ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 30, 2022
What does it mean to be community? As followers of Jesus, the answer is both simple and complex. Whenever someone says something is simple and complex, I usually roll my eyes and give a sigh of dissatisfaction. Yet, in this case, I hold strong to the paradox. In Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he suggests we need to be cautious and not do things that might upset those who are new to the faith. In the same letter, he suggests that we not conform to this world, but be transformed by the act of renewal, changing to what is good, acceptable and perfect. There are times when these two things come into conflict. How do we remain compassionate to those who are still young in their faith, while also remaining faithful to the expectation that we will continue to evolve, grow and become something new. The two ideas tug on each other. There are times in the history of the church where we rolled over those who were still learning the basics of the faith, and there have been many times when the church has refused to be renewed and transformed for a new moment of time out of concern for those who were not quite ready. Do you hear the challenge? As a pastor, this is one of the great tensions I deal with every single day. Sadly, it is hard to measure in the moment whether a decision was good or not, and exactly what do you measure? I think about the church in Nazi Germany, and the small community of Jesus followers who stood against the hatred. Many of them died in concentration camps. A lot more Christians made the decision to stay with the state sanctioned church that gave its blessing to the Nazi ideology. Now, I understand that Nazi Germany is an extreme example, but if the measure of success was the number of people who attended church, it was the state-sanctioned church that supported the Nazis. But who was faithful? Was the pastor who decided to keep his job, keep quiet, and preach a watered-down Gospel faithful to God in that moment? How about the one who was hung with a handful of others who refused to give their allegiance to Hitler?
Let us listen and discern, O Gracious God. And even when we feel discomfort deep within our spirits, let us not assume it is your voice telling us to sit still. Maybe it is you telling us it is time to take a step, take a risk, and become something we have yet to determine. Whatever it is you need us to do, we make ourselves available to you at this moment. Amen.
