SoulWork
Andrew Sullivan Says Forget the Church. That's Like Saying Forget Grace.
* * *
Love sometimes expresses itself in anger, even angry screeds. I assume that Andrew Sullivan really does love his Catholic church, and that his frustration is an expression of that. I assume that all of us, Protestants and Catholics, who share his frustration do so because we really do love the church—or really want to love it once again.
Amidst the confusion and complexity of modern faith, it's tempting to long for a simple faith, one with a simple theology and simple ethics. What we are going to discover sooner or later, though, is something better: the faith Jesus offers us, one immensely rich and varied, as complex as a bottle of fine wine, as colorful as an impressionist landscape, as exasperating and wonderful as a family. It's a faith where forgiveness finally wins—Jesus' forgiveness of the church, Jesus' forgiveness of us, and our forgiveness of one another.
Jesus looks at even the likes of us—those who despise that which he lovingly created and holds close to breast, his unholy church—and calls us to join in, that we all might learn to live his merciful life together, as nothing but sinners in the hands of a gracious God.
Copyright © 2012 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere:
Previous SoulWork columns include:
Giving Up Self-Discipline for Lent| There is really only one 'lesson' I've learned in the penitential season. (February 22, 2012)
Looking for Jesus in All the Wrong Places | Why do we want to see God's face when it's only going to kill us? (January 26, 2012)
Why the Bible is Not a Book of Moral Laws | Contrary to popular belief, it's the startling gift book. (January 12, 2012)
SoulWork
In "SoulWork," Mark Galli brings news, Christian theology, and spiritual direction together to explore what it means to be formed spiritually in the image of Jesus Christ.
Mark Galli
Galli is editor of Christianity Today and author of God Wins, Chaos and Grace, A Great and Terrible Love, Jesus Mean and Wild, Francis of Assisi and His World, and other books.
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- Making Non-Sense of the Colorado Shootings
- Mastering the Golf Swing of Life
A Fractured and Beautiful Faith
Streaming This Weekend, May 24, 2013
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JEFFREY L RUDLOFF
Possibly the best article I have seen in CT - and DEFINITELY the best by Mr. Galli - in a long time. Thanks for reminding us that both life and faith can never be reduced to Sullivan's idealized "simplicity", inside or outside the institutional church,
Bob Robertson
I came to Christ in the 60's at Berkeley and was involved in the very informal house churches where we all sat on the floor. I was baptized in a Baptist church in Oakland at that time and had no huge problems with that expression of the church. For the last 38 years I have been involved with the Arab church in the Middle East--an absolutely necessary visible expression of the Body of Christ in the Muslim world. I very much enjoyed Mr. Galli's article. I found Mr, Sullivan to be extremely naive and wondered as I read his mishmash if he is even a Christian. Sounds nice--just follow Jesus like St. Francis. I have found that that philosophy opens a wide road of zero responsibility to the body of Christ, an arrogant attitude towards the church, and stunted growth. The first followers of Christ gathered into groups called local churches, and even those churches were full of "people problems" and leadership issues, and this will undoubtedly continue to be until Jesus comes.
Brennan Doherty
Okay, Rick, where is this "invincible" church which teaches the teachings of Jesus? Is it the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists? Or is it really not a church anyone can actually turn to for Jesus' teachings since it is invisible?