There is a mood today at work in the church — the mood of open season on the church. Fundamentalists are attacking what they think are signs of drifting away from the stalwarts of the faith; liberals are attacking the conservatives and calling them such things as jihadists; and the younger generation of Christians think the 40somethings and beyond are modernists who don’t get it. I wonder how a Jesus Creed perspective would approach such things … not that genuine constructive (important word here) criticism doesn’t have its place.
In my view, and I deal with this in chp 13 of 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed, we must be exceedingly careful about criticizing the church. Exceedingly careful. We can’t dismiss or diminish. We can grieve, but we must watch what we do.
We must learn not to love the “idea” of the church, but the “real” church.
The church is the group sitting in the circle around Jesus; the church is made of folks who, in their own way, participate in the work of Jesus in this world.
I wonder, how about you?, what Jesus would say about those who sat outside the room and nibbled away at his followers.
You know what Pentecost is? It is the Day when God’s Spirit empowered normal followers of Jesus to dare to be what God had called them to be.