There are three things I remember learning in the eighth grade.  Now, to be fair to my eighth grade teachers, I’m sure that I learned more than three things in this middle year of junior high school but these are the three events that I vividly remember.  First, I remember deciding in that year that I never again wanted to be in a position to talk in front of people.  This realization was a result of a bad experience I had while giving a report on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  It seems that I wanted to say – and had written on my paper – that Abe was shot from the rear but instead of the word “from,” my tongue must have slipped a gear and I said “in.”  They laughed, even my teacher laughed and at that moment I decided that would be the last time that I would speak in public.

 

The second thing I remember about eighth grade was an assignment in which we were to write our own obituary.  How would I want to be remembered?  What would be said about me in a few short sentences in the newspaper that would summarize my life?  I remember struggling with that assignment.  Once I got past the date of birth and date of death and the names of relatives, I was stumped as to how to present my life.  So many things flashed in my mind – could I say I was a good father and husband, involved in the community, caring for others?  Would the person writing my real obituary be able to say with sincerity that my life had made a difference? 

 

The other thing I remember learning in eighth grade was about DNA - you know, deoxyribonucleic acid.  What I remember most is that deoxyribonucleic was the first eight-syllable word in my vocabulary and once I learned it, I went around saying it just to sound smart – “deoxyribonucleic acid” – “deoxyribonucleic acid.”  It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I would really start to learn more than just the pronunciation. 

 

DNA is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms.  It’s like a set of blueprints for an organism.  An American and a British scientist working together in Cambridge, England officially discovered the molecular structure of DNA in March of 1953.[1] DNA is even more individually specific than the fingerprint and is the decider of traits and characteristics – quite literally, it’s how we’re wired.  It is so accurate that DNA tests can do everything from proving one’s biological lineage to convicting criminals with only the slightest shred of evidence.  If we wanted to know the exact breed of our new rescue puppy, that too could be done through DNA testing and anthropologists are currently trying to identify the ten lost tribes of Israel through DNA.

 

Scientifically, DNA is why I look the way I do and why I lose hair when I do.  It is my genetic identifier that is mine and mine alone.  Scientifically, I get lost in a hurry when I start talking about DNA.  In recent years, DNA has taken on more of a metaphorical meaning.  We now speak of DNA when we talk about how we prioritize our life both on a personal level and even in corporations and organizations.  It’s not uncommon to use DNA interchangeably with “core values.”  It is that which is at the core of our being that is a non-negotiable or, said another way, it is what someone would say about us in our obituary once they got past the dates and the relatives – it is what we stand for. 

 

Before we do too much self-examination, it makes sense to ground ourselves in the scripture text for today.  Mark Briley has been guiding us through Paul’s instructions to the Galatians in recent weeks.  This week, the lectionary shifts to Colossians.  The church at Colosse was different than the church at Galatia.  Galatia had some problems that needed a direct intervention – Colosse had very few immediate problems but reports coming to Paul made it sound like it might be on the verge of some issues and Paul wanted to be preemptive in his instruction.  Scholars refer to what Paul sensed as brewing trouble as the “Colossian heresy” – likely some false teachers that might be looking to infiltrate and affect the community.  They were likely being critical that this group was not following all of the laws to the letter of the law.  Colosse is one of two or three emerging communities that are talked about in scripture that Paul never visited but one of many under his jurisdiction that were forming in the area at the time.  Paul had a student intern in Colosse named Epaphras and he had done a good job organizing a group of Gentiles into an emerging church and it is likely that Epaphras was providing periodic updates back to Paul.  Paul may have been in prison at this time.  Other members of this Colossian congregation included Philemon and his runaway slave Onesimus who you can read about if you flip on back in the New Testament to the book of Philemon.

 

So Paul, taking the “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” approach, uses this letter to remind those in the Colossian church of their grounding in Christ, the basis of the foundational teaching that Epaphras had given them – he is writing to remind them who they are.  Paul wants to ground the new Christians at Colosse on a foundation that is unshakable, even in the midst of temptations that may lead them astray and remind them about what’s really important in the message.  He was reminding them of their spiritual DNA – that they are “known for their faith in Christ and love for each other and they should continue to lead lives worthy of the Lord.” (Colossians 1:4) 

 

What if that was your obituary.  “Jane M. Doe died today.  She was known for her faith in Christ and for her love of other people.”  If that’s all my obituary said, I would feel as though I had lived a successful life.  In the early 90’s, I served on the board of an organization known as CASA of South Central Indiana.  CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates - represent the rights of children who find themselves in court through no fault of their own.  Usually these are abuse and neglect cases where the best interest of the child needs a voice.  Upon leaving the CASA board, I was presented with a writing with which you may be familiar. “One hundred years from now it won’t matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank nor what the clothes looked like BUT the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.”  How would this world or maybe just your family or your marriage be different if your reputation – your DNA - was that you are known for your faith in Christ and love of others?

 

Just as individuals have DNA that informs who they are, so too, do organizations and congregations.  When I used to travel around the country working with congregations on ministry planning, one of the things I used to do on an initial visit was to ask leaders of the congregation what they thought their reputation was in the community.  Almost always, they would say that they were a friendly congregation.  On my next visit, I would arrive early and find the local hangout.  In many smaller communities, it was the local Wal-Mart.  I would find people that I thought looked open to being approached by a stranger and would ask if they knew where XYZ Christian Church was located.  Eight times out of ten, even in small county-seat towns, the person would not recognize the name of the church, which spoke volumes about the congregation’s reputation (or lack thereof).  For those who actually recognized the name of the church, I would then ask a more probing, hard-hitting question.  “What do you know about that church?” or “can you tell me anything about who they are?”  Almost always the answer went something like this – “sure, they have a great rummage sale every October” or “yes, you just can’t beat their chicken noodle suppers.”  There were also answers like, “they’re always in the middle of a church fight” or “they’re the rich church” but rummage sales and chicken noodle suppers still topped the list.

 

Don’t get me wrong here – I like a good rummage sale or chicken noodle supper just as well as the next guy BUT, I would find myself wondering, “is this really what a church should be best known for?”  I would always feel a bit guilty reporting this back to the congregational leaders and only once was I asked to leave a meeting because I didn’t know what I was talking about. 

 

Kevin Ford, Chief Visionary Officer of a consulting group called TAG put church DNA in perspective like this – “The average American has no clue what makes one church different from another, or one denomination different from another. Sure, insiders can distinguish the theological differences between the ELCA and LCMS, or the PCA from the PC/USA. But theological distinctions do not constitute DNA. Code is not about beliefs. It is about personality. It is about identity. It is about who we are. The average American thinks "church" in very stereotypical terms. Face it - most churches get lumped in with what the media portrays. That is our "industry" code.”[2]

A healthy, productive and successful church is built upon a clear and distinctive code. Every church has a code. What makes our church different from the church down the street? Recently, we’ve been clarifying for our kids that just because we have the word “Christian” in our name that doesn’t mean that the Lutherans or Presbyterians are not “Christian.”  So, what is it that Geist Christian Church known for?  What is our reputation?  What is our DNA?  What makes us different?  I haven’t done it but it would be interesting to sit in Starbucks on 96^th for a while and ask the question – “what do you know about Geist Christian Church?”  I would hope that we would hear answers that match who I and our congregation’s leaders think we are.  We’ve said that the DNA of this congregation could be described with words like “dynamic” and “growing.”  I would think we might hear things like “strong pre-school and a passion for youth and children.”  It would make my day if someone would say, “I’ve heard that they are committed to lift one another in prayer, have strong outreach programs and have high quality worship and music.” 

 

The code shapes church culture, values, focus and mission. It creates the core ideology. It creates a context for vision and strategy to emerge. It shapes the stories we tell, the rituals we observe, the unspoken rules we follow. It is crucial that everyone in the organization be committed to a healthy code. The code sets the direction for all the members of the church.

 

Paul was telling the church at Colosse that they had a code – a DNA – (even though it would take another nineteen hundred years to call it that).  Their code was a good one and they shouldn’t forget it.  Don’t forget, he told them, that you have faith in Christ and love for one another.  Such a DNA bears fruit not just among their emerging congregation but in the world.  That’s what I’m here to tell you today.  Individually and as Geist Christian Church, we have DNA at the core of our very being for God breathed life into us – created us in that image and you have faith in Christ and love for one another.  It is true that in our humanness, we have other tendencies.  But in those times of temptation, reach down inside of yourself and remember who and whose you are.   

 

What difference do we make? Will we have influenced lives?  Occasionally, Randy Spleth will give me a nugget of parenting wisdom and since they are a few years ahead of us in the parenting cycle, I make it a point to listen.  One of the most memorable is what he tells Andrew and Claire when they leave the house to go to someplace without a parent in tow.  Randy says that he simply reminds them, “remember who you are.”  With our spiritual DNA clearly established and the opportunity to come around this table with other Christians week after week, perhaps the best advice I can give you as you go into the world this week to interact with others, to work, to be parents and spouses and the best advice I can give to you as a gathered community of Geist Christian Church is simply to give you this reminder – “remember who you are and whose you are.”

 

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