"When we have been wounded by the Church, our temptation is to reject it. But when we reject the Church it becomes very hard for us to keep in touch with the living Christ. When we say, "I love Jesus, but I hate the Church," we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too.
The challenge is to forgive the Church.
This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness, at least not officially. But the Church as an often fallible human organization needs our forgiveness, while the Church as the living Christ among us continues to offer us forgiveness.
It is important to think about the Church not as "over there" but as a community of struggling, weak people of whom we are part, and in whom we meet our Lord and Redeemer."
-Henri Nouwen
2 months ago
5 comments:
I am right in the midst of this challenge, my friend.
He is one of my favorite writers. Have you ever read his book, "The Return of the Prodigal Son?" That made a huge, positive impact on my image of God.
Thanks for sharing this quote.
Very nice. Very relavant.
I like this....I rejected Christianity because of being hurt by too many Christians and Churches; I reasoned that a god of people like that wasn't anyone I wanted to be associated with. Fortunately, God showed me what this post is about--that we are all flawed and all need to rely on Him. Forgiveness and love for each other are only possible because of His love and forgiveness toward us.
R, You put it perfectly, my dear!
I went through this too. It's important to remember that the church is a 'hospital for sinners' and not a 'museum for saints'.
We're all wounded, and we're all wounders! God is the only Healer we can count on...
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