The Church and the World

In today's (March 6, 2012) Episcopal Cafe web site under the Speaking to the Soul section there is a piece of excellent advice for the church, "The church is not prohibited from entering the world; the world is prohibited from entering the church, says Paul." The author takes this from today's epistle of I Corinthians 5:1-8. It is advice Paul is giving the 1st century church at Corinth but it is also good advice for today's church. It has been said that when we enter the church (building) we are entering a different realm/country and that the things of that other country are left behind and new loyalities are adopted. The loyalities to flags and what they represent are left behind and a loyality to the Cross and what it represents are adopted. The church then becomes a safe haven to acquire a new understanding of how to proceed through life's journey. But one cannot stay forever in the physical structure of the church. The world in which we live as individuals is outside those doors and the values obtained inside the church can conflict with some of the values outside the doors of the church. What to do? Is there really a question involved here? With the help of the Holy Spirit we can make the choice of what to do in this conflict of values by reflecting back to that time spent in the church and remember the loyalities learned there and move on with our lives based on that learning.

As I read the words written above it occurs to me that this is really Christian Life 101; but how often do we remember and act on what we have learned while inside the church? With a nudge of a reminder from the Holy Spirit perhaps we can do better.

You can read all of today's meditation by going to:

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/thesoul/living_in_the_new_community.html#more