The loudest voice in Christianity

Frankly I am fatigued in hearing my fellow Christians bemoan what might be considered the loud voices in Christianity. Be it the fool in Florida who offends Islam (and all religions) every six months or the misguided church that protests funerals of soldiers or the mega-church pastors where the stadium is packed every Sunday. Maybe you are feel the "religious right" or the "liberal media" "attacking" religion voice is among the loudest voices within religious conversation.

Contrary to popular belief,

not one of these is the loudest voice in Christianity

.

The loudest voice in Christianity is the collective whispers that are spoken under the breath of Christians around the world. 

The whisper of prayer at a bedside.

The whisper of forgiveness one gives to another.

The whisper of grief in tragedy.

The whisper of disbelief at those who use religion to deface Love, God and all that is declared good.

So let us all agree to stop complaining that one group or church or person has the loud voices that are "speaking for Christianity". The whisper is the loudest voice in all of Christianity.

The loudest voice in the world has always been the

whisper

.

I disagree with the Church, which is why I stay.

If you have not picked up anything in the "New-Monastic" movement, then I want to encourage you to do so.


I have been given the gift of the Prayer Book called "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals".  It has quickly become my favorite devotional each day.


Each month takes one of the 12 marks of New Monasticism and explains it just a bit.  The "mark" for April is "Submission to Christ's Body": the Church".


I will not post the entire entry, but I think this is one of the more profound essays related to the '12 marks' in the book.  This is the first paragraph of this wonderful essay, and I share it for all those who have left the Church, those who disagree with the Church, and those who do not understand why some of us stay in the Church to ponder.  I would love any responses to this opening paragraph:

"Discontentment is a gift to the church. If you are one of those people who has the ability to see the things that are wrong in the church and in the world, you should thank God for that perception. Not everyone has the eyes to see, or to notice, or to care. Bur we must also see that our discontentment is not a reason to disengage from the church bur a reason to engage with it. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Our invitation is to "be the change" we want to see in the church. There are things, worth protesting, but we also have to be people, who  "pro-testify," proclaiming the kingdom that we're for, not just the evils we're against."