Book Review: Borderland Churches

Borderland Churches: A Congregation's Introduction to Missional Living.
By Gary V. Nelson
Chalice Press: St. Louis, 2008

In a previous blog I reflected upon the church in exile and found Borderland Churches to be an incredibly practical and insightful book, but one that is not without its challenge. The challenge for me as a pastor in these changing times, is how to apply Nelson's insights to my church or any church that is struggling with the notion of how to be the church in exile, a church that is no longer the center of the community's life and now finds itself on the edge of civilization or what we shall call, the borderlands.

Nelson makes a compelling argument that the since 1955, the "mainline" churches have been slowly pushed to the edges of society (into the borderlands) for a variety of reasons. Today, affluent people have more choices as to what they can and are able to do and church activities are no longer a first consideration. In the borderlands, there is clearly a lack of support from the community, the schools, the athletic teams, the merchants and community leaders for our churches today. These choices and others that have been made over the the last fifty plus years have pushed our churches to the borderlands.

Early in his book, Nelson makes the following observation, "My experience of ministering to this diverse crew of people often left me wishing it could just be "normal" -- a place where attendance was sure and language, rhythms and ethos recognizable to that in which I had grown up." [Nelson, Page 2] We long for normal. The trouble is that our perception of normal is based upon post WW II structures, institutions, attitudes, and expectations. Nelson goes onto say in Chapter 1 that churches, and especially pastors, who live and work out of this 1955 paradigm will not survive the exile. "How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:4) And so in his book, Borderland Churches, Nelson helps us find our way through this holy time of living in the borderlands.

Nelson is very clear in his book that the churches today must embrace, joyfully, their new status, churches doing ministry in the borderlands. The author contends that the borderlands is where the church should have always been -- at the edges of society. It is in the borderlands where Christian faith, other faiths, and un-faith intersect. Mission is always lived in the borderlands. Nelson believes that the churches that can embrace a missional vision within the community in which our churches and congregations reside, will survive this time of exile. He believes that the church today has constructed a God of our own making -- a God who is way too safe. [Nelson, Page 5] Nelson believes that God who is unpredictable and "holy wild" is not to our liking, but it is where the church today must be -- on the borderland.

Nelson does not leave the reader to his own vices and his own imagination as to the "how to" of being a borderland church. His book takes the reader through the journey of embracing the "holy wild" of God. There are many, many helpful suggestions that are bound in this book and one could spend many weeks, perhaps years moving from the predictable institution of the church to the wild and unpredictable ways of the Holy Other in the borderlands. However, there are two images that I believe summarize this journey for the church today that I think have some practical ramifications for all of us who are a part of emergent and emerging church. Nelson uses the Hebrew word, h'abar, which translates in English as "crossover" to talk about what must be done if we are to survive this time of change for our congregations and our churches.

H'abar first appears in Joshua, Chapter 3 in the context of the Jordan River and the Promised Land. The people of God are musing over their movement across the Jordan to the Promised Land. They are curious and afraid all at once as they gaze across the great river. Joshua, attempting to encourage and challenge them about their next step speaks out. His words portray great understanding of the mix of emotions they are feeling as they look out into the unknown. [Nelson, Page 27] He even heightens their anxiety, reminding them that they "have not passed this way before." (Joshua 3:4) Once we cross the Jordan River -- to the borderlands -- we can never turn back for from that moment on, our life will be forever changed. This renewal will not emerge from new programs, transformed denominations structures, or creative strategies. This 'abar time will require a re framing of attitudes, assumptions and frameworks long before the finished product emerges. [Nelson, Pages 33-34] Nelson spends most of the book from this point on writing about, helping church leaders, and showing us how we can make that transition to the borderlands where the church is free to do the missional work that God has always wanted from us.

The "crossover" to the Promised Land, the Border Land, is the first step of faith for Church today. In addition to this inspiring vision of the church, I also share with you another vision of the Border Land Church. This helpful image of living in the borderlands, comes to us from the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 29, the Hebrew people find themselves captive in an unwanted world. They are void of familiar rhythms and themes and the psalmist cries out through the ages, "How can we sing the the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:4) In Jeremiah 29, God still responds to our cry. In chapter 29 from verse four through eleven, the prophet informs the exiles how to behave in exile. Although frustrating to us, these words state a critical truth for those of us who are fearful of the future, angry at the present, or simply paralyzed to do anything about the reality of a broken world. God's answer to the Hebrew exiles and to us comes with a pragmatic command to live in these days. We did not choose to live in these times and God most certainly does not call us back to a previous time where all appeared predictable, sterile, and safe. No, God calls us to live in these challenging times and to believe that if God put us here in this time and place and under the very circumstances that confound us, God will most certainly deliver us to new heights, new places and bring us to a deeper, more abiding faith that can endure life in the borderlands. God commands the Hebrew people to "...Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters...Increase in number there and do not decrease."(Jeremiah 29:5-6)

In summary, let it be said that for various reasons the Church today is at a point where radical decisions must be made. The past is no more and in essence, the prophet Jeremiah says to the Hebrew people, to you and to me that we must deal with this new reality -- this reality that we did not choose to embrace, but now must. Although the prophet may seem harsh, he leaves us with good news. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) Let it be said and let us believe that we will not be left alone along this borderland journey. For as God has been with the faithful throughout the ages, so will God be with us today, leading us through the borderlands to the Promised Land where things cannot return to what was, but can become an even more perfect gift. Welcome to the borderlands!