While doing lots of other things this morning, this - insight? thought? impression? - barged through.
At some time, probably during the 1960s and 1970s, it became assumed that the Church - however defined or denominated - was supposed to be engines of social change. This somehow became a dominant definition or outlook, and eventually became the purpose without any theological mooring at all. I'm not sure St. Paul, for example, was terrifically interested in social change: his message was the risen Jesus and His Kingdom, and that message overwhelmed other concerns. Rocking the social boat, maybe, just led to distraction from the Big Picture.
On the other hand, Christianity certainly led to immense social change over a very long baseline. We shouldn't be injustice or social problems when we find them. But the priority is that same Big Picture.
Of course, there have been plenty of times and places where the Church has been an instrument of the status quo, and that's been unhealthy too. There really has to be a medium between the Rev. Mr. Collins and - the TEC bishop of your choice.
The Rev. Mr. Collins is a great example of status quo. And I think that if we kept our minds more on Jesus and his Kingdom, social change would happen without our having to make it the sole cause on the Episcopal agenda. But very few in my church seem to feel that way.
Posted by: Dr Alice | October 28, 2009 at 09:42 AM