A Sunday Thought
Listen to the words of Amazing Grace without your own sentimental attachment. Then remember the former slavetrader writing those words in incredible gratitude.
And I wonder if we have lost too much of that awareness. All the things that have been part of who we are as followers of Jesus can get lost in our modern world. Especially for those of us in the mainline tradition. Have we gotten lost in our frantic efforts to stay alive, to make a difference, to feel relevant and important? And in that lostness have we forgotten what it is we are always all about? Love, and meaning, and hope, and an honest and exciting challenge to come up with the wisdom of life?
The following came across the computer on Thursday and I thought it would be a good way to end this. I have a hunch that underneath what Diana Butler Bass is saying, is that by losing so much of what makes us who we are, we have also lost the power of love. At least, that's one of my takes on it.
Luke 7:47 - Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."The depth of that comment is almost limitless. The power of its truth is probably inffinite. The success of its change to a person's life is the other side of miraculous.
Listen to the words of Amazing Grace without your own sentimental attachment. Then remember the former slavetrader writing those words in incredible gratitude.
Amazing grace, how sweet the soundListen to the words of It Is Well With My Soul. Hear the deep cry of pain relieved by love.
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!Listen to the words of Just As I Am. Then know the joy of these words of a person who was an invalid from age 30 through the rest of her life?
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Just as I am, Thy love unknownSimply put, that's what Jesus is talking about. What a thought!
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
And I wonder if we have lost too much of that awareness. All the things that have been part of who we are as followers of Jesus can get lost in our modern world. Especially for those of us in the mainline tradition. Have we gotten lost in our frantic efforts to stay alive, to make a difference, to feel relevant and important? And in that lostness have we forgotten what it is we are always all about? Love, and meaning, and hope, and an honest and exciting challenge to come up with the wisdom of life?
The following came across the computer on Thursday and I thought it would be a good way to end this. I have a hunch that underneath what Diana Butler Bass is saying, is that by losing so much of what makes us who we are, we have also lost the power of love. At least, that's one of my takes on it.
What Makes a Thriving Mainline Church When Many are Dying?
At a time when most mainline denominations are continuing to experience consecutive drops in membership, a critically acclaimed author presented what actually makes a mainline church thrive, The Christian Post reports. Diana Butler Bass, scholar and author of Christianity for the Rest of Us, presented some of her findings on thriving churches. Successful congregations: cultivate spiritual practices in daily life, promote tradition without using it as a fence to keep people out, and offer a quest for wisdom as opposed to pat answers. Butler Bass studied thriving congregations in the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ. "[M]illions of people would choose mainline denominations if we gave them something worth choosing," she opined.
--Crosswalk Religion Today Summary, 6/14/07
No comments:
Post a Comment