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When we decided to partner with Mennonite Church Manitoba to plant Little Flowers Community, one of the core reasons for doing so was a sense of resonance with Anabaptist values and beliefs. Interestingly, the longer we explore this connection, the more convinced we have become that it is significant, even though almost none us grew up within an Anabaptist tradition. In addition to the “unchurched” and new believers, we have people who grew up in United, Baptist, Evangelical Covenant, Anglican, Pentecostal and others.
A Mennonite friend recently asked me what it actually meant to us to be Anabaptist. It was a good question, which I answered as best I could at the time. Since then I’ve started reading Stuart Murray’s upcoming book “The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith”, which explores seven core convictions of Anabaptism and how they relate to the whole Church. While each chapter unpacks them in more detail, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on them as they relate to Little Flowers.
1. Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer, and Lord. He is the source of our life, the central reference point for our faith and lifestyle, for our understanding of church, and our engagement with society. We are committed to following Jesus as well as worshiping him.
While I think most Christians would affirm such a statement, what this has meant for us is that we want to be more intentional about following the example and teachings of Christ in our daily lives. Beyond living moral lives where we observed the expected Christian practices, few of us were discipled into a way of life that sought to do much of what Jesus taught, such as in the Sermon on the Mount.
Thus far, Little Flowers has been exploring Jesus teachings (most recently with an emphasis on the Sermon on the Mount), intentionally seeking to embrace the values and practices in tangible ways. We believe that we are, together, an incarnational expression of Christ’s Body to our community, thus committed to actively continuing Christ’s mission to our neighbours. This has been very rewarding, but difficult as we also wrestle with our own brokenness and sin.
2. Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation. We are committed to a Jesus-centered approach to the Bible, and to the community of faith as the primary context in which we read the Bible and discern and apply its implications for discipleship.
With the conviction that we are to collectively embody the presence of Christ to our community, it means that the whole community contributes to the process of discipleship and discernment. We affirm that different ones of us function in different giftings, but resist any hierarchy of value or authority in those giftings. To that end, while I function as the pastor, I refuse to claim exclusive (or even primary) rights to administering the sacraments or teaching the word. Yes, my responsibility means I have a degree of authority in that role, but it is not absolute nor any more important than the authority of the other giftings/roles.
It has also meant that, as we explore Scripture together, the teaching is very conversational- interactive and participative. This allows everyone to bring their unique perspective, while always seeking to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in guiding us. Again, my studying and understanding are respected in the community, but this does not mean that I am the final authority on all truth. A time of worship with us is less than typical, but it is very generative and multifaceted.
3. Western culture is slowly emerging from the Christendom era, when church and state jointly presided over a society in which almost all were assumed to be Christian. Whatever its positive contributions on values and institutions, Christendom seriously distorted the gospel, marginalized Jesus, and has left the churches ill equipped for mission in a post-Christendom culture. As we reflect on this, we are committed to learning from the experience and perspectives of movements such as Anabaptism that rejected standard Christendom assumptions and pursued alternative ways of thinking and behaving.
In some ways, our inner city context lives in extremes in relation to Christendom. On the one hand, as many of our neighbours are First Nations or immigrants, they have been subject to the some of the more costly aspects of colonialism. For many, their relationship to the Church has been as recipients of charity, though some times, also of judgment. On the other hand, because our community often functions on the margins of society, they are not impacted by many aspects of life at the center.
For those of us who have committed to Little Flowers, we decided that we would share life with our neighbours, making the community our own. While attempting to enter into the fabric of the neighbourhood, we also intentionally extended hospitality to others, which can mean anything from sharing a meal together or having a homeless friend live with us for a few months. These relationships form with greater ease when we participate on the margins of culture.
4. The frequent association of the church with status, wealth, and force is inappropriate for followers of Jesus and damages our witness. We are committed to exploring ways of being good news to the poor, powerless, and persecuted, aware that such discipleship may attract opposition, resulting in suffering and sometimes ultimately martyrdom.
We have not experienced much opposition for our commitments, but it has meant sacrifice. In choosing to live more simply, for example, we don’t merely make token sacrifices, but rather relinquish our right to the privileges we are so used to. We realized that it is not enough to abstain from status, wealth and force on occasion, but rather to embrace it entirely.
This is not an easy one, but we are working to embrace it more every. For some it has meant moving into intentional community, becoming ethical consumers or giving away much of their possessions. As we do this and other things, we find that the difference between “us” and “the poor” diminishes, as we share mutual life and faith with people of all walks of life. This has been very, very difficult for us.
5. Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability, and multivoiced worship. As we eat together, sharing bread and wine, we sustain hope as we seek God’s kingdom together. We are committed to nurturing and developing such churches, in which young and old are valued, leadership is consultative, roles are related to gifts rather than gender, and baptism is for believers.
While our time of worship is important each week, our community is more defined by the relationships we share throughout the week. This relational commitment to each other is part of our missional devotion, submitting to very real mutual accountability. As was mentioned earlier, we lead as a community, believing that the Holy Spirit best opens God will and His written Word through the context of that community.
6. Spirituality and economics are interconnected. In an individualist and consumerist culture and in a world where economic injustice is rife, we are committed to finding ways of living simply, sharing generously, caring for creation, and working for justice.
Again, as already mentioned earlier, we believe that when the mission of Jesus is the organizing function of our community then we relinquish our rights to such things as materialism and individualism. While we do not have a “common purse” out of which we live, generosity often blurs the lines of ownership. Further, in seeking to live simply, we have began to do community gardening, which not only provides healthy and inexpensive food, but also allows us to relate more meaningfully to creation.
7. Peace is at the heart of the gospel. As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding nonviolent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.
Starting within our own relationships, we are committed to keeping short accounts with conflict. Extending from our open commitment to each other, which requires honesty, humility and confession, we also hope to extend that shalom to our community. In a neighbourhood where violence is rampant, this has been a real challenge, but one in which we are continuing to pursue.
It should be noted, however, that we do not pursue peace because it is pragmatic. That is, we do not pursue peace because “it works”. While those who embrace peace experience many blessings as a result, in a sinful world it is also likely to get your hurt or worse. We are committed to peace, not because it works, but because it is right. Thus, our commitment comes with a willingness to suffer for that conviction. Thankfully none of us has suffered too personally for such a commitment, though we have come close to it many times.
(NOTE: We’ve set up a Facebook group about The Naked Anabaptist. Check it out here. Well worth it.)
