Stumblers who believe love rules
Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 08:19PM Had another faith piece in The Age this morning. Here it is:
Big Al and I have been mates for about sixteen years, ever since I moved into his neighbourhood and started going to his church.
We are about as different as two people can be. He’s a big bloke with a personality to match; I’m smallish and quietish. He is as funny as a stand-up comedian; I couldn’t be funny to save my life. He wears the loudest shirts I’ve ever seen; I tend to get about in black, grey and sombre blue. He has a voice like a black man, can play a lot of instruments and harmonises effortlessly and on the spot; I sing tentatively at best.
Most obvious of all, though – he is a party animal; I’m an introvert. Just entering a crowded room can make me feel quite ill. The best part of Sunday morning for him is the after-worship cuppa; I sometimes leave before the benediction is over, just so I don’t have to talk to anyone.
Early on in our friendship, we had a conversation about why each of us went to church, despite the fact that not many do these days.
‘I don’t really go much for all the God stuff,’ explained Al. ‘I just keep hanging in there because I love the community.’
I laughed. ‘I’m exactly the opposite,’ I said. ‘I find groups of people, no matter how lovely they are, really hard. But I stick with the community because of the God stuff.’
The good thing about church is that both the Als and the Clares have a place. As do the contemplative Marys and the busy Marthas, the blustering Peters, the doubting Thomases and the argumentative Pauls. The church is a broad church, and that’s how it should be.
Another good thing about church is that it’s not even just for people who have their act together. I’ve heard it said that church people are holier-than-thou, self-righteous hypocrites, but I don’t think these critics can have been to church in a long time. Most worshippers these days go precisely because they know they need teaching and companionship on the way of trying to follow Jesus.
Nor is church just for believers. Church is where the doubting (and isn’t that all of us from time to time?), the cynical and the confused can find a welcome and a home. As the beautiful old communion prayer says, ‘Come if you love the Lord a little and would like to love him more…’
The incomparable Bruce Cockburn has a line in his song Mystery that captures for me what being part of the church is. ‘Come all you stumblers who believe love rules, stand up and let it shine’.
Big Al and I are both stumblers who believe love rules. Who need each other, the community and the God who calls us all together.
Reader Comments (8)
Hear hear! Enjoyed reading this article in The Age this morning. Thank you.
Sorry I missed it in The Age, but I loved reading it now. Thank you, Clare, as always, for saying it so well.
Hear hear!
Clare, so well said - just love your writing!
Hi Clare! Thanks for this article - so well written, as all your pieces are. Provided we acknowledge the source, is there any problem with us reproducing articles in our local Uniting Church newsletter?
Brilliant. "Teaching and companionship on the way of trying to follow Jesus" - 10/10 Clare.
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