The Good, the Bad, and the Church
One of my favorite quotes comes from a monk named Carlo Carretto. He writes:
“How much I criticize you, my church, and yet how much I love you!
You have made me suffer more than anyone,
and yet I owe more to you than to anyone.
I should like to see you destroyed, and yet I need your presence.
You have given me much scandal,
and yet you alone have made me understand holiness.
Never in this world have I seen anything more compromised, more false,
And yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful.
Countless times I have felt like
slamming the door of my soul in your face
And yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your sure arms.
No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you.
Then, too – where would I go? To build another church?
But I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects.
And again, if I were to build another church, it would be my church, not Christ’s church.
No, I am old enough. I know better.”
Carretto captures the tension that exists in seeking church transformation and renewal. There is much that we find that needs changing or even abandoning, and yet there is much that echoes the melody of God’s heart–his compassion and mission. It is easy to attempt to vilify that which we wish to change instead of celebrating the parts that are right. And yet, we can not get so wrapped up with a pie-in-the-sky attitude that we do not take on the hard and difficult task of challenging and confronting those parts of our system that flow more from our own agendas and traditions than they do from God’s heart.
To sort through these tensions, we must first commit to the discipline of fully surrendering ourselves to God’s heart and will. It was once said that it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. By pouring all of our passions, desires, and plans through the prism of God’s heart, we will become more able to distinguish within the church that which is good–flowing from God’s heart–and that which is bad–flowing from our own agendas and traditions.
By allowing transformation and renewal to flow from our lives as they are being lived close to God’s heart, we will minimize the potential for building a church that honors ourselves and will instead build a church that honors and reflects Jesus Christ.
Keep on living unleashed!
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