I have been writing recently about "the Great Ends of the Church" - that list of holy purposes to which we as the church have been called. The Great Ends have been part of our Presbyterian tradition in America since 1910, and they are found in section F-1.0304 of the Book of Order:

 

The great ends of the Church are:

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind;

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God;

the maintenance of divine worship;

the preservation of the truth;

the promotion of social righteousness; and

the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.

"The shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God" is something at which Presbyterians seem to excel. I have read literally hundreds of congregational self-studies and MIFs (Mission Information Forms describing pastor call opportunities). Almost every congregation describes themselves as a "warm and friendly church" or some variant thereof. And in most cases, I believe it is true. Presbyterians are good at caring for one another.

One of the best discussions of spiritual fellowship is Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, a thin volume he prepared for pastors-in-training. Early in the book he notes, "Christian community is not an ideal we have to realize, but rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate." This is a simple yet deeply profound observation. We are connected to one another in and through Jesus Christ, who is the one who calls us to himself and therefore into community with one another.

We serve the Great End of "the spiritual fellowship of the children of God" when we welcome one another as we welcome Jesus himself. This is something we typically do well when the other person is someone who is like us in race, culture, or social class. That is not always the case when the other person is different. Issues of race, immigration, and prejudice are prominent in our nation today. Predominantly white, Euro-American denominations like ours are increasingly becoming aware of "white privilege," "implicit bias," "systemic racism," and more. These are topics that persons of all backgrounds should seek to understand. But as the church, we do not merely approach these topics because of a secular understanding of power and equality. We seek to address them because the spiritual fellowship of the children of God is in and through Jesus Christ, in whom "there is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ" (Gal. 3:28).

Our Book of Order puts it this way: "The Gospel leads members to extend the fellowship of Christ to all persons. Failure to do so constitutes a rejection of Christ himself and causes a scandal to the Gospel" (G-1.0302). While overt racism, classism, and ageism are fairly easy to spot, we may not be as fully aware of the subtle and implicit ways we are rejecting Christ among us. For example,

Sometimes, making room for the other requires us to be less protective and defensive of our own space and comfort zones. That is the humility of Christ; grace in practice. An excellent resource for building a more inclusive community is the book Inclusion: Making Room for Grace by Eric H.F. Law. Another resource for understanding implicit racism and privilege is Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving. The latter has been recommended for church-wide study by our General Assembly Co-Moderators.