A Door Set Open, by Peter Steinke

Chapter 8 – Where to Touch the Elephant

1.  Steinke asks, “Let’s probe the elephant-touch dilemma as it affects the life of today’s church: If we think of the elephant as representing the congregation’s mission, do all touches have the same value? Is there a place we all must touch? Finally, can we touch the mission in different places, disagree, and still work together?” 

Please offer your responses to these questions.

2.  “Tikkun olam (to mend the world) embraces small gifts and large ones. Your response of mercy, generous offerings, or shared witness makes a difference. In no way is God’s future dependent on our offerings, but the new creation is open to all gifts of our hands and hearts. We are part of God’s creative scheme when we care for something larger than ourselves.” 

How do you see yourself as a participant in “tikkun olam?”

What opportunities are before us as individuals and as a congregation to “repair that which is broken” in our communities and beyond?

3.  “From a biblical perspective, the kingdom of God gives special attention to the poor. The term poor as used in the Scriptures does not necessarily indicate economic deprivation.”

“God is active in behalf of the well being of the world, especially those whose well-being is most tenuous. The God–neighbor relationship is elemental to mission.”

Who are the poor among us today?  What opportunities is God offering us to witness to and serve the poor?

4.  “Next, we will consider what happens when we touch different parts and disagree about the nature of mission. Which part of the elephant best represents the elephant? In our society, we are increasingly clustering into like-minded groups.

The big tent where people could openly express diverse views is giving way to small groups of like-mindedness. People are herded into the cramped space of special interests or value issues or partisan positions. Then, too often, we handle our disagreements aggressively, even viciously.”  “To their misfortune, churches are imitating the wider society and resorting to the ideologue’s frame of reference – either or, this or that, and black or white - which is in reality an emotional reaction.”  Steinke illustrates this with the case study involving Pastor Rex and Valley Church…a sad, but realistic, example.  “Situations like this give the church a magnificent opportunity to disagree profoundly over matters without turning away from one another or turning against one another.”

Why are such scenarios becoming increasingly more prevalent?

How can we address such conflict when it arises?

5.  “We fail to be the agents of God’s mission because we do not know how to answer the blunt question: What more are you doing than others? What we forget is that a congregation’s public face is part of the mission. What do people see when we are at odds? When we are loaded with anxiety? Outside the community of faith, people don’t have a whole lot of interest in our mission statements, only our mission practices. We will from time to time touch the elephant in different places. Indeed, we can fight it out as we would in any other place. Perhaps a more mature response would be, ‘I don’t agree, but the mission takes precedence over my self-interests.’”

Let’s zero in on Steinke’s initial question: “What more are you doing than others?”

How does this question both intimidate and motivate us to be agents of God’s mission?