Learning Spiritual Rhythms

An Outreach Magazine Article (Published on January 13, 2023)

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). The perfecting of our faith is both taught and caught. As we mature in Christ, there are truths that we learn and others that we embody or practice.

As a Black girl, I grew up attending small churches in South Carolina with my family. At several of them, young and old would sing in the choir or proclaim the good news from the pulpit.

As a child, we didn’t just recite Easter Sunday speeches; we also served as ushers. Literally, they gave us badges, and we wore uniforms as we welcomed the saints of God. When we weren’t serving, we attended Sunday school, or vacation Bible school in the summer, or sang in the children’s choir. I didn’t know a lot of Scripture then and wasn’t sure if I were saved, but I was close to God. I knew my church and our people. 

I knew what was perceived as reverent behavior: sitting quietly in the pews and not being disruptive in the Lord’s house. I knew what felt normal: looking down the pew or across the aisle and seeing my grandparents, a grand aunt, my mother, a cousin or a friend who was just as true as our blood. I knew what was unacceptable or undisciplined: eating, talking or chewing gum during the service…

Read the FULL Outreach Magazine Article here: https://outreachmagazine.com/features/73663-natasha-sistrunk-robinson-learning-spiritual-rhythms.html

Remembering Our Legacy

An Outreach Magazine Article (Published on November 17, 2022)

While church growth and big churches have been heavily promoted in recent years, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many churchgoers felt lonely and isolated. They couldn’t name a single person from their congregation with whom they had an intimate relationship. Real community was and still is lacking. 

Things were different growing up in my Black church. Multiple generations of entire families shared the pews. My maternal grandmother, who passed this past summer at age 95, was the “mother” of the church—the same church where she was baptized, where she remained in service for all her days and where she sang with her siblings, her children and their children. That was a strong community. That kind of legacy is rich and rare today in a society that is far more mobile and thus more disconnected. I’m not suggesting we have to stay in every relationship or church situation, but we need to value the old way of committing to stay. 

While we all work, serve and minister in different ways, the longer we do this important kingdom work, the more we realize that some of the teachings and practices of old are still applicable now and will be in the future…

Read the FULL Outreach Magazine Article here: https://outreachmagazine.com/features/73023-remembering-our-legacy.html

Uncharted Territory

An Outreach Magazine Article (Published June 21, 2022)

“None of us knows what we are doing.”

That’s the statement I made when giving a recent keynote address to college students. I was honest with them because all the “noise” we hear today tells us that we are supposed to know what we are doing, and if we don’t know, we must pretend that we do. The reality is, this is perhaps the most uncertainty that our country has experienced in my lifetime. 

Sure, we have experienced uncertain times before. I have lived through a few wars, but we were mostly united as a country through them. The uncertainty following 9/11 also promoted a renewed patriotism and support for first responders. I was directly impacted by the housing crisis of 2008. We were economically unsure for that season, but we recovered. 

However, my generation has never seen anything like what we are experiencing today. The issues seem to be compounding: COVID-19, the racial injustices of recent years, political divides, economic uncertainty, the mass exodus of employees, climate change, the constant cycle of misinformation. These and more remind us daily that there is a lot we don’t know. We do not trust each other, and we are uncertain if we can even trust ourselves.

Read the FULL Outreach Magazine Article here: https://outreachmagazine.com/features/leadership/71598-uncharted-territory.html