As Easter people, we should show Christ’s love to world

My View

It may be true that idealists are destined to crash into the reality they seek to alter. It is also true that ideals and vision are precursors of change. They disrupt the status quo, upending our thinking and allowing us to see beyond what is to what can be.
As Christians we rightly celebrate the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yet between those historic events is a life that was lived as no other before or since.
And yes, it was idealistic.
By worldly standards Jesus failed miserably. When he told a group of religious legalists that the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law gives life, he was treading dangerous waters.
The same was true when he forgave people of their sins, healed people on holy days, challenged entrenched authority, loved the unlovable and did other “rebellious” acts against established norms.
Today, we, as Christians, give thanks that Jesus Christ did all those things and many more—in fact, too many to mention according to Scripture.
Christ’s ideal of love as the guiding principle of existence brought out the most unlovable atrocities committed against him. But through it all, he never changed his message—even to his dying breath on Calvary.
Jesus never kept score, never measured grace and above all never quit loving people into a life-changing experience of God.
Today, we, as a church, still struggle with the timeless, yet simple, message of Jesus. We organize, form committees, launch campaigns, and have meetings and conferences.
We categorize ourselves as liberals, conservatives, fundamentalists and charismatics. We make a thousand other distinctions to erect walls that Jesus himself proceeded in earnest to tear down during his brief life.
And a world waits.
While we speak about the religion of Jesus Christ, hurting people wait for the religion of Jesus Christ. They are counting on our ideals whether they know it or not.
As Easter approaches, we can make the decision to show resurrection to all. We can be infectious carriers of grace, spreading love lavishly.
Just because the world doesn’t seem to be listening to us doesn’t mean people aren’t paying attention. They want to know that we truly mean what we say—without hidden agendas or conditions.
Our guiding principle is to show the love that liberates, invites inquiry and celebrates diversity. To be sure, offering this love is a great responsibility, but it is every Christian’s calling.
Will we truly go beyond ourselves and reach out to a world that doesn’t seem to care about who we are and what we represent?
Yes, we risk rejection and ridicule, but so did Jesus. His idealism consistently bumped into the reality of human nature. But he never gave up on anyone.
Neither should we.
We are Easter people. We should raise our voices, open our hearts and reach out to all with the love that resurrects people from complacency to commitment while throwing open the doors of our churches with reckless abandon. That would be ideal.

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Christians find their true service to God through ‘costly discipleship’

My View

In the 1980s, consultants were plentiful as churches adopted business tactics to attract members. I attended a conference led by the Rev. Ken Callahan, an executive pastor at Lovers Lane UMC, Dallas. One thing he said has always stuck with me:
“God is in the world. If the church is in the world, God is in the church. If the church is not in the world, God is still in the world.”
Church folks are still interested in figuring out ways to get people into church. While advertising, entertaining “contemporary” worship services and other tactics may have their place, ultimately faith is not a product to be sold.
Yes, the church is an institution and requires all the maintenance that other institutions require. But if the church is to represent God, more is called for.
The unique thing that Jesus teaches us is that faith is incarnational. We embody the Gospel. We embody Christ. Crosses to bear are not afflictions but burdens we choose to take on for the sake of others and the Gospel.
There is a price to pay for following Jesus. The church is in the world to support those who carry on the work of Christ.
We are all proud of the work done through Methodist Healthcare Ministries, using profits from Methodist Healthcare System. Wesley Nurses are visiting in the homes of the isolated elderly and in poor neighborhoods. Clinics provide care to those who would otherwise have no access to decent healthcare. This money is used to carry on Christ’s work on behalf of marginalized people in our area.
Too often, however, the church allows money spent on itself to be called “ministry.” Institutional maintenance is not part of that mission. We build larger and more elaborate places for people to come or develop new programs, sometimes spending money that could support mission in the world of despair and suffering.
Much of what passes as “church growth” strategy seems to be fear-based: We are afraid our churches will get smaller, even die.
A prayer from The Book of Worship fits us: “Almighty God, whose most dear son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this contrast the difference between “costly discipleship” and “cheap grace.”
At the center of Methodist theology is the concept of “prevenient grace.” It is God at work in hidden places and people, beyond the reach of our intentions and processes. God is in the world and in the collective unconscious of those who do not identify themselves as Christians as well as in those who do.
Another Wesleyan concept is that of “synergy.” That is finding where God is at work and adding our energy, resources and talents to the task.
Jesus once said, “The one who would save his life will lose it, but the one who would lose his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will find it.”