A Thought For The Week Of June 19, 2017

"Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." (Romans 15:7) This is a fascinating verse of Scripture, because there are a variety of ways in which the first three words (and then the action of Christ) have been translated. The NRSV (above) says "welcome one another." The NIV says "accept one another." Another translation I've come across says "receive one another." All slightly different. "Welcome" seems friendlier, "accept" seems more formal, and "receive" - to me - seems almost official and ritualistic. Which made me start to think which of those options I personally preferred. And if I had to choose, I think I'd go with "welcome."  To either accept or receive someone seems rather passive. Neither demand or even expect any transformation - and yet Christ is about transforming us from what we are into what we will be - or, more precisely, into what God would have us be. In that sense, to "welcome" seems much more active. It is to welcome us into an experience of transformation. I've heard people in the church dismiss the idea of "welcoming" people. Their argument seems to rest upon the idea that everyone belongs in the church, and to "welcome" people who belong seems to imply that they're outsiders who don't really belong. But to be frank I believe that one thing the church is called to proclaim that we often don't proclaim very well is that none of us - not even the proclaimers - truly "belong." None of us are perfect, with no need for change. All of us need to be transformed by God's grace. The welcome we are to give is not a welcome to people to stay as they are but is rather a welcome to join us on a journey to help discover what God wants us to be and what changes we need to make to be that. Admittedly, we have to be careful in defining what it is that needs to be transformed in a person, because it's too easy for us to simply put our own biases into play and to decide that someone needs to change what we don't like or what we're uncomfortable with. But the transformation we're talking about is into the image of Christ, not into the image of ourselves. We aren't really called to "accept" or "receive." Those both carry an implication that there's no need to change, but there are areas in all of our lives that need to be brought into conformity with God's desire for us. So, "welcome one another," I would say. That is in fact a good way of reflecting the image of God. Welcome one another and others and model to the best of your ability a way of life that reflects Christ's life, and allow the Holy Spirit to work the change in yourself and others that the Holy Spirit chooses to work.