Outside Our Walls
there is more to faith than the congregation
Every minister has a set of phrases they say a lot –a message they feel strongly about and which applies in a variety of situations. Mine is this: “If we are to have any hope of getting it right outside our walls, we must get it right inside our walls.”
I firmly believe that the ways in which we treat each other in the congregation is good practice for how we treat others – not just in terms of covenant and basic interactions, but also in terms of justice. How we talk to one another, how we deal with our aggressions and microaggressions, how we judge others, how we pay others, how we fight for others.
Inside our walls – in our congregation - is a place to learn and practice, but much of our work is outside our walls.
And too many people think the congregation is all there is.
Too many people spend all of their time serving on committees, working on the board, helping with Sunday mornings, gardening and maintaining the space, pouring over bylaws and policies, hanging out in the administrator’s office, etc.
And yes, we do want people to invest in this place that is theirs – time and talent matter.
But not to the exclusion of what’s happening outside our walls.
Our faith – this faith – is meant to be lived and expressed in the world. 18th century Universalist physician Benjamin Rush1 spoke constantly of his faith, suggesting (as historian Gary Dorrien writes) that social action is the inextricable consequence of Universalism. A hundred years later, when asked where our faith stands, Rev. Lewis Beals Fisher replied in the language of his time “we do not stand at all; we move.”
We have always been called to engagement outside our walls.
It is only then that we are actually connected to the work – our work. How do we know what our faith needs to be if we only ever stay inside? How do we know what words work best if we only ever listen to the same words we’ve been saying? How do we know where our challenges lie if we only make our spaces comfortable for where we are now?
More than one colleague has suggested that the people least likely to deal with change and challenge – especially when it comes to our work of justice – are those who have no engagement outside of their work, their family, and their congregation.
And yes, our congregations can easily become echo chambers.
Remember the story of the guy who only let in those he thought were likeminded enough? That’s the result of wanting an echo chamber. To only hear things that support our views, to only see people we feel comfortable around, to only engage in the world the way we want to, not as it demands of us. The last thing we need is an echo chamber. That is not what our faith is built on.
Our faith ALWAYS asks us to question our answers, to reach outside of our selves, to see where we can help those on the outside widen our circle (because it’s always those on the outside who pull the circle wider – our job as insiders is to make that easier).
You can’t do that if you only go to work, to home, and to church.
My god.
There is so much pain in the world. There is so much need in the world. There is so much that’s wrong in the world.
You can’t fix it all – no one can. But everyone can do something. And you can’t do it when you only engage with what’s happening inside the walls of your congregation.
So go get out there and do the something you can do.
Get out of the building. Get out of the meetings. Get out of the administrator’s office (and speaking as someone who was a church admin for a while, I know they’ll be glad for the break). Go put your faith into action.
Sure, it might challenge you. Good. This was never meant to be comfortable faith. But the discomfort? Totally worth it.
Now get out there.
Rush was one of the Sons of Liberty, was a Pennsylvanian delegate to the second Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence, and founded Dickinson College. He was known as a social reformer and humanitarian. The very model of a Universalist, I’d say.
Yes, this!