At the same time, I have no home in the church. The church I pastor is one where, too often, I am asked to pray for "our" troops who are risking their lives for "us". This is civic religion at its worst: we are so identified with the nation-state that we cannot conceive of a different. Liberal churches are no better. They too confuse the church with the society at large, and I simply can't enjoy their style of biblical interpretation.
So... where do I find a home? I've thought about starting an "evangelical peace fellowship" or somesuch, but I have to suspect that no one will come. Am I the only evangelical out here who thinks that Jesus meant it when he told us to forgive and turn the other cheeck?
1 comment:
It is foolhardy, at best, (as you pointed out) to think that justice will automatically lead to peace. Perhaps the solution lies not within the traditional church, but in something a bit more abstract, something that's based within a tangible ministry, rather than a traditional church setting. A ministry would provide a focus for the church, something to draw the members together, and render the church/state debate a bit more irrelevant.
The idea of a peaceful church is one that the members will have to be slowly led to, and in the end, will perhaps have to commit to on their own-- After all, if they believed that from the start, no doubt they'd already be in some third world country getting shot at.
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