Topic: spirituality
I just heard them again last week. Good questions, though often asked by people who have a limited understanding of the "little ones" or what it means to be standing up as a person speaking to the faith community.
1) What's going to happen to the church if this continues?
2) So you aren't really out there trying to destroy the church, then?
It helps to hear those questions voiced from time to time. Otherwise, I forget just what people are thinking about, when they make obnoxious comments that reflect ignorance and bigotry.
To the first, I say: "It's already happened. People outside of the church who are free to talk when they don't think there is an insider around help us see that the church has already lost it's integrity. Outsiders see the church as incompetent, filled with incompetent leaders. Much of it because of these issues."
All that can be done now is to confess and make amends in the hopes that someday the church will be in better standing in the eyes of the world. It's time to stop worrying about what WILL happen and face the fact that it has already happened while people sat back and ignored reality. That worry needs to be replaced with a new worry, reflected by the question: "How can we make amends and start leading people to see that we have truly repented?" That question reflects a deeply spiritual health that the public expects real spiritual leaders to have.
Let's save the second question until tomorrow.
