Ever notice how our life seems to be about gathering “stuff”? We start off with little, accumulate bits and pieces over the years, marry someone and merge our respective “stuff”. Then you have children and gather more and more, until eventually we die…. and leave our stuff to someone who already has enough stuff!
We all know that things can pile up until it is just too much to take. We have to clean up the mess. Whether it is a messy room or a messy set of circumstances at work or at home, the time comes when we just want the mess cleaned up. A mess devalues something of worth. It might be a room we want to enjoy or a household where we want some peace and quiet. But, when it's messy, it can't serve its intended purpose.
True of churches also. Some denominations find themselves more in maintenance than mission mode, with structures that relate more to past needs and personnel numbers than present realities. It’s all too easy to get distracted from the original godly purpose and focus. The heart of the Ten Commandments [First Reading] is the centrality of God in our lives. Get that right and you have all.
So, which are you? Do you see the building, perhaps the place you were baptised, confirmed, married in and say ‘What a church!’ Or have we the courage to see what needs clearing out [gospel] and say, ‘What a Christ!’ Which one are you?
(Comments to Tom at tomascox@eircom.net )