Thoughts and Amusings

I was listening to a Rob Bell podcast the other week (one of his sermons from Mars Hill) and towards the end he said something that has had me thinking in terms of my present circumstances.

A man came up to him and asked him what to do because his idea and the community he was working in was in tatters. The man was living in a Christian flat that was meant to be the epitome of Christian brotherhood but things were far from it and the man was at his wits end. Bell’s solution to the man was to get some bread and some drink, place it in the middle of the lounge of the flat and do communion with the flatties, asking forgiveness for all he had done wrong.

Now while this all sounds very esoteric and all very beautiful on one level but I wonder whether it would really have reached the core of the issue. There comes a point where you have forgiven so much (77 x 7 ) and tried to understand the inner workings of certain ‘Christian communitys’ that sometimes you just have to leave before your soul dies. Healthy Christian community is incredibly important and after 5 years of being in my current church I am now moving before the insides of me drop out completely. I don't really think this is something communion can fix.

That’ core of the issue’ thing that I mentioned above is really essential. A lot of Christian communities don’t seem to see why it is that people drop out of their little posse or are blind to the factors for the leaving if they do notice it happening. One site that seeks to remedy this is Letters from Leavers. I have been reading many of the stories there and have been both saddened and refreshed Letters from leavers

I think they can be summed up by this story, the core of which is a call for the Christian church to LISTEN. Imagine what it would be like if we truly did listen rather just hear.