Now Is the Time

There is a familiar passage in Mark’s gospel when Jesus comes into Galilee announcing God’s good news. “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives and trust this good news!” (CEB)

I remember learning the meaning of “kairos” at Belmont during my college days. It was such a calm and compact lesson in the difference that knowing even a little Greek can make.

• “Chronos” (the root of chronology) is the steady, even relentless beat of time that marks our days, work, waiting, and watching.

• “Kairos” is a beautiful concept in which the wonder of God’s promise, the presence of God, and the fulfillment of God’s reign suspend the usual, the mundane—especially in liminal space.

It can be a magical, curious, even mystical moment when things seem to align perfectly, and we feel we are right where we should be. This state has the potential to give us a feeling of peace, wonder, and gratitude.

I have seen this to be true for churches, especially during times of transition. It is especially so for those in an interim period “between pastors” or those who see themselves as “stuck.” There’s a heightened sense of anxiety. Most of our work at CHC+Pneumatrix is with these churches in transition—those seeking a “next pastor” or others who must “re-dream” a dream that has faded over time.

Your church might be there now; it would be no surprise if you were. The American church is at a turning point.

Three things stand out for those who may be “between pastors” or curious about your church’s future.

• It is a time of crisis for today’s church.

The 21st-century church in America is in crisis. The lingering impact and loss following the pandemic still have an effect—it was like an accelerant. Add to it the economic insecurity and uncertainty across our land, the brutal and deliberate stirring of long-simmering differences into violence, radical and painful racial injustice, continued ecological devastation, political polarization, and more—it is plain to most that the church is at a turning point. You and your church are not alone.

• It is time for God’s presence to be proclaimed and celebrated.

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus had just received God’s blessing and identity through baptism in the Jordan River. Jesus was so confident that God was present with him that he announced God’s appearing kingdom. So, Jesus calls Simon, Andrew, James, and John to positive, strength-based action. He calls for a change of perspective, a “metanoia”— another excellent Greek word that is less about apologizing or confessing our weaknesses and more about being seized by opportunities and strengths for a new life in God and turning toward a new direction.

This time of transition is about transformation, a change for the church, and the opportunity for genuine spiritual discernment—what would God have us do for the sake of the kingdom?

• It can be about the wonder of God’s reign.  

As you may know, Jesus finds a willing, even eager, audience of people ready to follow. Perhaps the message of good news and fulfillment was so compelling that Simon, Andrew, James, and John could not help themselves from dropping everything and following Jesus.

Jesus’ summons is the call to action they had been waiting for. What matters now is that they hear and believe the good news, not in mere intellectual assent but rather in a measure of trust, hope, curiosity, and wonder. They are ready now to move forward in an active and committed response. These would-be disciples don’t always get it right, but they stay curious and committed to the One who calls them forward, and their lives are changed.

This makes me wonder if churches in the interim between pastors might discern that such transitions may be just the right time.

Maybe this is just the right time for you and your church.