DISQUS

Adventist Wheel: http://reinventingsdawheel.blogspot.com/2009/09/relevance-part-1.html

  • Catherine Michele · 3 months ago
    Your words echo what so many of us feel. I have to say this...I'm so tired of hearing the phrase, "Church is a hospital for sinners." Ugh, that makes me wanna vomit! A hospital is where people go and GET BETTER, not stay stagnant or worsen. Those places are called retirement homes and hospice centers! Church is not a hospital for sinners, it is the place where sinners are supposed to find encouragement, refreshment and fellowship.
  • gwalter · 3 months ago
    @Catherine, just for the sake of clarification, do you have a suggestion (or two?) as to how churches could better serve those who want to get well?

    (or anyone for that matter...)
  • KM · 3 months ago
    aren't all our ailments rooted in sensed separation -- whether separation from God or from other people?
    but our "treatments" are themselves predicated on that separation, a la "God cannot be in the presence of sin" and "come apart from the world", so how can they ever help us heal?

    the premises that bind us together are faulty. i can't see how we can support the healthy development of the human family without revising our view of God and others. healing starts at One -- or interconnection.

    you've commented on church missional insularity yourself. it's hard to be insular when you understand you are not apart from the people "out there" and you have chosen to stand in solidarity with them.
  • gwalter · 3 months ago
    @KM, well said.

    Though I've chosen to follow Christ, I am virtually no different than those who have not. While I have the assurance of hope and a vision for improvement, still, all my best attempts are "filthy rags."

    The problem comes when we begin to see ourselves different, or better, than those on the "outside." However, in reality, I'm no different, nor am I better. I'm just being intentional about a direction.

    Having been on the otherside of the insular walls, I can say with authority, that I was just as intentional "out there" - first, in my pursuit of Hell; next, in my pursuit of self-ordained salvation; and third, in my pursuit of hopeless hedonism. And I wouldn't have pursued either of these paths if I didn't think they would lead me to salvation.

    So, does that make us better because we are making the "right" choice? Mercy? No way. For we are told that the only reason we make these right choices is because of the Spirit working in us.