I Heart Element - by Benjamin NeSmith

Reading what you have written in the past can be enlightening in many ways. Sometimes, it can be quite difficult to do. But sometimes, those latent  words do something to you, especially in a season of trials. It's like listening to a self from the past, who speaks to you with a fresh voice and timeless wisdom for today.

Below is what I wrote a few years ago for one of Element's anniversary gatherings, where we were encouraged to share why we "heart Element." I knew I would be adding my voice to the chorus of stories of how God brought me to Element. I didn't know how meaningful these words would be to me a few short years later. I hope it means something to you, too.

I dreamed of a church that didn’t exist. 

This place, born out of a quiet but desperate discontent with what I was coming to know as the casual consumer Christian culture was only in my mind. But even though this church didn’t exist, I knew all about it. It is a place where things are stripped down and layers are peeled back to reveal a dedicated group of Christians trying to do things Biblically. It is a place where we don’t just say we’re a part of the family of God, but we try to actually treat each other like family. A place where warm openness and honesty trump fake, stuffy formalities. A place where music is an overflow of our family’s heart for our Creator set to rhythm and melody instead of being something that divides or bores people. It’s a place where politics and hierarchies miraculously don’t exist, and are replaced instead by ownership and equality before God. This dream church is a place with room. Room to grow. Room to heal. Room to be exactly who God made you to be, to be loved for it, and to love in return. With room but not so big that you get lost in it. A place with mini-churches that make up the larger church. Smaller family units where Acts chapter 2 has a chance of being lived out. It’s a place where service to God and His kingdom is inspired and not forced. Where guilt and frustration give way to freedom and relief. A place where we don’t exist for our own self-perpetuation, but to pour out love on the people around us. But, like I said, this church, this fantasy was nowhere to be found.

So I thought…

Do you know how amazing it feels when God gives you the desire of your heart? That is what happened the first time I read through Element’s website. So this wild fantasy of a church does exist. Here. In my city. 

I knew that I had found exactly what I was looking for. That God had taken what I thought was impossible, what didn’t exist, and dropped it in my lap. And after the first visit, I was home. Everything I had hoped for in a church, every ingredient I had in mind for a Biblically-based family of believers was there at Element Church.

Right from the start, I loved Element. I love our core values. Simplicity. Stewardship. Hospitatlity. Ownership. For my two years before being led to Element of thinking, talking and praying about what the true church should look like, these are literally the elements I ended up with. I love that we make mistakes. I love that we are only polished where we need to be. I love that when I tell people about Element, I rarely mention the music first (even though I love the music). I don't start by describing the messages or the leadership or the location or all the other items that one might look to check off a list when searching for a church home. I just usually say that it is a place where we love God together, as a family, and try to serve our city out of that same love. 

I love how I don’t get frustrated by church anymore. It’s not that we are perfect and that there are never any challenges to face here. We’re not and there are. It’s that because the heart of the church is in the right place, and my heart is aligned with our vision, so those little things don’t bother me anymore. I love that unlike so many other churches, we have been entrusted to take ownership of this family and its needs. When it's presented that way, so openly and confidently, I can’t help but to respond in proud service to my God, the people of this church and outside the church as well. I don’t feel obligated to serve here. No guilt, no arm twisting, no begging, no being talked down to. Just responding out of love to the needs of my brothers and sisters and those who aren’t yet. I love that each week we don’t have to sit through a set of directives from a “sage on the stage” who is a lot holier than us, the little people. I love that we receive thoughtful, open-ended, challenging messages that inspire us to further thinking, further study and further action. I could go on.

A church like Element is not supposed to exist. At least, that’s what I thought. But it does. Thank God it does. And I heart it. A lot.