“Christians are people who vote for Bush, hate homosexuals and don¹t recycle.” In 2006 this is what we heard from the people of Summit County when asked what they about Christians and church. At this point we had a life-altering decision to make. Do we rush to “defend the faith” and blame this response on the liberal media, Satan, or the last days. Or do we ask the dangerous questions of why people are saying this. Though it was difficult, we choose to look at ourselves and ask the hard questions. We quickly discovered that our new Summit County friends were right. Christ taught us to engage the world, yet I distance myself from it. Jesus gave us the example of astounding humility by washing the disciples feet and yet I felt that I was better than others because I knew God. We talk of hating the sin and loving the sinner but I¹m pretty sure I hated them both. St. Paul teaches that evil is the enemy and had come to believe it was people.

I began to think shouldn’t we be known for being the most humble, the most kind, the most servant-minded-bottom line the most loving. What would happen if we actually acted like Jesus? Would people say “thank God, the Christians are here.” Instead of “oh God, the Christians are here in their bright green t-shirts to tell me I’m going to hell.”

So there my journey began, or perhaps continued. I am now asking Jesus daily to change me into who He is. I desperately want people to know Jesus.

Not church services, not American evangelical conservatism, but to actually know the person of God.  That’s the goal and desire of the people of Elements Church. To love, to serve, to live in humility, to be like Jesus.

Meeting informally, believing sincerely. Wanting to be like Jesus.

Eric