Other Christians ...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009. We are talking about challenges of faith. A major challenge of faith can be the others who believe. The Christian church and the Christian community itself can be a major obstacle for people to believe. We need to realize that we as Christians ourselves are a major challenge to the others.

Perhaps I should start with myself. I sometimes realize that I might be much more an obstacle to faith than I usually think. I am in my profession - with a lot of ups and downs. I have had quite a lot of success in my life. Success of others is not necessarily something encouraging. But I also face major difficulties. Our countries have difficulties on various levels and I am in the middle of them. So the way I deal with these difficulties is not as good as it should be. I am not really taking them in the spirit of Jesus. With a lot of my reaction patterns I am acting and thinking like everyone else. But there are Christian alternatives …

We have worked within Christian churches for two decades now. We know many people, who have been in responsible positions in various churches. A significant part of them has been or is extremely disappointed from church. Where people live and act together, there are conflicts. The whole New Testament mirrows the conflicts in human communities. But as Christians we do not always act in the spririt of Jesus in conflicts. We act more like the wolfes than like the sheep - even in the middle of the church. It can be a big setback for individual faith when fellow Christians act in a way which is even identified as bad by people who have never experienced the deep love of God.

The New Testament addresses many problems which arise when humans try to live together. There are clear commands of truth, love and mercy. There are also processes sketched which can help to mediate and to resolve conflicts. In the community of believers we should be able to carry out these biblical procedures, since faith means that we all want to follow Jesus. We always have a deep point of understanding. But sometimes we do not really manage to come together.

There are many more challenges in the framework of the church as an institution. Probably Christians who live and work in the more classical Christian churches can tell much more. But in all these challenges there is again a big chance to learn more about the love of God. It is a chance to grow in faith. Jesus was nailed to the cross by his fellow Jews. But he did not start to speak against him, but he spoke words of forgiveness. He did not fight back, but he God used his pain to establish his kingdom. When ever we experience problems with Christians, when we see their little faith, when we see how they fail to follow Jesus, then we can learn more about his overflowing love, about his forgiveness which is not depending on the actions of a person, but is pure grace, a gift which cannot be earned. [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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