Matt Chandler - Doubt and Mission

If you have your Bibles, that will be our primary text. I want to remind you of something, and then I’m going to put a period on that. Afterward, I want to talk to you about this text today in the hopes that I might encourage you that the kingdom of God has spread across the world through imperfect, incomplete, struggling people who have simply trusted that Jesus is good. I invite you all the more into that. So, that’s the plan for today.

First, the reminder: in July of 2021, we purchased the corner. I’m not good at directions, and to be honest, I’m not Davy Crockett; I don’t have a compass. But from Browning and Morris, wherever those streets are, right now, I’m in a building without windows, so I’m a bit stuck. Don’t help me; it’s fine. We bought the whole corner. We don’t own Chick-fil-A, we don’t own Starbucks, and we don’t own Wendy’s, but the rest of the shopping center is ours. We bought that with the intent, over a period of time, to retrofit and create a space that can help us fulfill the things that God has given us to do—namely, to love God, love people, and make disciples of Jesus Christ. We have begun to meet with both designers and architects on what that might look like and how that might play out. I’m not asking anything of you; in fact, Josh already gave you an update on how that process has already started.

So, over the course of the next year, here are some things that you can expect us to finalize and begin to roll out to you. Before we get to that point, what we’re going to do is hold a series of fasts and prayers so that you might join us in seeking the face of God. It’s a challenging endeavor; there are things that make it very difficult in a space that’s already quite complex, and so we will need the Lord’s help in significant and, at times, I think, supernatural ways. We want to create a series of events where we invite you to fast with us during the day, like breakfast and lunch, then meet for prayer and worship, and afterward, let’s go out and feast. I think it’s important; in fact, if I can, I want to make it Wednesday night so it’s especially disruptive. We will shut everything else down and just say there’s nothing more important than to humble ourselves before God in an endeavor like this and acknowledge that we need Your help. You’ll hear more about that in the weeks and months to come, and I would just ask you to make it a priority.

Now, this is hard. You know it’s hard to get in here; it’s hard to get out of here; it’s hard to get your kid in and still have a seat. I saw a woman sprinting down the hallway trying to make it. We want to make it work. I promise I’ll get you in; just breathe. We want to make this easier than it has been, and so that’s what’s coming down the line. It will cost something—we don’t know what that will be, but we will let you know that it will involve a cost, and we will want you to contribute. For now, this is just me reminding you that these are the things happening in the background.

Now, period. I’m going to set that over here, and then I want to have this conversation. One of the sacred spaces that I get to occupy repeatedly, with people I know well and others I just met because I’m a pastor, is that people will begin to let me in on things happening inside them that either feel crushing or disorienting. I’ve been here for over 20 years, which I love, because you can get a sense of what’s going on in our community. Let me share a fairly consistent conversation I have with both men and women. They express disappointment at how life has turned out. When they were younger, they were looking forward to it—everything was forward-focused: «I’m going to get married, I’m going to live in a certain neighborhood, I’m going to have this job, ” and now they’re in that reality, and they just thought it would be more than this. It’s super disorienting; in fact, I might even use the word paralyzing. They feel forced either to put on a facade—are you tracking with me? You know what I mean by that; it’s like, „Hey brother, put on the smile, ” or they feel the need to shrink back.

Another fairly consistent conversation I’ve had in this area with both men and women is that they grew up in a version of Christianity that is being radically challenged in their adulthood, and that is disorienting and paralyzing. The way I’ve seen that play out is, one, they were foolishly told that people who…