If we were to talk about fellow Christians who have inspired us, what names would come to mind? Whichever ones did would probably fall into two categories: well-known heroes of the faith, and ordinary Christians the world will never hear about who lived the faith with courage and kindness. Some of us might point to Wesley, Luther or Calvin as inspiration, along with other figures from church history, like Martin Luther King Jr. or Mother Teresa. Many more of us might name a favorite Sunday school teacher, youth director or camp counselor who reached out to us in just the way we needed. Those unknown saints enabled us to find our faith.
If we flip the question around, though, we would not find the experience so much fun. Who has disappointed us? Who has damaged our faith through hypocrisy, corruption, scandal or betrayal? Once again, we could list famous cases: headline-grabbing preachers arrested for violent crimes, youth directors splashed across the TV screen for violating the trust of innocent children, denominational leaders covering up the outrages of the clergy under their supervision. People with faces no one would recognize may have hurt us even more deeply: the congregation big shot who cracks a racist joke, the church bully who treats us cruelly, the always-perfectly dressed woman whose affair destroys a whole Sunday school class.
The church doesn’t need enemies; we spend too much time shooting ourselves in the foot. Skeptics can snicker at our claim that the love of God transforms us. They can laugh up their sleeve when we say that we follow the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, those in our midst whose faith just wobbled along anyway slink from the community of faith, maybe never to return. The hurt from the un-Christian actions of Christians spreads in all directions. Sometimes we might feel tempted to throw up our hands in despair, “Can anyone get it right?”
...approximately 1,296 words remaining. You are not logged in. Please see options at the top of this page to view complete sermon.
