The Greatest People Ever

I am a church kid. That confession must be made first, so that the full scope of what I am going to say in this blog can be expressed. My parents were leaders in our little church. Mom always played piano, she directed the drama team, and she was the "church clerk". Dad was a Sunday School teacher and all around church supporter. I was around church people. I saw pastors that worked, and pastors that didn't fit. I saw times when ministry gelled, and times when it was a train wreck. I have scene behind the scenes. You might could say, I have seen the "Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".

I pastored in Waynesville for 6 years (YP and Sr. Pastor). I worked with some really great people- and some that I still try to forget. There, I saw leaders work great together, and I saw them strangle each other (okay, I am using hyperbole). I saw them encourage one another, and at times, tear one another down.

To put it succinctly, church people have been the best thing that has happened to me, and the worst thing that has happened to me. To this day, I still have scars- and I still carry baggage. There are times at night when anxiety over takes me, and I am tortured by past experieces as a leader in Christ's church. I am being real here. It is hard to not be emotionally moved even now as I reveal what I consider to be a thorn in my flesh: that I beat myself up bad, and I was taught to do that in church, by others who beat me down and others down.

Then, I moved to Asheville and decided to replant a church. I came here, knowing that I would never pastor like I used to- and I refused to have a church like I had always been part of. And it was tough! People didn't get it. People didn't get me. People left- and not before the dealt out some pain. Apparently, they too had recieved the same training I had.

But, I have to confess this. It is in my heart so deeply, and events this evening just reminded me of it even more. This church, NHC, the replant, has become the most beatiful and loving church community I have ever been part of. I have enjoyed my past church experiences; there were many wonderful people whose paths we were blessed to cross. There are long lasting relationships that are still cherished to this day. But, I have to tell you: I have never felt so blessed in my life, than I am right now, by the people at NHC. The Lead Team is tight- like finish each other's sentences tight. It is so liberating to just be myself. To talk like me, and joke like me, and act like me, without fear of not being "pastoral" of judged for being "immature" or "worldly" (some of the the kinder names I have been wrongfully called). Here, I am me, Daniel Rushing. The deeply flawed human. The pastor whose mouth often opens for he thinks. The pastor who hates suits, has long hair, and is occasionally crude. The pastor who has a deep spirit life that is understood. I am not a Sunday showman, but a teacher and mentor. I am not expected to call fire down from heaven, but am begged to stir the fires within. I can laugh, love, be vulnerable, and be me.

NHC, you have made me, a better husband and father. You have allowed me the privelege to sleep at night without worrying about what you're saying about me, or each other. I love my church!

This week has been rough. My van broke down 40 miles from home yesterday. I got up early this morning, got the part I needed, then went to work. I came home and Dave met me to fix my van. But, we could not get it fixed tonight. I was in a GRUMPY mood. I rode to Brittany and Dave's to get my wife, who had been babysitting their kids, feeling the defeat of not having my own vehicle to travel in for Christmas. I was angry. On the way, Dave called and said he was buying me some food and would meet me at his house with it. I was there, waiting on him to come, so I could leave with my wife and kids and just sulk. My stupid van! Why couldn't it just work?

Dave came, and I decided to just sit down and eat with him. Something, I have rarely felt doing with other church people. I am running the risk of being way to transparent, but most of the times, I try to get away from church people quickly. But not here, and not Dave. As I ate with Dave and Brittany, my evening brightened up. We laughed, and cut up. I made a lot of stupid jokes- and they afforded me a courtesy laugh. But it was wonderful. Beautiful. When I left, I was not mad. I was not sulking. I was happy, and at peace with the world. Now, that's the kind of church I am part of. That's the kind of church we're building. NHC is without a doubt, full of the greatest people in the world. And that, my friends, is not hyperbole.