11 May 2022
The church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. (Ephesians 1:23)
The Church is always meant to be embedded in the needs of the world, being the actual physical presence of Jesus and purveyor of His good work.
People who think and write about this stuff call this being incarnational. Amazingly and powerfully, we embody Him as He fills and embraces us:
“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)
Just as Jesus is God incarnate (in the flesh, here and now), so the Church is to be Jesus incarnate—His hands and feet in the here and now. This is a hugely important aspect of our understanding of the purpose of the Church and God’s mission in the world.
God is on a mission. He always has been. And He has a Church—you and me and all the Christians on earth—to carry out that mission.
The local church is not a social club, though love and mutual support are undeniably baked into church life.
The local church is not an educational institution, though teaching and learning and study and growth are absolutely pivotal to who we are.
The local church is not a counseling center or a rehab, though healing from our wounds, gaining clarity, overcoming addictions, and recovering from our past should happen in a church all the time.
But all this is pointing to something beyond. All this is preparation for the mission.
Every local church belongs to Jesus and is defined by the mission He’s given it. No mission, no church. Simple as that.
God has things He wants to see done on earth and He has chosen to collect a people through whom He will accomplish His work. That group of people is otherwise known as the Church.
So let’s partner with Jesus, who (let’s remember) said at the end of that greatest of commissions:
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
That’s a promise we can count on.
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love”
Mother Teresa
A lot has been debated concerning the term anti-racist (at least in some of my circles) in the last couple of years. Here’s what I consider an excellent synopsis of the concept:
I sometimes visualize the ongoing cycle of racism as a moving walkway at the airport. Active racist behavior is equivalent to walking fast on the conveyor belt. The person engaged in active racist behavior has identified with the ideology of White supremacy and is moving with it. Passive racist behavior is equivalent to standing still on the walkway. No overt effort is being made, but the conveyor belt moves the bystanders along to the same destination as those who are actively walking. Some of the bystanders may feel the motion of the conveyor belt, see the active racists ahead of them, and choose to turn around, unwilling to go to the same destination as the White supremacists. But unless they are walking actively in the opposite direction at a speed faster than the conveyor belt—unless they are actively anti-racist—they will find themselves carried along with the others.
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A SOLID REMINDER…
A PRAYER…
“Jesus, today, in whatever way You see fit, work though me (and the Christians with me) to do Your work in this world.”