Driver’s Education for Life and the Church

I learned to drive on country roads around Fulton, Illinois. There were three of us students who rode with our teacher, Mr. Black, while we each took turns behind the steering wheel.

Country roads can be paved, but just off the pavement is usually a strip of loose gravel and then a ditch. Some of those ditches are deep – dangerously deep.

As we steered on the road and into corners, Mr. Black warned us about the danger of “over-steering.” What he was describing was the tendency for new drivers if they drove off the pavement to “over-correct” and end up in the ditch on the other side of the road.

Over-steering can happen not only on the road, but also in life. I also suggest that it can happen in the Church.

I  sometimes think back to my church planter pastor days to when we worshipped in a high school auditorium. We offered coffee and punch and people took their cups into the auditorium. This happened for seven years and one month as that was the length of our time at Lincoln-Way Central High School.

God then blessed us with an opportunity to build our own church building. We created a hospitality center with better coffee and even had Dunkin Donut holes for refreshments!

As we discussed our new space, there were a few people who advocated that to save the carpet in the sanctuary that we should stop having people bring their coffee into that worship space.

What was especially interesting to hear in this conversation was that we had laid down carpet squares in the auditorium for the very purpose of easy replacement, if there was a spill. We avoided the over-steering that came from a good place (desire to keep the auditorium clean), which could have unintentionally changed part of the church DNA of our welcome and hospitality.

Some people have asked about my impressions from Synod 2025. Synods are never just one thing and they are always hard to summarize.

I would say that generally this past Synod was more considerate in terms of tone and content. Again and again, Synod sought to hear from the variety of voices present and wanted to find a way to address concerns with one voice.

Maybe one way to put it is that Synod 2025 was concerned about “over-steering.” The direction of the CRCNA in various areas is clear, but it is also obvious that there is relational work to be done in the areas of trust and unity.

For that to occur well, we need to encourage finding and living out what I will call middle-ways.

I know that “middle-ways” is not a popular path or even a term that seems appealing. We like certainty and we also appreciate people who hold convictions about what they believe and even advocate for others to believe the same.

I get that and I agree with that, but by “middle-way,” I am thinking through how we need to be people of the “and.” For example, we need to be people of grace and truth.

“Middle-way” is not about being “lukewarm.” We should have certain core convictions, but we are also called to be people who are civil with one another and see each other as image-bearers of God. As one of my long- term mentors and friends Richard Mouw would say – let us encourage “convicted civility.”

Another image of what it means to be “middle-way” people is to think of the ministry of Jesus who walked among people. In the opening verses of Luke 14 and Luke 15, we have an example of the “middle-way” of Jesus.

The setting of Luke 14 is one where Jesus is found at the home of a prominent Pharisee – a religious leader. The setting of Luke 15 is one where Jesus is found at a gathering with tax collectors and “sinners.” Jesus walks with both and demonstrates this middle-way of being with both sinners and saints.

What does it look like for you and I to be “middle-way” people and not “over-steer” in our interactions and expressions?

One final illustration that I would share is from what I heard and learned while in the back seat of the family car when my parents would drive us away from church on a Sunday morning or evening to go back to the farm.

My parents would make comments about the worship service and my dad, more than my mother, would usually make some comments and sometimes he would “oversteer” and make a very negative comment.

My mother would respond with gentle words and this consistent phrase – “Lambert, it may not be what you liked – but I wonder who was blessed by the very same thing/sermon/song/prayer/ that you don’t like. I am sure God used it to bless someone.”

My dad’s critical tone usually softened and sometimes he would even say – “You’re right. It might not be for me, but I sure hope someone liked it.”

In our words and in our actions – may God keep us from oversteering and help us as we walk together as sinners and saints.

Thank you for joining me in seeking to journey (drive) well together and not oversteer!

In His Service with You,

Jul Medenblik

President, Calvin Theological Seminary