, we get it. It is about loving people and meeting them where they are at in their need because that is what God did for us.

The Church is an interesting dynamic to watch – to see a group of believers and observe how they live out their faith, interact, and deal with conflict. It is an amazing thing. God gave us the church. Everything that we read about in the scriptures talks about the body, the Church. If you are not a part of a church, you are denying a body of believers your amazing self, and the opportunity to see how you live out your faith.

Maybe you have been hurt by people in the church or by organizations, but how does that benefit the kingdom of God? What does being a part of the Church mean and how does that truly make us different? It is all about Jesus. Do not look at what is good about the Church or what is bad about the Church. I challenge you to look at the Church with a new and fresh perspective, especially if you have grown up in it. Ask God to teach you new things about the Church and why He established it.

Some of my earliest memories of the church are of transformation. When I was in the 4^th grade, I witnessed my Church embrace the town drunk. They reached out to his family, helped walk the father through AA, restored his confidence, and helped him get on his feet again. I saw transformation. I saw a man become whole again. And it was a blessing to our entire church to witness and share in his transformation.

I have grown up in the Church since I was eight years old. And I have always loved it. I thank God for His Church, and for you, the body. This love for the Church and the importance of it is also why it is a core value of Amor Ministries. This organization will live beyond Scott’s and my leadership. We work through the Church in Mexico, and they share Christ with the people in their communities. It is such a privilege to be a part of that. We are grateful to help with their ministry through vacation bible schools, outreach activities, and providing homes, food, clean water and school supplies for the community. But on a day to day basis, when it is all said and done, the local Church is the true ministry presence.

After an Amor building team packs up to go home, crosses the border, eats Mom’s cooking and takes a warm shower, the Church is still in Mexico.  Every day, perpetually, the Church is there.  It brings a community of people together to share, to encourage, and to support each other.  I love the Church.  And the Church is at its best when we are serving together.

All around us are incredible transformations. And that’s why Amor is more than a ‘house building’ ministry.  We are a ministry that serves the Church.  When people see us serving, they see the Church the way it is supposed to be—the body, living out the values, practices and teachings of Jesus, by the leading of the Holy Spirit.  And the result is transformed lives.

By Gayla Congdon, Founder & CSO of Amor Ministries

Click HERE  to read Part 1

People come to the Church simply to be loved. I’ve read many church surveys that have asked, “Why do you come to church?” and the highest percentage of answers was always “for someone to love me.” Too often, that is exactly what people are looking for but are met with judgment instead because their life is not perfect. Church is not a place for perfect people, but for the imperfect people working out their salvation together and serving each other. How do you respond when someone comes into your church that is different than you? Do you embrace them? Even if other’s sneer?

Christ calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him. When people come to the Church, we need to do a better job at teaching people to understand and live out the cost. It will come at a cost. Living for something greater than yourself always does. Just think: If it costs you nothing, does it mean anything?

The Church is an anomaly to the world when we live out life together as the hands and feet of God, serving alongside each other and realizing how much we need each other in order to fully function. This is why Amor Ministries’ #1 core value is the Church. We wouldn’t be here without the Church. We wouldn’t function as a ministry without the church. It is the Church in Mexico that is there every day for the families we serve. It is the Church body that comes together, with all of our differences, unique talents and gifts to serve the poor. The Church is showing Christ here on earth to everyone we meet.

When I taught at Pacific Christian College, the California State Fullerton campus was just across the street. The students at the State college watched us and didn’t care most about whether we smoked, drank, or danced. What they noticed was how we treated each other. What they wondered was how we would treat them. Being the church is about being Jesus so that when they look at us, they see Him.

Who do people see when they look at us? When they look at you? Do they see Christ or religion?

By Gayla Congdon, Founder and CSO of Amor Ministries

Read more by Gayla by clicking here.

During a recent trip to the airport, the famous lines from the Serenity Prayer came to mind:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.”

The airport environment is just one great example from our every day lives where we need the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and the courage to change the things we can. For the hurried traveler, encountering the TSA Security Lines can be a spot where things feel out of control.

It reminds me of childhood days of waking up and fighting with your parents about not wanting to go to school. Some of you may be having those very same arguments with your kids right now! Without fail, the daily dialogue always ended with a phrase that went something like this, “You don’t get to choose whether you go to school, it’s the law.”

Even for the child who enjoyed going to school, the notion that you had NO choice in the matter was confusing and frustrating.

As I watch the Security Lines in our airports, I wonder whether we are approaching them with the same youthful confusion and frustration. Are we spending too much mental energy on “why do we have to do this”?

We know the experience from our end, but do we ever appreciate the view from the other side? Recently I spent 5 minutes chatting with a TSA worker about the experience from their perspective. This is what was shared with me (by a very nice woman):

• “It gets frustrating because people don’t seem to understand or respect that we have a job to do and that we don’t make the rules.”

• “90% of the people coming through the lines are actually pretty good, but the 10% that are bad, they are REALLY, REALLY not very nice.”

• “It’s interesting to watch people move through the process because they often just follow the person in front of them – without thinking very much.”

Perhaps it would do us all some good if we were able to release the need to fight the system with those that don’t create the structure. If the person behind us is going to follow what we do, maybe we should start with gratitude and compassion. That we can control.

After all, we can still have nap time on the plane.

Jason Barger, 11-time Amor leader and author of the book, Step Back from the Baggage Claim:  Change the World, Start at the Airport

Baño at Tijuana Worksite

May 2009

Photo submitted by Lorna of Las Vegas, NV

If you have a photograph from an Amor Mission Trip that you would like to see as our Photo of the Week, please email it to jon@amor.org