A Thermostat that Transforms
Still fresh in my mind is this past Sunday's wonderful worship service, when we invited Rev. Randy Bush back into the pulpit. Being Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Randy reflected on Dr. King's life, among other things. Our affirmation of faith that followed was a piece that I wrote based on King's 1963 "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Here's a bit of it:
Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?
No. But so often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch-defender of the status quo. And far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.
Rationally speaking, isn't there something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills?
Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.
What, then, shall we do?
We will not wait for a convenient season for justice. We will be a Church that is not merely a thermometer that records the ideas and principles of popular opinion, but a thermostat that transforms our culture and our world.
Those words continue to roll around in my mind as I think about our mission and purpose as a family of faith. What a prophetic, life-shaping task we have - to function as a thermostat in our culture, transforming out culture and our world. May Dr. King's words remind us of our calling as a church and may they compel us to courageous actions of transformation and love.
Peace,
Pastor Ben
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