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Why I Believe-3
Richard Dawson, 22 July 2015
I discovered early on that faith was never just about me. Rather faith was a corporate reality which worked to create not just redeemed individuals but redeemed and redeeming communities. There is a saying which goes ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ While there may be some who use this to justify there own politics the heart, I believe, of the saying revolves around the importance of community for individual human health. As individuals we find our being and hence our meaning in communities. This begins, of course, with our families which is one reason why preserving and promoting families should be so important for the Church. But the family is just a preparation for involvement in much bigger communities such as school and work communities and, finally in the ultimate community, the Church. The Church is the special community God has ordained to be the community through which our relationship with Christ is mediated. Now this doesn’t mean that we have no access to God apart from the Church but that our very relationship with Christ needs the communal aspect which is the Church. The two go hand in hand. I believe today because many people in the Church have contributed to keeping me faithful to Christ. And yes, the Church is a very human institution as well and as such it can be very frustrating and, at times, even the opposite of what it was meant to be. But in the end it is the place the Spirit has created to be active with the purposes of God. For all it’s imperfections the Church has nurtured and continues to nurture my faith.
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