WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY?
The Church is neither a nursing nor a kindergarten. It is not a sect nor a social club. It is not an agency counter selling pastoral gadgets nor a drugstore where comes to buy its spiritual medication. The Church is neither of these but, at the same time, it is all that. It welcomes the ninety-year-old and the newly-born, the saints and the sinners, men and women, strangers and natives, newcomers and longtime residents, good ones and bad ones. This motley mixing is full of clashes, misunderstandings, bacups, denial and even meanness, but at the same time, it is full of harmony, comprehension, progress, acceptance and forgiveness. That is the Church.
To this many coloured humanity, the Church imposes no entrance fee or condition : each one can come as he is and be himself. It does not try to convert us. For its vocation is not to convert people, but to welcome them, hoping that, once inside, members and occasional visitors will meet with the God of Jesus-Christ, the only one who can convert, for He is the only One who knows «what is in the human heart» (Jn 2,25); the only one «who has the words that give eternal life» (Jn. 6,68). The Church’s mission is not to bring back people to it but to God, to their neighbours and to themselves. Wondering about the amazing spread of the early Church, and English scholar wrote : «The Roman Empire was accepting people; the Church was welcoming them». The Church is a community in the fullest sense of the word : it implies heartfelt unity, tolerance, wonder. It invites each one of us to get closer to one’s neighbour rather than be afraid of him; to shake hands joyfully with everyone rather than fearing to catch a cold from him : to see everyone as a possible friend rather than as a potential enemy, to be happy about our differences rather than complain about them. The Church is a community that is a place where we like to be together even if we crush one another’s feet, even if we have to speak louder to be heard, even if one might crumple one’s pants or gown, even if others disturb us. A community where children can yell and adults cough without being punished or put aside.
When I was young, the whole family used to gather at my grandparents house on New Year’s Day. We were 20, 40 even 60 at times. We were literally piled up on top of one another; we did not eat «healthy» and the smell was far from being Chanel Number Five; we had to listen to our uncle’s songs and violin solo which were far from being Pavarotti or Paganini. And yet, we keep fond memories of those badly organized family meetings, full of noise and viruses. Why? Would it be because we then formed a true community?
Par / by
Gabriel Clément, prêtre / priest