The Living Church

I want to let everyone know that I did not give up on my blog. I had started to write a couple of posts, but a lot happened and they became somewhat irrelevant. Now, I am to the point were I have so many different thoughts I want to share that I don’t even know were to begin. I hope to eventually write a few posts about the end of my mission, my travels, and the transition back to America, but for now I will start with one short story.

I was very lucky to spend a weekend in Rome during my post-mission travels. (Shout out to Marta for going with me!) Rome might be the most beautiful city that I have ever visited. Every corner is full of culture and history, but my favorite thing about the city is all of the churches. There are the landmark ones that we planned to visit and they, of course, took our breath away, but I was amazed that even the small churches that seemed so simple on the outside were just as extravagant on the inside. I saw my favorite saints in priceless art. I saw years of hard work to create these places of worship. I saw sculptures that my hands could never dream of creating. I cannot even describe the beauty of these churches.

They were unlike anything I had ever seen, but they weren’t my favorite representation of the church that I saw that weekend.  As Marta and I were leaving one of the churches, I saw a young woman kneeling down with an elderly homeless woman. She had both her hands on the woman’s shoulder and was praying over her aloud as the woman smiled softly. It was simple, yet so powerful. This was it. This was the most beautiful image of the church that I saw. I love the symbolism of my church. I love that there are images from 100s of years ago that still resonate in my life today.  I love that I have such incredible places to worship. Yet, what I love even more than all of this is the living church.

I see such beauty in God’s people living the life that He has called them to and that is a life of love. It is a life of humbling oneself and knowing where one’s worth lies. This is what God asks of the church. He asks us to love His people, to love all those around us. There is a lot of hate and negativity in the world. Nothing hurts me more than when this hate is claimed to come from “Christian” values. Devaluing a person, for any reason, is never something that God asks of us. He is asking us to show acceptance and support to all of His people, especially those in most need.

Watching a poor woman get prayed over was the reminder I needed as to what God wants of His people. He wants witnesses. He wants the living church to have a presence in all corners of the world and in all populations. He is asking me to be His hands and feet, whether in South Sudan, Rome or Tallahassee. I must show the beauty of the church, especially to those who might not see it otherwise.