The following is a reflection on Mark 6:1-13, the Gospel lesson appointed for Proper 9, year B, according to the Revised Common Lectionary.

“Cuthbert’s Island.” Photo by Rick Morley. TTV filter by borealnz.
Christianity in the west is in deep trouble. In America over 1/4th of adults have left the religion of their youth, most for no religion at all. In Europe, many grand cathedrals and basilicas are more like mausoleums than thriving centers of worship.
People are leaving the faith. But, unlike some, I don’t think the central problem is secularism or pluralism or the lack of a good bass guitarist in the praise band.
I think the root problem is trust.
People don’t trust the Church anymore. And, really, why would they?
The Roman Catholic Church as been embroiled in the child sexual abuse scandal, which has not only found pedophile priests, but also members of the hierarchy who protected those priests in place of protecting children. We have evangelical pastors who have railed against homosexuality who have been found to seek male prostitutes, and who have been accused of courting church youth. And, we have high-profile church leaders make insane statements saying that hurricanes are the result of gays and abortions, that homosexuals should be rounded up and fenced in concentration-camp style, and that kids who seem gay should be punched in the face.
And, with all of that—which is really just the tip of the iceberg—who in their right mind gives the church the keys? Who entrusts us with their spiritual health, much less the spiritual health of their children?
Honestly, the fact that anyone trusts us these days is really quite remarkable.
Jesus, when he comes to his hometown, faces questions of trust. He went home, went to what must have been his family (and childhood) synagogue, and he starts to teach.
The problem here, is that everyone knows him. And they know his family.
How does this hometown-boy have the effrontery to come back and act high-and-mighty? “Where did this man get all this,” they ask.
They don’t trust him. They don’t trust that he speaks for God, or can do the things that he says he can.
And, as a result, “he could do no deed of power there.”
Really, I can’t blame them. I’m not sure I’d believe him either–especially if I saw him grow up like any other kid in town.
So, what does Jesus have to do? He has to earn their trust. He can’t just get it right there and then. He has to keep going. He has to keep teaching. He has to keep changing people’s lives. He has to die on the cross. He has to rise again.
I think that if the church today—the church “as-we-know-it”—is going to survive, we’re going to need to do a few things.
First, we need—as a whole body—to fall on our knees in humility. We have to make it clear that we have made horrific mistakes in the distant past, and in the not-too-distant past. And, this wave of humility and repentance can’t just be a once-and-done thing. We need to repeat over and over again that while we’re an institution with divine aspirations, we are a human institution which has failed, continues to fail, and will fail again.
Second, we need to attempt to win back people’s trust. We need to remember Who we represent. Before we open our mouths or make a bad decision, we need to remember that when we look bad, we made God look bad. We don’t need to update our website or write some more praise choruses. We don’t need to look more hipster and grow a soul patch.
We need to gain people’s trust. Only then will people even consider listening to anything we have to say.
Third, we need to help people remember that, really, it’s not us who is ever-faithful, but God. Jesus. Yes, Jesus had trouble getting people to trust him—but he was found most worthy of the trust that people put in him. God is our rock and our redeemer. God has never let us down.
In God we trust.
And, fourth we need to remember that not everyone is going to be able to trust us, or God. Some people will, as we see in this Gospel lesson, open their doors to us. But, some will reject us, and reject God. Jesus knew that. He told his disciples as much. And when we’re rejected we’re to wipe off the dust from our feet, and keep going.
But, until we start showing the world that we’re capable of humility and some degree of trustworthiness, it will be us who will be covered in the dust.
Rick, you wrote the words of my heart. I can hope that others in the Christian community will follow your example. Sadly, there are many who will refuse to follow, because they feel that fear and animosity will reinforce their power and authority. But any voice of sanity in the Christian wilderness is welcome. And I agree that, absent this change, the church will continue to exist, but will be marginalized as irrelevant.
Steve, thank you so much for your encouragement. Keep fighting the good fight! Peace.
Rick, another great one. Thanks.
Chuck, once again, it’s so nice to hear from you. Hope you’re well.
Thank you so much for your post. I serve a two point rural charge in The United Church of Canada and recently one of the points has come into the radar of some very authoritative preachers, who have been preaching a very similar message to the ones you mentioned in your post in regards to Homosexuality. I believe that their statements are not biblical, and in my opinion filled with hate rather then love as they claim. Because of that I have been told a number of times that I am not a “real” Christian and that I need to fear God more. So I want to thank you for your post, because in it I have read a lot of what I have been feeling and thinking lately. Thank you again for your commitment to your faith and the inspiration you give to me, and I am sure many others, each and every week Blessings.
Adam, thanks so much for your comment. I’m sorry about your troubles. I can appreciate people with different opinions and theological perspectives, but hate isn’t one of them. And they make the rest of us, and God, look bad. Peace be with you.
covered in dust – a reflection on Mark 6:1-13 | rick morley http://t.co/JO0Nawdi via @agardenpath
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[…] (Here is the link so that you can read it in its entirety. Seriously, it’s worth it: http://www.rickmorley.com/archives/1747 and uses the image of the disciples shaking dust off of their sandals as they leave towns that […]
I know you wrote this three years ago, but it is even more relevant now. I’m curious about what you thinkregarding how to earn people’s trust in the church context. Thanks.
Thanks Barb. How to earn trust? Well, I think we need to be honest with the fact that we are deeply flawed individuals in a deeply flawed institution, but who are also deeply called to love one another – and sometimes we even fail to do that. I see most of the lack of trust coming from a sense that we are hypocritical. And we are. For too long the church has operated from the stance of “we’re the good guys,” and sometimes we are, but sometimes we aren’t. And, when we’re upfront with that, I think we stand a better chance with those who have either left or who were never here in the first place. It’s what Brene Brown would call leading with our vulnerability. I think that would be a good start.
Thank you for this post. I believe that at times we are scared to confront the truth of how the church is perceived by many in our world. This seems especially true for those of us in the pulpit. Unfortunately the loudest voices in the Christian community are those that preach words of intolerance, judgement and exclusion.
[…] When Jesus comes to his hometown to teach, the people don’t trust him. He has to earn their trust, and his experiment fails. He then has to teach his disciples a tough lesson on trust and failure. They have to earn the trust of those they come across. If they don’t, then they must do the difficult thing and walk away, leaving them in the dust. We as a church face the same difficult task: to earn the trust of others so that we are not the ones left in the dust. This is easier said than done, given what we are up against in American Christianity today. As a universal church body, we have some work to do. This starts with our willingness to fall on our knees in humility- to make it clear that we have made horrific mistakes in the past, and to make it clear that we are willing to fall to our knees again and again and confess that while we are an institution with divine aspirations, we are also a human institution that has failed, continues to fail, and will fail again. Second, we need to work at winning back people’s trust. We need to remember who we represent when we make decisions, when we put ourselves out there, when we make statements about who we are. Third, we need to help people remember that at the end of the day, it’s not we who are found to be ever-faithful, but God through Jesus Christ. Jesus had trouble getting people to trust him, but he was found most worthy of the trust that people put in him. If we can show people Jesus, the true, radical, compassionate, healing Jesus, then we cannot and will not be left in the dust. (http://www.rickmorley.com/archives/1747) […]