It has been said that the Church exists for the non-members. At first thought that might sound a little funny, and yet it is true. The Church, we are told in scripture, is the body of Christ of which Christ is the head. So, we as the Church, don’t exist to satisfy our own desires and agendas but rather God’s. Few people would argue that point.
But just what is God’s agenda? That’s what people spend all their time arguing about. And while we are distracted by the arguments; the devil is busy establishing himself in God’s Kingdom on earth.
It is important to be Church not just do Church. Being Church is responding to the mission God has called us to; to love the world to life. “As the Father has sent me, eve
n so I send you.” (John 20:21b). Jesus was sent by his Father with all the resources needed to love the world to life and he sends us into the world to do the same. We are called to love; to love all God’s children, to love our brothers and sisters. Yet the arguments continue about how we are to love, and how we are to care, and who we are to love and care for.
At this point I am reminded of the old Nike ad; JUST DO IT.” Better to make a mistake loving than to make the mistake of failure to love. If we love the way Jesus loved, we will find little time to argue. Jesus says to the Pharisees over and over again; you argue about the Law but “you miss the weightier things in life.” In The Revelation of John, the angel warns, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (John 2: 4).
Love really is the key to the Kingdom. And yet the modern Church is often the last place people look for love. We often come across as judgmental, exclusionary, elitist, and self-centered.
My take on the Gospel is that our job is to love, God’s job is to judge. So, let’s JUST DO IT.
Father Bill Myrick
