Witness to community
Father Jake posts an essay Steve Charlston on witness, especially as it relates to the way we Christians conduct our oh-so-public debates on current issues.
As the Episcopal Church, the most important question before us is not about schism or sexuality. It is about witness. What witness will we make?
Christian witness is the public affirmation of faith. It is how we let the world see that we practice what we preach. Today those of us in the Episcopal Church are being called on to make our witness. We have the opportunity to be what we say we are. The world is watching. What will we do?
The answer is a matter of faith. We witness to what we believe.
In the Episcopal Church, we believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in the Bible. We believe in the Good News. In fact, we believe so strongly in all of these essential parts of our shared faith that we are not afraid to disagree with one another about what they mean to us.
We welcome difference as the active presence of God’s Holy Spirit moving amongst us. Our witness is not to conformity but to community.
Let me repeat that, because I think it’s crucial: our witness is not to conformity but to community.
pax et bonum
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Those things, of course, are what Father Jake mentions – “we believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in the Bible. We believe in the Good News.”
Hammertime () (URL)
5:56pm on 17 May 2006
This is true, but wasn’t the point of the post. The point is that the way we conduct ourselves when we disagree is a witness as much anything we preach: “we believe so strongly in all of these essential parts of our shared faith that we are not afraid to disagree with one another about what they mean to us.“ That disagreement, though, must take place in a spirit of community, of togetherness, which is quite different to conformity.
pax et bonum
[John] () (URL)
6:39pm on 17 May 2006