Acute pain in the back and neck of a woman. Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash
In this final excerpt from Tyler Johnson’s When Church is Hard, the author Dr. Tyler Johnson draws on his medical experience for this idea:
Pain is important to keeping us healthy. It is the body’s way of saying, “Here is a problem that needs to be addressed.”
What should we do when the body of Christ, the Church, is hurting? While most of us are not called to function as part of the “brain” of the Church (that is, general Church leaders), and while I may be only a metaphorical finger in the body of Christ, even as a finger I have a responsibility to convey pain signals to the “brain.”
If I am but a finger in the body of Christ, I have a responsibility to be the best darn finger I can be and to transmit pain signals when integrity demands that I do so. In this sense, I have come to think of meeting with my local leader like this: expressing the pain I feel and doing so with candor and faith can be an act of consecration. That pain is something I lay on the altar, consecrating it to God and praying that it will be considered carefully (even if by people who are imperfect) and that the “brain” of the Church will act in a way that aligns with the will of God and honors my experience and my truth.
As an example, Johnson points to the 2015 exclusion policy, which banned children of same-sex couples from baptism and baby blessings, then rescinded in 2019. Five months later President Nelson stated at BYU:
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve have continued to seek the Lord’s guidance and to plead with Him on behalf of His children who were affected by the 2015 policy. We knew that this policy created concern and confusion for some and heartache for others. That grieved us. Whenever the sons and daughters of God weep—for whatever reasons—we weep (Russell M. Nelson, “The Love and Laws of God,” BYU Speeches, September 17, 2019).
Importantly, his words demonstrate that sincerely conveying pain signals “up the nerves” to the central nervous system is not “murmuring.” The kind of respectful, candid, and transparent acknowledgment of pain that I’m talking about here is not that and is, in fact, integral to the health of the body of Christ.
Sending pain signals up the nerve fibers does not constitute our only job. In addition—and certainly just as importantly—we are to labor to heal the body of Christ right where we are. We do this work individually by loving and loving and loving and loving some more (emphasis added in these excerpts from the book).
That last line bears repeating: “loving and loving and loving and loving some more.” All I can say to that, Brother/Dr. Johnson, is amen, Amen, and AMEN!
-Marci
This is Part 4/4 of excerpts from When Church is Hard by Tyler Johnson. Also see