July 25, 2015

“Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” Romans 14:5 – 10

“It takes all sorts to make a world; or a church. This may be even truer of a church. If grace perfects nature it must expand all our natures into the full richness of the diversity which G*d intended when He made them, and Heaven will display far more variety than Hell. What pleased me most about a Greek Orthodox mass I once attended was that there seemed to be no prescribed behavior for the congregation. Some stood, some knelt, some sat, some walked; one crawled about the floor like a caterpillar. And the beauty of it was that nobody took the slightest notice of what anyone else was doing. I wish the Anglicans would follow their example.” C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer – “For All The Saints” volume IV, (p. 340-341)

When you have been in the church long enough, and in many different settings, you begin to realize the truth of Lewis’ statement. It does take all sorts to make a church — and thank the Lord that it does. Who would want to go to church and only see people like themself? The answer, unfortunately, is all of us. Most studies completed on the Christian Church reveal that people attend a church and/or come back to a church they have visited because they see people who are mostly like themselves. The richness of the church comes in the variety of people, who have a variety of opinions, and where no one judges the other because they are different. Utopian? I would say more like “dystopian” — but not in the traditional understanding of “dystopia”. Instead of diversity looking frightening to us, it should enhance our worship experience — diversity in worship styles, worship settings, worship music, and worship liturgies. It does take all sorts to make a church — all sorts of people and all sorts of worship experiences and opportunities.

Pastor Dave