Unless we church-types take seriously the call to engage all people unconditionally, no matter what they look like or how they dress, then we should not be surprised when we look around and see nothing but reflections of ourselves. I am proud to be a part of a church who does not expect me to be at the church building all the time. And I think that's the key to authenticity: Go to church, and then leave. Don't take everything so seriously. Thank God for love, share that with other believers, but then go enjoy life. Share that.
Remember what Paul Tsongas said years ago: "No one ever said on his deathbed, 'I wish I spent more time in the office.'"
People tell me quite a bit that I do not behave like a preacher. Some say that with a smirk, other say it as an insult. I take it as a comment. That's it. But quite frankly, most preachers I know are so institutionalized that they have nary a clue about how to talk to anyone but church people.
We ask the question, "What would Jesus do?" through puritanical western filters. But if we dared to answer that question in context we might be surprised to see Jesus spending time predominantly away from the religious establishment. That argument is supported repeatedly in... well... the Bible.
So, to my fellow churchers out in bloggerland: Don't be afraid to get out and play in the sun. Here's some inspiration from Wendell Berry:
"The Peace of Wild Things"
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
