It’s all about relationship.
It was why He came--to make a
way for us to be united with the Father and with one another.
The commandments give us a
basic framework for how to be in good relationship to both God and man.
We mess it up all the time.
Our lives need continual repair
on this one.
Most churches seem not to have a
framework (dare I use the terms court and counselors—hang with me here, please)
to help the inevitable messes be mended and restored. It has to begin with a hope and intent of as much repair as
we can muster. (Can we get past
our idols of independence and pride enough to even consider investing in such a
thing?)
Good leadership in this aspect
is rare. Misused power in churches
is nothing new. I know of
some attempts of reconciliation talks, but they seemed to have only the words
of the matter as the goal in view (an appropriate starting place) but where
everyone could leave feeling they’d done their part and looked willing, maybe
even been willing to go that
far. What was missing, it seems,
was a heart level engagement where ground was dug deeply enough to determine
what the root of the issue was, and all parties willing to go to that more
honest yet necessary place.
We have not dared to ask or
expect enough of ourselves.
Do we have the capability and responsibility to really do good and to be
humble enough for true good to be gained?
But our failure is understandable since the church (us) has set aside
its beautiful if sharp tools for enabling us to actually live that way. We, the church, have a shed full of
brilliant equipment that has gotten far too dusty (antiquated, we fear) from
misuse. We tend to hack away at
one another with dull arguments instead of pulling on our work gloves, rolling
up our sleeves, and walking to pick up confession, repentance, pardon, and reconciliation. We have, instead, latched onto the
nipple of grace and drunk its lovely milk to excess, becoming a very fat baby
who cannot walk, let alone run the race of endurance. Grace is an absolutely breathtaking gift, but it is a
doorway that lets us begin a process forward together, not a bed for us to
wallow in our excuses alone, or in an orgy with our like-minded friends.
Any gathering of humanity will have problems. What we seem to need is a framework for
resolution, and a plan and the training for how to use those tools. There they sit, while we are usually no
further along in our peacemaking ventures than any other group, and quite
likely in our arrogance will do far more damage at very deep levels. Most churches don’t even seem to have
enough of a structure for resolution for it to fail. Need I state the evidence?
Can we willingly offer ourselves
toward the greater good of reconciliation?
Can we submit ourselves under
good leadership and wise counsel to work together for what we will never have
if we are isolated?
Can we, church, pray for able
leaders who will have the wisdom and discernment to guide fairly and rightly,
to know how to be an example and oil the gears for people to come together with
vision and care, all working together in the process and who will, themselves,
embrace honest relationships of accountability so that the arrangement is
prepared to prevent the risk of corruption?
Can we be a people who would be willing to enter into such a
process?
Of course we will have our
differences. Reconciliation isn’t
to get everyone to look like the same kind of cookie on the plate. We don’t have to see everything the same
way, nor should we. But the church
has laid its embarrassingly dirty linens out there on display with no apparent
intent to get itself together. I
am not even sure we’ve admitted a need to. We are much more inclined to focus on someone else’s laundry
stains, or crawl to our corners and lick our wounds, or staunchly move on to
greener pastures. That was not
exactly the heart of the 23rd Psalm’s resting place. I wonder how many other parts of His
Holy Word we’ve read through a consumer’s lens and used to justify our actions
of separation.
For God’s sake we are supposed
to be a community. “By this all
men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35). Oh my, have we failed.
Love was supposed to have
been a hallmark of the church. We
have rather kept far enough away from each other that we haven’t needed to face
the contemptuous realities of either ourselves or of one another. Perhaps we have just warred in more
stiff and prideful ways than the world.
Lent begins in a week. It is forty days of opportunity. Forty days that may feel like a
wilderness. But He has given us
ways to turn the wilderness into fruitful gardens. Perhaps we could set aside some time we’ve given to other
things and seek out His heart and ways for mending a relationship. It’s time to
begin doing some of the work of our fields. A harvest is ready, and we’ve often not even prepared
ourselves for the task. Perhaps
today we could each take one step forward. And tomorrow another one.
The gospel IS relationship. How are we telling the story?
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