I lay awake at night strangled by the tensions of denominational debate about who is and who is not entitled to this or that. Let’s learn about this denomination because some are finally becoming affirming, let’s debate this churches approach- and all that comes to me is…..blah blah blah, I just long for my community to know Jesus. During those moments I think to myself; you shouldn’t feel that way, there is so much progress taking place in creating inclusion in the church and it’s true. I am part of an amazing organisation that is doing great work in creating an equal place at the table for all people; this is important work and yet all I want is to share Jesus. I sometimes feel that if I’m not part of this movement or that, if I don’t volunteer here or there that I somehow don’t care enough about my tribe. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is I am wearing myself out trying to do and to be this or that for our community when what I really want is Jesus and to share Jesus with those who have been told that God doesn’t love them. The Gospel really is good news and yet all the noise and tension surrounding our faith has damaged something so precious that we rarely taste the sweetness of its fruit.
If we started this thing called church (something Jesus said would live forever) over again, modelled solely on the love of God and the life of Jesus Christ what would that church look like?
I think we might welcome the stranger. We would feed the poor and pray for those in need of healing and hope. I think we would worship God with our whole life not our spare change. We would do this not out of obligation but because the law of love is written on our hearts. I realise how naïve this all sounds, and yet the simplicity of this seems far more achievable than all the debates in all the denominations about the whosoever.
I think this is what Jesus did when he came to Earth. He didn’t do away with the law, he fulfilled it and gave us a new way. The old leaders still stated their cases, debated the scriptures, denied the Christ, held onto their authority…..while a small band of outcasts simply talked about Jesus. They told stories about how he had fed them and prayed for them and cared for them. They learned how to do what Jesus had been doing and they served other people. They told others about Jesus and explained that in Him they could receive eternal life and love. They explained that in Christ they would never be alone or discarded; that all were welcome to come. Thousands put their faith in Jesus, today that number is in the millions.
This new way brought healing to those who had been told they were not welcome, that they were unclean. This new way drowned out the voices of the prideful Pharisees who proclaimed their superior theology. You know those Pharisees who killed the Messiah and who would kill him again today just to be right about their church’s doctrine. Jesus spoke to these Pharisees saying in Matthew 23:27
“27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.”
Jesus explained that everything these people did was for show. Jesus said listen the what they have to say but don’t do what they do because they don’t practice what they preach. We have only one Rabbi, his name is Jesus and he died for all of us, including the very people who had him arrested and crucified. The law of love is written on our hearts when we follow Jesus, the rest is a resounding gong and has no value.
So I can continue to lose sleep over these debates or I can share this amazing good new of Jesus Christ with my community and in doing so silence the hurtful voices of those who love to argue over something that was settled when Jesus said …..it is finished. I choose the latter and while I will remain diligent in helping create an equal place at the table for all people, my focus will be on the amazing love of God through the life of my love Jesus Christ.
