Today’s Readings: Psalm 47; Acts 1:1-11; Luke 24:44-53; Ephesians 1:15-23
When I was a child, there was a couple in my home church that ruled the church as if it were their own personal roost. There names were Howard and Irene. They would use any tool at their disposal to get their way. All that mattered to them was that they get their way. They would scream and yell at meetings, they would gossip about people behind their backs, and they would initiate smear campaigns against anyone (lay or clergy) that was not doing what they wanted. They generally made life miserable for many people in the church. As I got older, I would ask my parents why folks in the church put up with this behavior. “The church is made up of people, and people are flawed,” my mother would say, “so we just have to accept that fact and put up with it.” As I look back on that explanation now, I would not have accepted my mother’s words. I would have challenged them. And why is that? Because I don’t believe the church is simply an institution like any other. To use the words from today’s passage from Ephesians, I believe “the church is Christ’s body” (Ephesians 1:23 from The Message). And as such, we should aspire to live as such – aiming to embody God’s love and grace through our words and deeds in ways that individuals in other institutions wouldn’t. So how do you view the church? Do you see it as just another institution – one in which you expect to deal with the same stuff you would encounter in other places; or do you see the church as the body of Christ – an identity that calls us to live differently? Til next time…
When I was a child, there was a couple in my home church that ruled the church as if it were their own personal roost. There names were Howard and Irene. They would use any tool at their disposal to get their way. All that mattered to them was that they get their way. They would scream and yell at meetings, they would gossip about people behind their backs, and they would initiate smear campaigns against anyone (lay or clergy) that was not doing what they wanted. They generally made life miserable for many people in the church. As I got older, I would ask my parents why folks in the church put up with this behavior. “The church is made up of people, and people are flawed,” my mother would say, “so we just have to accept that fact and put up with it.” As I look back on that explanation now, I would not have accepted my mother’s words. I would have challenged them. And why is that? Because I don’t believe the church is simply an institution like any other. To use the words from today’s passage from Ephesians, I believe “the church is Christ’s body” (Ephesians 1:23 from The Message). And as such, we should aspire to live as such – aiming to embody God’s love and grace through our words and deeds in ways that individuals in other institutions wouldn’t. So how do you view the church? Do you see it as just another institution – one in which you expect to deal with the same stuff you would encounter in other places; or do you see the church as the body of Christ – an identity that calls us to live differently? Til next time…
1 comment:
Not the disciples of Luke who know what to do after the ascension but the disciples of Acts who are staring up to the past uncertain about what to do next - I am. While waiting The Spirit(s) nudge them.
"I met him on the road thinking that mine was a heavy load. He said stop and rest awhile long enough to find your smile." - jack hardy
Waiting for and Listening for the Spirit that when I move I am centered in the Spirit.
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