It has been said—accurately and insightfully, I might add—that rather than the Church having a mission for God, God’s Mission has a Church. With this more faithful perspective in mind, we place God where God belongs—as the central source and inspiration for the Church’s life and witness in the world. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord, God called the Church into being in order to continue the essential ministry begun by Jesus to proclaim in word and deed the love of God to the world.
Yet for far too long, and far too often, the Church has elevated its own preservation as a human institution above and beyond that fundamental reason for our existence. Her members, both clergy and lay (dare I say especially the clergy), have spent and continue to spend inordinate amounts of time, energy, and money on maintaining the systems of the organization and the physical structures which house their operations instead of attending to the mission and ministry established by a penniless son of a carpenter 2000 years ago.
So, we wonder, how do those of us who stand today as heirs of this time-honored understanding of “Church” with our old and treasured buildings and grounds to maintain, salaries and wages to pay, and dwindling numbers of faithful members in the pews even begin to refocus our hearts and minds on God’s Mission for us? How can we possibly consider lifting our eyes off the never-ending list of budgetary expenses, planned and unforeseen, long enough to start to think about shifting our priorities away from maintaining the status quo we’ve inherited, and focus on the life and ministry in the world God calls us to embrace?
As much as this sounds like a formidable and daunting task, especially for a parish as small as ours, I suggest that we begin by being clear about our common life—those aspects of parish life which we do for ourselves, and those aspects of our life which we do for God. Hopefully we will discover at least some overlap, but these realities are often far from synonymous. Then, and only then, can we open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the exciting task of discovering where in our world God is at work and begin to move in that direction, to be a part of God’s ongoing creative efforts to woo the world God made into full relationship with Godself. Supporting the Mission of God rather than seeking God’s support for ours is where our future is to be found.