Our walk with God is at one and the same time very personal, (One on one), and very connected, (in the Body of Christ.) If our goal is to please God and spend eternity in his Presence, the choices we make will depend on how we come to know God in both these ways.
I know it takes time to be holy. In my personal walk I need to give God access to my soul. Day by day I need to open my very heart to God. The Lord's Prayer, so simple, so easily said like a child's Christmas poem, when prayed...really prayed...will often help me know where to put the day's prayer emphasis.
It also takes the church to make a Christian whole. Our completeness, our wholeness, is not independent of the gifts and graces of the Body. The church of Jesus Christ is bigger than any of us can understand. No matter how large or small the congregation , it has its contribution to the whole church, but it also has things to learn from other members that may be different in many ways.
My own denomination has a tension between what might be terms sacramental and celebratory elements; or, between Methodistic-Episcopal roots and Revivalist-Pentecostal roots from the 19th century movement. A humble, even gentle dialogue between sincere brothers and sisters with strong feelings either way might reveal the possibilities of a both-and approach to worship, rather than an either-or. Two-thousand years of faith and wisdom belong to the whole body, and not just to those who consciously term themselves catholic. Catholic, by the way, is one mark of the one true church, and not the property of any denomination.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment