Lenten thoughts - Week 1

We had two new couples visit our church this Sunday. One couple stayed and showed great enthusiasm for having found us. The other couple slipped out before the service was over. I don't know what hit them wrong, but obviously we were not what they were looking for.

What do you suppose we are really looking for when we come into a church? What thirst are we trying to quench and what hunger are we hoping to feed? What hole in our souls are we trying to fill? And how do we know when we have found the place to which our souls are being called?

Most people I meet these days tell me they're spiritual but not religious. That makes a lot of sense to me. I mean, pedophile priests, televangelist scandals, religious lobbyists brokering political power, people being shunned for who they are and violence committed in the name of religion are reasons enough to turn any thinking person right off. It's no wonder people would rather find their spirituality elsewhere - in nature, in a yoga class, in a book group, etc. It is really clear that our souls can find sustinence in such places. So why put up with the church - that fallible and often messed up institution? It sometimes seems the church is more concerned about what people believe and what they think than about how they act and what they do. Christianity has degraded, in many cases, into a faith stance, a certain set of intellectual beliefs - an opinion - instead of the relevant and life-giving spiritual practice it was meant to be.

I think in this era of rugged individuality - and of increasing isolation and alienation - there is great value to coming together in real community, even when it is challenging. There are simply somethings we just can't do alone. I also think there is great value in examining history and tradition and mining it for its riches instead of constantly creating new wheels. I think the great mystics of Christianity and other religions have touched on the very things that we all deeply hunger and thirst for, and it is a good thing for us to pay attention and listen to what they have to say. They have things to show us that we can't see yet.

So I thirst for a church where people are welcome to ask lots of questions - to struggle with tradition and feel safe to disagree. In fact, I thirst for a church where finding answers is not faith at all, but living into the questions is. I thirst for community that welcomes us to show up exactly as we are - and where everyone feels the profoundly accepting love that Jesus showed everyone by his words and actions the minute they walk in the door.

I suppose no church can be that for everyone and some people will not find what they are looking for here. But, then again, if one church fit everyone's needs perfectly, there wouldn't be much dimension to Christianity. I think the deepest beauty is in the full, varied spectrum. I at least hope that the people who feel called to be here at Grace Church will find not only what they are looking for, but what they most deeply need.