Saint Pauls Lutheran Church of Smithfield, PA

In the June issue, I mentioned a book by Peter Scazzero. I thought it would be helpful to do a book review of The Emotionally Healthy Church by Scazzero who is a pastor and writer for Leadership Magazine among other venues. His theme for the book is that congregations embody Jesus or disease. Scazzero writes, “Making incarnation the top priority in order to love others well is both the climax and point of the entire book.” (18) Healthy church communities may not look different at first glance than an unhealthy church. Both have regulary scheduled worship services, Sunday Church School, a woman’s organization of some sort, a goal of receiving offerings enough to pay the staff and utility bills, and plans for the future. Both have a governing board that usually meet monthly, they have crises that must be responded to, and both have difficult people in their ranks.
The difference between the two resides in the healthy congregation having decided at some point in its history that it was sick of being sick. It is the exact same function of the will that lets a person be sick for a few days, start to feel better, and decide it is time to be well. A few days pass between the decision to be well and the actual fact of it. But the point is, said person decides to get healthy, acts healthy before the fact, and does get better.
That is what healthy congregations decide to do—get healthy. They find that getting and staying healthy calls for a set of skills different than those with which they are familiar. Peter Scazzero in The Emotionally Healthy Church defined the purpose of his book as “Making incarnation the top priority in order to love others well is both the climax and point of the entire book.” (18) Healthy congregations take the incarnation of God as a serious confession of faith and life. Incarnation means “enfleshment”. It is greeting somebody you haven’t seen in ages with a hug and exclamation, “It really is you.” The person is there in the flesh. John wrote in his Gospel “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the Only Begotten, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) John let his readers know that God had come to Earth in a fully human person—in the flesh. Additionally, that person named Jesus was a glory or “doxa”. Glory is a word denoting an action of God. Jesus taught the disciples to glorify God, too. Glory occurs only when there is an action that is Godly in intent and behavior. Healthy congregations enflesh or embody Jesus in their community living. That is, they glorify God in their intentions and actions. Both qualities call for clarity of thought and precision in follow through. Jesus was not vague in his style of living and teaching. People chose not to hear it or follow it same as today!
What does it mean to live an embodied life? Scazzero writes that it is important not to live delusionally. Delusional living runs from, hides from, and denies weakness, imperfection, and the reality of sin in life. He points to the Genesis story to help understand delusional living. After Adam and Eve ate the apple, they were still never completely satisfied with their lives. “We may reach our goals and accomplish thing, but we will never feel completely satisfied.” (112-113) We struggle hard to delude ourselves and others that we are strong, capable, and smart while hiding our imperfections, uncertainties, and character flaws. Scazzero reminds us that our weakness is part of God’s plan to recognize our need for the Savior. The law codes in the Old Testament show us that we are in need of mercy, forgiveness and guidance. Healthy congregations are composed of people who recognize their weakness and need. As a result the individual members are open to help from others; realize their plans and ideas are not always the last or the best word; and are compassionate and slow to judge others. (114)
Healthy congregations set boundaries and limits on themselves too. They play their game within their strengths. They recognize that God has given them ample gifts and resources to glorify Him. But they are limited gifts. Jesus set limits on his own life in the desert temptations according to Scazzero (130-140). He did not heal everyone who needed healing, either. He lived within the limits of his time, energy, and mission. Boundaries “are the hands of a friend, keeping us grounded, so that we don’t hurt ourselves, others, or God’s work.” (141) Paul talked about boundaries in the love chapter, I Corrinthians 13. Paul was writing to congregations not couples about to be married. He noted that Christian congregational boundaries are fixed by the presence of Jesus: no jealousy of others’ success, no boasting (don’t play at being a big shot), don’t be demanding of others (so you can look good), don’t be irritable toward others, and don’t remember the past (just to throw it up in someone’s face). The position of Paul is that Jesus is present in the flesh in the congregation and our common calling is to glorify him as the first disciples did. We glory God by taking on the characteristics of Jesus.
Finally, healthy congregations get to know people as they are, not as they want them to be. Scazzero relates that in his early years o ministry “it became difficult to distinguish between loving people for who they are versus using them for how they could join with the mission…Or could I simply delight in them as created beings made in the image of God?” (176) He paraphrased Henri Nouwen that the goal of ministry is to recognize the Lord’s voice, his face, and his touch in every person he meets. (177) Incarnational living is how healthy congregations live. They seek the Christ in each other; work as a tem because no one person has all the answers or all the skill; do not look at members a worker bees or dollar signs but as disciples; do make the time to practice conversational and listening skills; do set boundaries on people’s time and volunteer inclinations; do preach an environment that God’s gracious acceptance as you are and knowing the truth about oneself are integral to the faith.
Pastor Harding