From Hans Kung's book, On Being a Christian, as found in Brennan Manning's Book, A Glimpse of Jesus:
"The church of Jesus Christ is a home not only for the morally upright but for those who for a variety of reasons have not been able to honor denominational teaching. The Church is a healing community proclaiming the Father's indiscriminate love and unconditional grace, offering pardon, reconciliation and salvation to the down-trodden and leaving the judgment to God.
A Church that will not accept the fact that it consists of sinful men and exists for sinful men becomes hard-hearted, self-righteous, inhuman. It deserves neither God's mercy nor men's trust. But if a Church with a history of fidelity and infidelity, of knowledge and error, takes seriously the fact that it is only in God's Kingdom that the wheat is separated from the tares, good fish from bad, sheep from goats, a holiness will be acknowledged in it by grace which it cannot create for itself. Such a Church is then aware that it has no need to present a spectacle of higher morality to society, as if everything in it were ordered to the best. It is aware that its faith is weak, its knowledge dim, its profession of faith haltering, that there is not a single sin or failing which it has not in one way or another been guilty of. And though it is true that the Church must always dissociate itself from sin, it can never have any excuse for keeping any sinners at a distance. It the Church self-righteously remains aloof from failures, irreligious and immoral people, it cannot enter justified into God's kingdom. But if it is constantly aware of its guilt and sin, it can live in joyous awareness of forgiveness. The promise has been given to it that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted."
I read this passage nearly two weeks ago and the power of it is still resonating like a church bell within my chest. The vibration inspiring and unsettling at the same time. I view it as a part of the answer, a piece of the puzzle. If you were to hold this in one hand and a call to holiness and repentance in the other, I feel you would be moving in the right direction.
The painting above is Scene at the Entrance of a Cathedral by Karl Brullhoff. For more reading on the church see the February 4th post on my friend John's blog.
3 comments:
Great words! I agree that they resonate for days in ones mind. This is the fifth time I have read them and they are beginning to sink in. Would you support a smoking section at church? I had a friend who always thought this would be perfect for welcoming the downtrodden. I can't say I would go so far. Enjoy your cigarette outside and come on in when you are ready (we have some who do this at church and it's great).
One more thing, I can't see your photo for some reason. I followed its link and was told I was forbidden because I had the wrong browser. Any ideas?
I realize not everyone who smokes is downtrodden. Sorry for the stereotype if you are reading this and are a smoker.
Forget the smoking section; I say let’s just rent out the Sunday school class rooms by the hour. (Ha) Like Jer said, this stuff needs to be held in one hand with the call to live holy lives in the other, Jesus NEVER excused people's sin, he consistently confronted people with their need for a savior. Just as Zachias’ response to Jesus was to right the wrongs in his life so should others feel the need to fall at Jesus’ feet, repent of their sins and live changed lives when those same people meet the same Jesus through us. Making non-believers comfortable should not be the goal of our relationships with them, we should be out to present the message of the cross clearly and with conviction and out of a life that echoes the truth we say we believe.
We are the only Bible this careless world will ever read
We are the sinner’s gospel; we are the scoffer’s creed
We are the Lord’s last message, given in deed and word
What if the type is crooked, what if the print is blurred.
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