Visual illustrations of peace have closed many of my days watching the sun set over the waters of Lake Michigan. In summers, people line up along a bluff that stands tall over our lake with their blankets unfurled and camp chairs to witness the evening performances in the Creator’s gallery. Applause typically erupts when the glowing sphere gives its final wink to that day and disappears under the water line of the horizon. A sweet hush then archives daylight; belongings pack up and go home.

Those artful evening events are tangible evidence of peace for me. They are the punctuation that ends a sentence. While each day may bring surprises, stress or problems, the painted skies affirm that God’s plans are filled with beauty in the end. Even when I neglect to appreciate the artistry of His hand and only see a ‘noontime’ mess in process, the sunsets signal completion and usher in the shalom of God’s heart. Shalom. It’s the Hebrew word for peace, also meaning peacefulness, health, safety, and most importantly to me, completeness. It’s a palpable witness seeing heaven touch earth. 

Heaven and earth were created to overlap.

But it’s challenging to currently see that now with all going on in the world, particularly as eyes are open to the scarcity of peace in the U.S. and the country gears up for more potential violence over a presidential inauguration. Energies are plugged into sockets of anger, and not as much hope.

Pride’s been reigning over peace in the hearts of Christian patriots. Conspiracy theories slithered into the isolation, unrest and fears of the pandemic and charmed church folk clutching for sense in the senseless.

There’s so much discord. Will the world be able to still see Jesus through the splattered mud on His bride? Will the Church’s face be washed to reveal the scars of Jesus again? I think beyond what has happened to the Church, and wonder, what is ‘happening’ to the Church? Is the sun setting on Church as we have known it in this generation? There has to be more than “this.”

There are good, good churches, and good people shining the light of Jesus. But there’s also a lot of disunity, pride, egos and arrogance reflecting in the mirror of the North American Church. Can the Church drive the hyphenations of “self”… -confidence, -absorption, -regard, -importance, -interest, and -possession – from its stages and rages – to embrace love again? I hope.

On earth as it is in heaven

…demonstrates compassion and splashes love on the mess. It lives out adventure and courage. It shows up at odd hours and not just on Sundays. 

If you’ve been fed up with the narcisssim that infiltrates too many of the scrubbed-clean, shiny faces of Christians who rush to tell their sides and stories, scramble for selfies with hashtag strategies radiating white-washed tombs masking dead men’s bones, hang on. I believe God’s up to something. Faux “#nofilters” have left churches and communities #nopeace… resulting in an exodus in evangelicalism, farewells to the flock. Sure, a good hashtag strategy aligns like-minders, interests and really good hearts. But, those strategies lurk in the shadows of damage too, and a lot of damage has been done.

Yet…it’s at this juncture that I have so much more optimism than I’ve had in over a decade. More hope, more joy and gratitude for the clashing and gnashing in the chapels that is replacing “right” with righteousness. Hang on to love and cover yourself with compassion as the modern church sifts and shifts its way to stare again into the face of Jesus.

Peace can be found. Pursue it.

Jesus’s arms extend far beyond the modern-day playbooks and flywheels for fantastic church experiences. And whether the term “saved” was sold merely as a get-to-heaven card… or church door greeters handed you maps pointing to attractions that evoked a quick rush but left you dizzy in the longrun… or stage lights and skin tones commanded more convos than reflecting true Light in leaders’ behavior and hearts off-stage, good news still exists. 

What if a greater shalom emerged in new models for what we’ve known as church? I’m not challenging the Church, but what if smaller, authentic communities following Jesus – whether they emerge as individual ones or grow as microchurches connected to a larger body – and people pursued peace without lights, action, scripts and clipboards, to become the “new Church” model? Would we see healthier communities looking more like the early Church, projecting more than stage lights of hope in a hurting world?

What if… you saw more of Jesus in Christians, love spoke louder than opinions and titles, and profile pics weren’t so retouched? I’m wondering if God is doing a new thing and the sun is setting on what we’ve known as the modern-day Church.

I’m keeping a hopeful watch on the western horizon.