Divine hope, dusty religion

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Everyone reading this will have some good reason to be disillusioned with the church.

I know so many people of my generation who have given up on church. Some have deconstructed their theological beliefs, others have become ground down by conflict or disappointment. Many continue to ‘believe’ in theory but their non-involvement in a church community means any sense of faith is hanging on by a thread.

Change in spiritual temperature

But we live in interesting times. And something seems to be happening at the moment.

There are a host of indicators which seem to point towards a change in the spiritual temperature in the UK. The YouGov research commissioned by the Bible Society reveals a 50% rise in church-going over the last 6 years. The Daily Telegraph report today on the ‘extraordinary resurgence’ of attendance in Catholic churches, and sales of Bibles has increased significantly. There is a generational difference with younger people being more open to faith.

I am seeing this locally too. At our church we are seeing a significant growth and we have five baptisms planned for this Easter Sunday. It gives more evidence to Justin Brierley’s argument that we are seeing a surprising re-birth of belief in God. Perhaps the tide of faith is turning?

Fragility and failure

I don’t want to deny the reality of people’s disillusion with church. But Holy Week is the best time to consider again the Christian faith because the hope that Jesus brings emerges from the depths of religious failure.

Holy Week is a story of Jesus being put to death by corrupt religious institutions who successfully manipulate the political powers to maintain their own survival. Furthermore, Jesus is betrayed by the greed, cowardice and fearfulness among his own followers.

Easter reminds us that from the very start, the church was made up of ordinary, imperfect people. Everyone is chipped, cracked and fragile, irrespective of seniority or reputation. The divine chooses to work through the dusty.

The church is at its best when it is honest, humble and self-aware about these realities.

Broken and sinful

On the Great Dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church, this verse from Matthew 16:18 is inscribed in huge letters:

‘…you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church’

Its a key basis for the ‘apostolic authority’ of the Papacy which Catholics believe runs directly from Peter through to the current-day Pope.

But Matthew’s gospel makes clear, whilst Peter is the first person to confess Jesus as Christ, he is also the first to reject the way that Christ must go: the way of suffering and sacrifice.  After giving Peter such authority, a few verses later, Jesus rebukes him:

‘Get behind me Satan.’

As Lesslie Newbigin puts it:

‘Would that Michelangelo’s great dome at St Peter’s had been designed to make room for both of those texts, for one without the other can only deceive!’

The church is established and commissioned by Jesus, but as the Bible makes clear, and church history bears out, it is also a broken and sinful community. The divine and the dusty are entwined from the start.

Greatest strength

But this brokenness points to the church’s greatest strength. Because the validity of the church lies in one core role: how it shares the liberation, wholeness and forgiveness offered by Jesus.

The church messes up, get things wrong and is weak and inconsistent. But we point to one who isn’t.  We are not the ones who can save people but we believe in One who can.

Holy Week highlights the contrast between Jesus and his disciples:

• Jesus teaches what he must do; his disciples consistently misunderstand.
• His disciples squabble about status; Jesus washes their feet.
• Jesus prays and commits himself; his disciples fall asleep.
• Jesus shares his sorrow; his disciples are full of bravado.
• His disciples lash out in retaliation; Jesus heals and forgives.
• Jesus stands firm in the face of death; his disciples run away in fear.

It is remarkable how consistently the Bible reveals the weaknesses of the main characters who would go on to be the key leaders in the church.

Divine and dusty

The church has a unique job that no one else can do: to share the life and message of Jesus. But it is made up of broken and sinful people. It will always a mix of divine hope and dusty religion.

This is why, as a community, we gather around the meal that Jesus gave us: to confess what we have done wrong, to receive forgiveness and re-commit ourselves to his way.  We bring our dusty and damaged selves to Jesus and can be restored by divine grace.

At Easter, self-sacrificial love triumphs over death itself. Jesus shows us all the path to new life.

And if the tide of faith is turning, lets make sure our churches are ready to welcome in those who are seeking this life and hope.

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Watch this 3 minute film about how a local church helped Susie find hope after being homeless, addicted and imprisoned: