{"id":7515,"date":"2021-02-03T10:49:33","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T15:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brethren.org\/?p=7515"},"modified":"2021-02-03T10:49:33","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T15:49:33","slug":"ebrethren-2-3-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/blogtest\/2021\/02\/03\/ebrethren-2-3-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Make room"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n
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A woodcarving featured at New Carlisle Church of the Brethren.
Photo by Traci Rabenstein<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By David Steele, general secretary<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these early days of 2021, I have found myself not only caught up in the unsettling events of recent weeks, but also reflecting on the last several years of life together in the Church of the\u00a0Brethren. One cannot deny the pain, fear, brokenness, and division inside our church,\u00a0neighborhoods, and world. The impact of the pandemic is real for many, but the cold and\u00a0hollowness of division and the \u201cus\u201d versus \u201cthem\u201d mentality pervades not only our culture but\u00a0our church. Republican versus Democrat, progressive versus conservative, liberal versus\u00a0evangelical, and the list goes on. The fences we have worked so hard to build in our neighborhoods\u2014to protect ourselves from the things we fear or to keep those who do not believe like us on the other side\u2014are now making it difficult for our neighbors to find us and, more significantly, making it difficult for us to reveal Jesus in our neighborhoods at a time when Jesus is needed most.

I grieve the place we have arrived in our life together, the families and congregations that have been torn apart by a vote, and the congregations, friends, and family who have left us. I mourn the loss of our ability to gather at the table to study scripture, pray, and have fellowship together without being suspicious of one another. I lament that we as the body of Christ struggle to celebrate the values, priorities, and hopes that we hold in common. And most of all, I regret that, for some, our faith in Christ and our commitment to follow him no longer seem to be enough.

During Advent, I was drawn to the words of the 2017 Casting Crown\u2019s song Make Room<\/em>. The song tells of the Savior\u2019s birth into a fearful, lost, and hurting world, and offers the\u00a0invitation to make room in our hearts for God\u2019s story to be written in us and among us.\u00a0This became my prayer for Advent and Christmas, and remains with me in this new year.

In this season of struggle and challenge, how are you making room in your heart for God\u2019s unfolding story? Are you opening yourself to opportunities to participate in God\u2019s redemptive work? I am excited about the renewed possibilities of God\u2019s story within the Church of the\u00a0Brethren as we prepare for our conversation and affirmation of the compelling vision at\u00a0Annual Conference, together with the Mission and Ministry Board\u2019s new strategic plan that is oriented around \u201cJesus in the Neighborhood.\u201d These movements are worth celebrating. \u00a0However, before authentically finding this posture, we must make room in our hearts for a new chapter of God\u2019s story by first acknowledging and praying for God\u2019s blessings on those who feel called to ministry outside our fold, and second, by spending time in self reflection, repenting for:
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