Spiritual Hiccups - On the Move

I had a chance conversation with a member of a different church the other day, and somehow the subject of a troubled relationship with a former pastor came up.  From what little I know of that situation, both pastor and congregation contributed to things going poorly.  Still, I was a bit struck when the person made a comment about people being upset because the pastor had befriended so many homeless people and let them come into the church.

Not knowing the particulars, I'm not going to over read her comment, but it did make me think about a common tendency in congregations to put ourselves first.  Despite Jesus' instructions to be willing to lose ourselves for the sake of the gospel, we can often be very inwardly focused.  During the recent economic downturn and the tight church budgets that has produced, I've heard members here say that we should cut mission giving over any reduction in staff and programs for ourselves.

In today's gospel reading, I was struck by the way that Jesus is "on the move."  People are lined up for healings, but after one day, Jesus is ready to go elsewhere.  Even when the disciples find him and tell him people are looking for him, Jesus is ready to move on.

Unlike the biblical example, the church I grew up in was extremely settled.  This is not necessarily because of any unfaithfulness.  Rather this church grew up in the era of Christendom, in a time when it was somewhat safe to presume that those around you had heard all about Jesus.  In 1950s America the church's job was to nurture and care for Christians and support mission overseas.  My how times have changed.

Some have written that we now live in a "post-Christian" age.  True or not, we certainly live in a time when it is no longer save to assume that all our neighbors are Jesus' disciples, or even that they know just what that means.  And I wonder if the church that is appropriate for this time might not need to be a lot less settled.

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