Essay #3

January 7, 2007

In one paragraph, state your hopes and concerns regarding the church and its mission.

    The church has always been a place of both comfort and challenge for me. It is my hope that the church remain both of these places not only for individuals, but for the world. At its best, the church provides a place of refuge and sanctuary for those experiencing persecution, be it political, mental or spiritual. As a sanctuary, the church embodies the love of God for the world and for each of us individually. As a place of refuge, the church allows each of us and all of us together to rest in our faith, taking comfort in our identity as beloved children of God. Yet, at its best, the church also challenges each of us and our world. The church lifts up a different way of living and being in the world and challenges all of us to live differently. At its best, the church challenges us to work for justice, peace, equality and freedom. At its best, the mission of the church involves looking for God’s presence in the world and working to further God’s kingdom on earth. My concern, therefore, is that the church will lose sight of this vision and pay attention instead to semantics and small details: to the color of our skin, the name by which we address God, the place in which we worship (to name only a few). My concern is that the church will become too much a part of the world to be able to critique and change the world. My concern is that the church will stop looking for God’s mission in the world and follow only its own.

Posted in religion, spirituality by Sarah