Love the Church, Not Like Cake

It can be hard to love the church.

At The Vine, we seem to have many folks with scars of one kind or another from the church (your Rector and Associate Rector included). The church is a sacramental reality, but it is also made up of humans who walk in various degrees of brokenness. The Corinthian church was an example par excelence: practicing classism during the Lord's Supper, being ruled by their every sexual urge, and marginalizing the already minimized.

But Paul doesn't give up on the church. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he says "Do everything in love" (1 Corinthians 16.13 NIV). Wouldn't this require walking away from this dysfunctional church? His actual words can seem shocking given the context: "Since you are eager for the gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church." (14.12) Yes, even this church. Especially this church, because it's the very church his readers belong to, telling them:

"Now you are the Body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it."  (1 Corinthians 12.27 NIV)

Love & Cake

Love the church, this body of Christ to which you belong. Thomas Aquinas spoke of love as "willing the good of the other." Not so that I might get something back, but for the sake of the other. I love chocolate cake–especially dark flourless chocolate cake with berries and a small dollop of whipped cream, but I digress. The point is, while I may love it, I don't will its good–I want to consume it! Aquinas, and likewise Paul, challenge us to seek the good of the church, the body of Christ you're each a part of.

And you have been doing this! These last 30 days of prayer through the Examen, through the discernment survey responses we've received already, through showing up to wrestle honestly with where The Vine is headed. This has been an act of willing this church's good. That's what love for the church actually looks like: not consuming it, not abandoning it, but staying present to it in prayer even when the answers aren't clear yet.

Consumptive love could leave us covering up or protecting the church, saving the version that tastes best to me. Hannah+ wrote recently in Christianity Today about why protecting the church in this way is the opposite of loving. But neither is it loving to abandon the church to its problems, or to search for a new flavor once we tire of the old one.

So willing the good of the church, building it up in Gospel love—that's what participation really is.

Participating to Love the Wider Church

The wider church needs your love too. On September 27th, our own Bishop Terrell is coming for Confirmations. You can participate by coming to get to know him! Also consider being Confirmed. Among other things, this specifies your “Body of Christ member-ship” within the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), as long as you worship at an ACNA church. Like The Vine, the ACNA needs your participation to be healthiest. Like the Corinthians, it needs its healthier members to love it well, even when that means bringing challenge.

Learn more and RSVP for Saturday's Confirmation class on our Confirmation page.

Participating to Love The Vine

You can love this church closer to home as well. Vestry nominations (for individuals who are godly, healthy, and generally awesome) close at the end of day this Sunday; we'll have an iPad open after service for anyone who wants to nominate on the spot. You can also love this church by sharing your thoughts in our congregational survey, staying after worship this Sunday for our updates meeting, and becoming a member—because what this church offers is already open to anyone, member or not.

Learn more about how we think of membership at our Membership page.

Loving the church, the “body” Jesus promises to be most physically present within, isn't easy. Because it requires that we participate in love as an expression of following Jesus, which we often do not. Friends, let's not consume or abandon Jesus' body, nor this particular Anglican expression of it. Let's love this local church — The Vine — that we cherish as a gift, and love others well by sharing it.

Your fellow wounded lover of the church,

Michael+

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love." (1 Corinthians 16:13)