Not long ago, I was sorting through some papers at the church and ran across (again!) the Open and Affirming Statement. It was something familiar to me and yet this version was different! There was some additional text!

Now, as a pastor, I deal with texts all of the time. I am familiar with how a text might get corrupted. Some well-intentioned editor can’t resist inserting an explanation or a comment. Something written in the margin gets included in the body of the document. Or a copyist finds something objectionable and decides the text would be better without it. It seems that our Open and Affirming Statement is not immune from these “corruptions.” The question is, though, was the text added, or was it taken away? Some of you who have been here longer than I may have a handle on that. What I want to offer today, though, is a consideration of the text in question. It is in the genre of an introductory remark. It states: “We covenant to be a Community that remains open to the challenges of the Christian Faith!”

What is implicit in this statement is that there are challenges involved in being a follower of the Way of Christ. I like that this finds expression in our community of faith. Too many times, the Christian faith is touted as a means of avoiding challenge, of being simplistic in dealing with issues, of painting the world as black and white. I have been challenged over and over again by what I read in scripture and how I apply it in my life. And I think if I am no longer challenged by the Gospel, I should probably do some hard thinking about what my faith really means.

Challenge is not a bad thing. It keeps us sharp and growing in our faith. How are the challenges in your life prodding you to grow and mature in your faith?

Pastor Dave

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