Jeremy L. Berg

I came across a letter today (see below) that I sent to our congregation in January 2020. This was just weeks before our world would be dramatically changed (as well as the church) with the outbreak of Covid-19. We were casting a fresh vision, moving buildings, and turning a new leaf in our journey together. I sensed we were on the verge of a “reboot” and some folks would leave and others would hopefully join.

The pandemic intensified all those realities, and everything has changed. Except, that is, our direction as a church and my convictions that our primary preoccupation needs to be on forming souls and forging Christlike character. This letter was written on the eve of not just a global pandemic, but also the eve of a slide into gross political idolatry and idiocy, the Trumpification of Evangelicalism, numerous high profile church leader scandals, George Floyd and a racial reckoning, an attack on the Capitol and our democracy, and so much more.

If you could take a time machine back to January 2020 to breathe in a different air, would you?

The past few years of pastoring MainStreet have been…well…refreshing and beautiful. An intercessor on a pastoral retreat recently shared this word from the Lord with me, “Pay attention to the small and the few; that is where God’s heart is found.” These days we’re gathering Sundays in a circle in our living room or on the deck. Our fellowship is full of the sounds of laughing children, clinking silverware at a table of grace, sharing a meal and our lives. We open the Scriptures and feast on soul-food, sometimes bring out a guitar but always end with the breaking of Bread and passing the sacred Cup.

We have many new faces in the circle, precious souls who seem to come not in spite of our lack of polished programming or full-service Sunday morning service, but because of it. They are looking for an alternative to the superficial shine and shallow sparkle. They relish the simplicity. They desire something deeper. They rest in the fact that they don’t need to “plug in and serve” but can just plop down and rest on a couch and openly receive. We’re not so much “doing the Lord’s work” but learning to let God work in us and through us.

Over lunch recently I was being asked the questions that used to place me on edge and bring out all my insecurities: “What’s your current vision for MainStreet and where is the church headed in the coming years?” Instead of going into marketing and promotion mode, “selling the vision” so they might want to join the church, I took a deep breath and said with sweet, sweet surrender (is my therapy starting to pay off?): “I’ve cast so many ambitious visions over the years that haven’t come to fruition that I’m trying to sit still awhile and wait for God to reveal His vision for this church in the coming days.” I’m done “taking hills for Jesus” and just want to be taken up into the life of Jesus these days. Ask me about our church’s “strategic vision” or five-year plan and I will throw up in my mouth a little.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, we’re not aimless or lacking purpose. It’s just not an organizational purpose with institutional goals and numerical growth benchmarks. We’re convinced God is far more pleased with faithfulness than effectiveness. Our purpose was handed down by Jesus who said, “I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last” (John 15:16). As I told another pastor over lunch recently, “The church in America right now needs to stop it bringing its rotten fruit into the public sphere, and spend a season pruning the vineyard and learning to grow fruit that tastes like Jesus.”

That’s what we’re humbly attempting to do these days at MainStreet when we gather together. Most pastors urge their people to go out and share their faith with others. I say with my tongue in cheek these days, “Are we sure we want to be sharing our dysfunction with others in Jesus’ name? Maybe we should spend a little more time weeding our personal gardens together on Sundays nights behind closed doors before we go out and spill sour grape juice on others.” When Jesus called us the “salt of the earth,” he didn’t intend us to go pouring salt in society’s wounds and making them worse! The world needs us to be sweet but we too often bring the sour.

Reading the letter below, I’m precisely where I was a lifetime ago before the entire world changed. I think it’s quite beautiful. So, here’s a younger pre-pandemic Pastor Jeremy addressing a small flock on the eve of an apocalypse.

January 2020

Greetings in Christ:

Jesus warned against trying to pour new wine into old wineskins—a constant warning to Christians and church leaders to not get too attached to our ministry models (“skins”), but instead keep focusing on better ways to carry and deliver the life changing power of the gospel (“wine”). I agree with those who see the church in the West facing a major cultural shift. Our MainStreet 2020 Vision is one attempt to address the fact that the old skins are no longer getting the job done. 

I hope you are glad to be part of a church that is not sitting back complaining about the church’s decline, but proactively exploring new ministry approaches to engage a culture that is spiritually thirsty but not as interested in old institutional forms of Christianity. We have tasted of the healing power and grace of Jesus, and we want so badly to find ways for others to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps 34:8). 

Let’s continue the metaphor as I share my heart for MainStreet in 2020. Jesus told a parable about a man who prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. “But they all began making excuses” (Luke 14:16-20). When the servant reported all their reasons for not showing up, “His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame … so that the house will be full.’ For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” (Luke 14:21-24).

Did you know our first iteration of a MainStreet youth ministry launched back in 2011 was called “The Alley” and was based on this Scripture? We wanted to instill the same heart for the weak and wounded in our youth that we were instilling in our grown-ups. Here’s the hard truth that church leaders are slow to accept: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Mark 2:17). Jesus told the parable of the banquet above to warn us that self-made, well-to-do people chasing the American Dream and busy with ‘worldly pursuits’ are less likely to show up for the spiritual feasts a church is offering each week. Jesus laments that such people, by their own choosing, will not “get even the smallest taste of my banquet.” Meanwhile, those who are hitting bottom, who have train wrecked their lives, who have come to the end of themselves, and who are desperate for God’s help are the ones who often drag themselves to the feast with hungry hearts and open hands. 

Friends, I am wary of trying to lure busy disinterested people to Jesus using new toys and shiny trinkets, offering door prizes and religious entertainment in ways that are most convenient and least costly. Why? Because Jesus himself said His Way to ‘the good life’ is narrow and difficult and few find it because few are interested in it (Matt 7:14). While many want to keep the church relevant, I have always wanted to keep it revolutionary and countercultural!  Many want to believe we can mass market a Way of life that calls for daily self-denial and self-sacrifice. I guess I am convinced most people just aren’t interested in becoming real apprentices of Jesus and committed to the inner work of spiritual formation, and that is precisely what MainStreet Covenant feels called to do.

So, our 2020 Vision is to be cooking up regular feasts of Bible teaching and spiritual formation opportunities for those who want to dig in and “be transformed by the renewing of [their] minds” (Rom 12:2). We will also be providing many pools of living water (e.g., workshops, teaching seminars, yoga, etc.) for people who want more holistic spiritual healing and deeper soul formation. Jesus’ question for us today is the same as his question for the paralytic standing near healing waters 2,000 years ago: “Do you want to get well” (John 5:6)? Really?

I say, “whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matt 11:15)and “let anyone who is thirsty come” (Rev. 22:17). “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15). The feast begins even now — so come and get it! And bring your friends.

Grace and peace in Christ Jesus,

Pastor Jeremy

The ministry of MainStreet and my personal Kingdom Harbor outreaches are struggling a bit financially and I am seeking new partners to support me on a monthly basis so I can continue to lead MainStreet and bring the message of the Kingdom to the young and old full time. Learn more about joining our team at http://www.KingdomHarbor.com.