Searching for Meaning
In our experience at North Raleigh Community Church, words lose their meaning over time, especially religious words. To help you know what we’re talking about in this web page, we’ve done some term-defining for you below.
Accepting; Acceptance
Sure, sure, sure…
Everyone accepts everyone. That’s the politically correct thing to say. However, it’s not very realistic. People really bother one another! Acceptance is a deeply spiritual attribute, and not to be taken lightly. There are stiff requirements to saying we "accept one another."
To be truly accepting, one must possess the conflict resolution skills to push beyond differences, the emotional intelligence to overcome powerful knee-jerk responses, and the relational skills to seek out and find common ground among very diverse people. These skills don’t come easily.
Despite the high cost, at NRCC, we believe accepting one, living with one another, tolerance toward one another’s differences…
- We believe these things are central to following Jesus.
Most people who speak of "church" speak of a specific location, a specific group of people, or a specific set of doctrines to which they agree. At NRCC, we fall into those same speech patterns from time to time, but at our core, are rethinking church altogether. We are seeing that the idea of "church" embraces anyone who is in pursuit of The Way, The Truth, and the Life that Jesus laid out for us. Thus, people in other countries, people from other traditions, people in other denominations all are part of "our church." God sees us all as one. We are learning to see one another as one as well.
At NRCC, we’ve come to believe that community is not a pleasant add-on to spiritual growth, but an essential ingredient. One’s soul does not prosper without spiritual friendships. Authentic, spiritual, trusted, and trusting friendships are to the soul what protein and carbohydrates are to the body. Without them, we find ourselves wandering in the dark, looping around over old material again and again, stagnating, and not growing. Consequently, learning the skills required for spiritual friendships is a priority for us at NRCC.
People are different. They think differently, act differently, and believe differently. A brief survey of Christian churches reveals splintered, fragmented groups, each carved off from one another along lines of these differences. At NRCC, we believe God sees us as a unified body, and we are learning to do the same — seeking out common ground in areas we can share and becoming less focused on those areas things in which we differ.
Emerging Church; Emergent Church
If you are have become restless with church as it is, if you feel there must be more and are on a quest to rediscover authentic Christian spirituality…
- Then without ever naming it, you are most likely part of the Emergent church movement.
- Though the definition isn’t standardized, it’s comprised of people dissatisfied with their current experience of spirituality, and on a quest for something more.
- Some are rethinking the church’s alliance with the modern era and modern thinking; seeing how spirituality in the postmodern era looks.
- Others are reexamining a theology that has become stiff and stifling.
- Still others are seeking to rediscover the ancient contemplative practices in our Christian heritage.
At NRCC, we think of ourselves as an Emergent Church, and define ourselves as an organic, decentralized community, seeking to follow Jesus, advance on the spiritual journey, and find God beyond the thoughts and practices of the traditional ways of doing church.
Spiritual Development; The Spiritual Journey
Process…
That’s a key word in the spiritual journey. As Americans we’re trained to focus on outcomes, results. Consequently, we often become discouraged at the ebb and flow nature of our spiritual lives. The Spiritual Journey is a lifelong endeavor, and doesn’t lend itself to the metrics we’re accustomed to.
At NRCC, we’re learning to be patient with the process by which God’s Spirit moves us forward. We’re learning to be steadfast in our spiritual practices and leave the results and the timetable to the Divine.
To some, the term "unorthodox" is a very negative term. It evokes images of deviating from God’s Truth, and the fear of dire consequences for that deviation. At NRCC, we are finding deviations from old norms to be more helpful than harmful, and have stopped worrying that we might incur God’s displeasure. Thinking that in our generation, change is in order, we are trusting the Divine Spirit to guard us from error, and are looking for more authentic ways of finding God together.