Kelly - Colossians 1

I am continually amazed at Paul's willingness to suffer for the church, and his immediate equation of "the church" with "the body of Christ."

I love the people of the church, and the community of the faithful. And I rely on that community to help me in my faith growth and my family's...and to put new visions and interpretations of God before me.

But "the church" is an institution I struggle with. "The community of faith" worships together and studies together. "The church" gets messy and petty and bickers over coffee hour.

In the past thousand years, "the church" has become more of an institution than it was in Paul's time. It is tied to power and livelihoods more than it was then. It builds upon itself and protects itself more than it did then. And now we have to contend with "tradition" - both good and bad - that was not an issue in that first church.

But reading the letters shows us that the issues were in "the church" then, too. They bickered, they failed, they clung to nonessentials, they fought over money - just as we do now. And still Paul unhesitatingly called them "the body of Christ."

I don't think my image of the church needs to be elevated...denying what we are won't help anything. I think I need to look closer at the concept of "the body of Christ." I need to begin to understand that Christ's perfection is not full tranquility. The perfect body of Christ can include human disagreements and struggles.

Rudyard Kipling referred to "the savage wars of peace." And we claim "Faith is a Family" - and no family I have ever heard of gets along perfectly all the time - we bicker and squabble and need a little space.

So "the body of Christ" - the perfect church we are called to be - is a continuous struggle of love. I need to get a concept of "perfection" in my head that includes growth and even weakness.

....tis a work in progress and a slightly rambling blog post.