Safe Church; Scandalous Gospel
It is imperative that the church be a safe place – safe for people to express honest opinions, safe for people to raise challenging questions, safe for all from the inappropriate behavior of others. It is not imperative, however, that the church plays it safe in mission. In fact, playing it safe may well be contrary to the very Gospel Jesus proclaimed by his life and example.
The message of Jesus was anything but safe. It was bold and filled with risks, not because Jesus was unsafe to others personally or physically. He was not; we have story after story of his healing touch, his comforting those suffering, and his seeking out, giving hope to those who were ignored or cast out.
His message was unequivocally unsafe – at least to those who lived by religious conventions and pious propriety. To them Jesus’ message was not only bold, it was scandalous, offensive. Scandalous it was, and “Living a Scandalous Gospel” was chosen as the theme of this year’s annual diocesan convention.
We begin by recognizing that we cannot domesticate or control that which is scandalous. The dictionary tells us that to be scandalous is to be offensive to propriety, to be offensive against conventional rules of behavior. This can be categorically unsafe and often is. Yet, we, the church, the Diocese of Spokane, are called to a mission that defies playing it safe. As the prominent preacher Peter Gomes has written,
The gospel is offensive and always overturns the status quo. It’s not good news for those who wish not to be disturbed, and today our churches resound with shrill speeches of fear and exclusivity or tepid retellings of a health-and-wealth gospel. (The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What’s So Good about the Good News? [2007])
Our diocesan convention theme inescapably reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus challenges us to tell each other and the world a scandalous story, a story that is contrary to many of our customs, especially the ones that allow us and others to stay within controlled and comfortable boundaries.
It is time and it is right that we pledge ourselves, individuals and every congregation, to intentionally take on in the coming year new ministries consistent with the Gospel, and distinctly different from, perhaps offensive to, business as usual. I commend especially as a guide the three basic components of healthy congregations, which are also core elements of our diocesan Mission Imperatives adopted more than five years ago:
- Evangelism – Invite and Include
- Formation – Equip and Enable
- Outreach – Send and Support
To be the church means at minimum to be serious about and do all three. May God help us to do so, to risk and refuse to play it safe for the sake of the Gospel Jesus has called and empowered us to proclaim.
