We pray to God we can be and do precisely that work in the world. It is so easy to lose sight of our motleyness and to lose focus on the good news. Some can be passionate in changing the world for the better or some can be indifferent to life on earth. It is easy to live our lives and ignore the gospel. As we engage, or refuse to engage, through our love in action, and in our conception of who we are, we rarely follow what Jesus learned, taught or commanded. Nothing, however, excludes us from being part of the body of Christ or followers of Jesus.
It is difficult to remember God's kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. God's justice is not an earthly justice. The way God's kingdom will come about is not the way earthly kingdoms appear. The church in the past, for the most part, recognized this and focused heavily on the eternal. As far as the world, the church's involvement was through charity and building empathy for those who struggle in this life.
The hierarchical structure of the institutional church remains, for the most part, a mirror of one old conception of the afterlife. In our collective imagination God is conceived in heaven above, we are on the earth, and hell is below us. The church functions as a cosmic, connecting elevator.
In that structure it is easy to lose the gospel and motleyness. When Jesus was not given to save all the world and when we assign hierarchical importance to people and their roles, or judge them by what they believe, it is easy to lose the way of Jesus.
Nuns and monks in religious orders can use repetitive, mesmerizing prayers to stay on a true life course. Worship is one way Creator uses to steer ourselves from temptation. Instead of those memorizing prayers we focus on music, word and sacrament. Together, all these can be earth-shattering, deeply life transforming. It allows us to vanish as individuals and, through the mystery of Communion, we become the body of Christ.
Yet it is easy to grow insensitive to how this happens in a ritual that we enact weekly. I know many who see their worship as a duty that is somewhat or outright boring. They feel the church should do something to truly be Christ's body , despite verse after verse in the Bible with the assurance that this is not so.
Christianity is a tandem effort with what can be done for social justice, using different tools with different goals. It may be another step after the fight for or against some perceived social justice issue. The Christian can recognize others, who think or act differently, have their names written in heaven as well. Christian faith can be a wellspring of hope when the fight is lost and when you are discouraged with the world.
I am thankful to be part of the body of Christ.
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