Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Church as an Instrument for Redemption, Not Administration
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The key purposes of the Church are to share Jesus, bring |
Challenged by Redemption
After the church council ended, we found ourselves seriously challenged. Yes, I was challenged like I had never been at any church meeting before. My mind went back to the previous weekend at church. Many of our children had their first communion that day. They processed into church in their wonderful white robes, singing the simple word, “Hallelujah!” Some of the children were in tears. As they came to the front of the church, I asked one of the girls why she was crying. She told me it was because it was the most important day of her life and she knew that Jesus was walking with her. Their song was a song of redemption and their tears were tears of redemption. My mind returned again to the words of the Archbishop. These words challenge us here and they should challenge the Church around the world.
Fais, our lay pastor at St. Mark’s, is very concerned about the redemption of our people. He knows that the gospel has always been dangerous and that there has always been kidnapping and murder; however, he is prepared to take this risk for the sake of redemption. Indeed, we must have administration; however, we must not forget the key purposes of the Church of Christ: to share the good news of Jesus, to bring redemption, to change lives and to take risks. Here, in one of the most dangerous places in the world, the gospel is simple: we love God because he first loved us.
I think back to the words of my mentor, Donald Coggan. Every time we parted, he would say, “Take risks, not care.” I hope I have done this and I pray we all will do this more and more when it comes to sharing the good news of Jesus with the world.
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The Rev. Canon Andrew White is president and CEO of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, chaplain of St. George’s Church in Baghdad, Anglican/Episcopal chaplain of the International Zone Baghdad and senior advisor in Inter-Religious Affairs to the Prime Minister of Iraq. Over the past few years he has acted as a negotiator in many conflict situations, including the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the riots between Muslims and Christians in Northern Nigeria. In recent years, he has been awarded several significant prizes for his peace work, including the US Cross of Valor, the Tanenbaum Peace Maker in Action Prize, the International Sternberg Prize and the ICCJ Prize for Sustained Intellectual Contribution to Jewish-Christian Relations and in 2003 the Three Faiths’ Forum Prize for Inter-Faith Relations. |