And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best. (Philippians 1:9-10)

On Sunday we began a sermon series on being a purple church, something we have been talking about for a few months now. I am using Paul’s letter to the Philippians as the basis for the series, along with a book by Edwin Friedman titled “A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix.” My hope is that each of us will be challenged as we are invited to take a look at ourselves and how we relate to the world around us.

One of the things Friedman talks about a great deal is something he calls self-differentiated leadership. Here is what he says, “I do not mean an autocrat who tells others what to do or orders them around. Rather, I mean someone who is less likely to become lost in the anxious emotional processes swirling about. I mean someone who can be separate while still remaining connected, someone who can manage his or her own reactivity to the automatic reactivity of others.”

Part of our goal in being a purple church is to be able to become a little more self-differentiated, to learn how to keep the anxiety of the world from having so much power over us. As I see it, this is a very Christ-like goal. One of the things Jesus did so well was remain himself no matter what was happening around him. He listened and stayed connected but never lost sight of who he was along the way. One of the great challenges life presents us with is to remain who we are, no matter how much pressure we feel to be something else. Be yourself.

For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:8)

This Sunday we will begin exploring what being a purple church means. One thing to know is that this is not really something new. We already are a purple church, a place made up of people of different races, different political persuasions, and different understandings of the world. More than something to worry about, that is something to appreciate and lift up as a gift of God. So we will not be griping about the world and how we should fix it. Rather than trying to change others, we will instead be working on ourselves and asking God’s guidance in that work.

I expect this series to be somewhat challenging. We are trying to do something that is hard to do. Dealing with differences is not easy stuff. Looking at our emotions and getting honest about that is never easy. After all, some people spend their entire lives avoiding it. What I can say is that, if we can trust one another enough and trust God enough, then doing this work together might just be a transforming event. You might end up viewing things a little differently.

We live in highly anxious times filled with a great deal of conflict. How we deal with that reality is a huge part of our faithful response to the God who loves us. How we treat others, relate to others, and handle our own emotional well-being while around others is a big deal. It takes courage and faith and hope, and it can make all the difference in the world. I am excited about these next few weeks, and I hope you are too.

See you Sunday!

In a recent article, recovering CEO, and CCPC member, Robert Hall stated, “I believe leadership got us into this dismal state and it will take leadership to get us out.” He is talking about the state of our society. I believe that we are being challenged to become the kind of leaders that are in short supply these days. Saying we are a purple church is fine and good, but we now need to begin seeing what that actually means for us. To that end, I am working on a new sermon series titled “Purple Church” that will begin on August 12th. I see this as a beginning, a time when we can start to dig into what being purple actually is. What I can tell you is that the focus is on relationships. I believe it is possible to be in relationship while holding different viewpoints. I believe it is possible to be engaged with one another no matter what color we gravitate to at the voting booth. I believe God is, in fact, calling us to do that very thing.