Tribe of Truth-Seeking, Boundary-Stretching Voyagers
JUSTIN GANSCHOW
It all began with a small cabin in the woods…
My adult faith journey has been shaped largely not by a single person, but by a tribe. In the late 2000’s, I was invited into a “small group” with 15 others who attended a local Evangelical megachurch. I’m pretty sure the invitation was extended begrudgingly because my fiancée was already a beloved member. We were young and vibrant, most of us starting our big kid careers and a few couples already had toddlers running around. We met on Sunday nights to study bible passages or a book that aligned with whatever the church was discussing at the time. We read things by Donald Miller, Rob Bell, Richard Rohr and others who were challenging mainstream church culture. It was out of this ritual of reading, reflecting, and discussion that the faith of my childhood and perspectives on the Church and God began to shift. Together in our uneasiness, we were safe.
Looking back over the past decade, the idea that impacted me most profoundly from that time was my perception of who/what God is. That was due, in part, to The Shack by William P. Young. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that prior to reading this book, my childhood image of God (an elderly white dude with flowing white hair and the body of a Greek statue) had never really been examined. And why should it have been? I grew up in a small Midwest town with very little diversity, went to a private college where I unconsciously segregated myself into groups that also looked/thought/behaved like me, and then went to a church that was more of the same, teaching much of the same. It was all I knew. That is, until I met a different version of God – three different versions, actually – in the pages of this book. There in the safety of my small tribe of curious believers, we could hash out our reactions, admit our past failures to see God in unexpected places, and reorient our vision to notice Her/Him/Them in the future. With that realization, I have become much more open to ideas about people, cultures, religions, orientations, and beliefs that are unlike my own. And in each of them, I can see God.
That tribe of truth-seeking, boundary-stretching voyagers was the heart that founded Imago Dei Church. Though they all have scattered now (with the exception of Cory and Vicky Brown), they will always be the faces of my faith.
Justin Ganschow lives in Dunlap, IL with his beautiful and brave wife, Gina and their curious dinosaur-loving son, Jude. He leads a team at Caterpillar that helps companies around the world improve culture and leadership so all people have a voice and go home safe to their families at the end of the day.