Now if you think that’s a funny euphemism, it’s fitting for the discussion at hand because it comes from a country song about dancing. Why this is fitting is because the dance Jolie had in mind was not just any techno-boppin’, Bob Seager screamin’ affair. No, Jolie was from Alberta and so if it was going to be called a dance it was going to need a little bit o’ country as well.

This is precisely where the problem came for me. For one, I had never envisioned my wedding ceremony ever having anything to do with country music (for that matter, I had also never envisioned it having anything to do with A cappella music but that’s a story for another occasion.). For me, country music has always sat right next to body odour on a bus, or root canal’s - things you sometimes have to endure but never willingly. For two, and probably because of reason number one, I had never learned how to dance “country”. I had been to enough high school dances in my day to make my way through the rock n’ roll songs (albeit quiet awkwardly) but dancing like that really doesn’t involve knowing any steps, you just kinda shake around a little until the song is over. Country, on the other hand, was a totally different kettle of cat-fish. As I had learned from being at a few of Jolie’s other family events, it involved knowing certain steps, and the most basic of these was known as the country “two step”.

Can I get a “yeehaw!”?

Now, because I was going to be the guy in a penguin suit, I knew that I needed to at least master this step. Without question, people would be watching me - people that wore cowboy boots, big belt buckles, and thick, burly mustaches - and so it was imperative that I learn the steps and pull it off. So in the days leading up to the big day, my bride to be taught me to dance like the country lover her relatives all wished me to be. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Over and over we ran through the simple movements and after a few days of trying I rather clumsily got it. Actually, I got it so well that on the night of the reception, as the Billy Idol gave way to Brookes and Dunn, I can honestly say that I felt comfortable enough to hold my own on a dance floor filled with seasoned, “two step” veterans.

“Hello everyone. My name is Andy and I dance the two step.”

So why all this learning to dance talk? The reason - and forgive me if this transition is somewhat clumsy - is because I think a church engaged in mission is a lot like a person learning to dance. And perhaps more specifically, my sense over the last number of years is that the church in the west is being called to learn a new step. For a long time, we’ve danced like the rock n’ roll heros that we have all been. We’ve done mission a certain way, and it’s been fine. But the day has changed, the land around us has changed, we’re in a different world now, and the new world, like an Alberta prairie, requires us to learn a new step.

In case we’re still not clear with this, our Canada has changed and the change is only going to accelerate over the years ahead. But none of this needs to cause us fear it just means that we need to prepare ourselves to learn. We need to learn a new way of being and acting in our world. He’s given our church a special calling: learn the new steps that are required to live in the new Canada. To be sure, we’re not the only church that is learning these new steps, many are, but we’re one of the churches and this is a unique calling. It’s the calling of a “pioneer”.

So what do we know about the “steps” so far?

Over the next couple of newsletters I’m going to try and articulate for us some of the things I have seen us learning. For now though, before we even get out on the dance floor, I do want us to be very certain about at least one lesson. The lesson is that the dance is fundamentally about love. We can learn all the steps, study all the steps, practice all the steps, execute them flawlessly, but if we have not love, it’s not really a dance.

The reason we dance, the reason we even think about dancing, is because the one who has loved us has called us to love and serve our neighbours, even our enemies. If we don’t get this, we’ve failed before we’ve even begun.

For Jesus, this is where his life began and ended. This was the heart of his mission. This was the driving force behind every action, and every word. He lavished himself in the love of his Father and in return poured that same love out toward everyone he encountered.

And as our instructor in all of these things - incase that wasn’t already obvious - all he really says to us is go and do the same. “I’ve showed you the steps. Now go out and practice.”