How are you? That’s a real question. As this fall starts, we are curious about your spiritual well-being.
In Michigan, summer is a season of rest. We camp, we go to the lake, or we spend time on the boat. We find time to get away. Then fall hits. School starts, new sports teams form for the kids, homework piles up, business trips get planned, and our calendars fill up.
Seriously, consider for a minute: do you feel rested, or as you look at the calendar, are you already a little overwhelmed? Most of us spend years running on fumes while we lie to ourselves over and over that “things will slow down soon.”
According to recent polls, more than 60 percent of American adults report feeling “frequently rushed.” Most of us say we don’t have enough time in the week to check off everything on our to-do lists. To illustrate this point, someone recently told me (Jared) that they put their to-do list into ChatGPT and asked it to help them plan their week. ChatGPT told them they couldn’t do it all in one week.
Not only are we busy, but we are lonely. Most Americans also report spending less time face-to-face with friends and family than they did a decade ago. We are more connected than ever, yet busier and lonelier than ever.
Yet, Christians are called to live countercultural lives. In the first three hundred years, the church grew from a few hundred to about 6 million. These people intentionally lived lives drastically different from their neighbors. Most scholars say that is why it grew so fast. The church offered something more human and more rooted than the world around them, and people flocked to participate in it.
At Corinth, we want to live countercultural lives. We want to be less busy and less lonely. This fall, we are designing ministries with a countercultural hope. We don’t want to offer you more programs to consume. We are trying to shape the life of Corinth around being known and becoming rooted. Programs become one more thing to fill our calendar. We are thinking of community nights this fall as a place of rest and connection. We hope this will become a sacred space where you can find people who will know you, accept you, and love you just as you are.
Jesus never called people to come and consume programs. He invited them into a community where they could abide and grow deep roots. That’s what this fall is about at Corinth.
Here’s the thing. Saying yes to one thing often requires saying no to something else. What do you need to say no to to live a countercultural life? What do you need to say yes to to be known and grow deeper roots?
Our community nights will begin on September 23 and run until November 18. We start at 6:24 PM, and all are welcome. You don’t have to study; you don’t have to prepare. You just need to be you.
There are other events this fall that are designed to help you connect and abide. Please say yes to these as well. And together, let’s show the world there is a better way to live.
Jared and Jason