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What is the purpose of the church? That’s a great question and one that many people in today’s world are asking. They are looking for something, but not sure what it is, or how to find it.
Most often, the secular world views the Christian church as suspect, due to the harms of Christianity’s past and the politicized versions of Christianity that also exist today. Yet, both of these are far from Christ’s true expression. Unfortunately, negative pre-judgment means that many people are missing out on what they are looking for—the uplifting, life-giving message found in Jesus’ counter-cultural teachings.
According to the Franciscan Sage, Richard Rohr, in his book Jesus’ Alternative Plan, “We can only build (the church) on faith, on freedom, on truth. We cannot build on fear or anger. We cannot build on the negative. If we build on fear, in the end, all we will have is a house of fear. To build on anger is not to build at all, for anger will return to us.”
Today, many people are hostile toward many things, including Christianity. According to Rohr, “People derive lots of energy by being angry… in the end it’s a waste of time. Nothing is built.”
To be the church is to show an alternative path to the anger, fear, and suspicion we find so widespread in our world today. We reflect Jesus’ counter-cultural narrative by working together to be a place that feels different—peaceful, calm and caring, acting as Jesus’ non-anxious presence in the world.
Every moment of every day is another opportunity to demonstrate who Jesus is. We do so by how we speak and act toward others. While the secular world stands watching to see if we reflect what we claim, or prove what they already believe, Jesus is calling us to build something different, to better reflect his teachings of commitment, love and sacrifice—building up an alternative community that exudes the kind of peace that challenges the world’s assumptions and helps to heal its brokenness.
This summer, on Friday, August 28 from 8 am-1 pm, our church will host a Red Cross Blood Drive. I encourage all who are able to give this life-giving, essential gift as an offering unto God in gratitude for Christ’s redeeming gift of salvation. We can do for others what Christ has done for us—shed some blood to ensure life for others.
Please click here to register.
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