I'm beginning to wonder if the phrase "too good to be true" might apply to the potential of the Church.
I feel like in my exploration of the emergent church movement and what it would look like for the church to truly be a Christ-centered community that can permeate the surrounding community and create a positive change, that I'm only exploring a fairy tale. I grasp in theory that my age group is generally idealistic, but I think there's an equal level of discouragement that accrues as time passes and these ideologies are never achieved... and I'm left wondering if this discouragement is inclusive of my vision for the church. Is it too much to dream of people living the way someone lived 2,000 years ago? In my discouragement, I'm tempted to think it is. (This is your cue to to tell me to focus on the plank in my own eye and show some grace to thejerks children of God on the freeway...)
The philosophy is simple: Love Wins. It's not even exclusively a Christian ideal; it's the end that all of humanity is searching for in the midst of our own brokenness... but it's the means to that end that we tend to disagree on. Keeping Love at the forefront of life and faith feels like a prospect that's both painfully simple and increasingly impossible at the same time. Not to mention the paradox that occurs when keeping love first means abandoning a life driven by results, so if we're successful at living the way Jesus lived, then succeeding in living like Jesus did is no longer at the forefront of our thoughts and actions.
I feel like in my exploration of the emergent church movement and what it would look like for the church to truly be a Christ-centered community that can permeate the surrounding community and create a positive change, that I'm only exploring a fairy tale. I grasp in theory that my age group is generally idealistic, but I think there's an equal level of discouragement that accrues as time passes and these ideologies are never achieved... and I'm left wondering if this discouragement is inclusive of my vision for the church. Is it too much to dream of people living the way someone lived 2,000 years ago? In my discouragement, I'm tempted to think it is. (This is your cue to to tell me to focus on the plank in my own eye and show some grace to the
The philosophy is simple: Love Wins. It's not even exclusively a Christian ideal; it's the end that all of humanity is searching for in the midst of our own brokenness... but it's the means to that end that we tend to disagree on. Keeping Love at the forefront of life and faith feels like a prospect that's both painfully simple and increasingly impossible at the same time. Not to mention the paradox that occurs when keeping love first means abandoning a life driven by results, so if we're successful at living the way Jesus lived, then succeeding in living like Jesus did is no longer at the forefront of our thoughts and actions.
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