Q. We hear in the Bible and in sermons that Christians are strangers, foreigners, and aliens in this world and so we need to remain steadfast in our faith in the face of a world that sees us as different. However, I find that more and more I am feeling like a stranger, foreigner, and alien amongst fellow Christians. It seems to me that Christianity is as polarized as the rest of our society and I have trouble seeing Christ in the beliefs of fellow Christians, just as they have trouble seeing Christ in my beliefs. (I will offer one example: how we treat and speak of those who are literally foreigners in our country.) This makes it especially difficult to remain steadfast in our faith if we as the body of Christ are so divided. I would be interested in your thoughts about this. Thank you.
Here is one thought that I hope will be encouraging to you. There is not a complete overlap between the visible church and the invisible church. (There never has been, and there never will be on this earth.) The invisible church consists of all those who are genuine followers of Jesus and of the mystical fellowship that exists between them. If we think of the invisible church by analogy with an oyster (and Jesus did say that the kingdom of God was like a pearl of great price), then the visible church is its shell. The visible church consists of all the arrangements that the invisible church makes to live in this world—tax-exempt organizations with by-laws, denominations that pass resolutions, buildings from cathedrals to storefronts, and so forth.
While the Bible admonishes us to be in the world but not of the world, inevitably, whenever the invisible church makes arrangements to live in this world, something of the world gets worked into those arrangements, so that they are “of” as well as “in.” Similarly, whenever people become part of the invisible church, they bring part of the world in with them.
So you will feel like a stranger, foreigner, and alien whenever you find yourself in the midst of arrangements that are more “of” than “in.” And as you acknowledged, there will be times when other Christians feel that way around you, whenever you might be more “of” than “in” yourself.
Is there anything we can do about this? Do we simply have to feel painfully out of place at times and wait for that glorious moment when Jesus brings his invisible church to the fore and its shell fades into the background? No, I think there is much that we can do. Carefully picking our moments, we can engage people whom we have reason to believe will listen to us, and we can share our concerns with them.
Not everyone will be open to this. Unfortunately we have become a media culture that enables and encourages “bias confirmation,” that is, seeking out and listening to only those sources of information that reinforce what we already believe. It’s hard to have a reasonable conversation with someone when you and they are working with different sets of facts. I’m not recommending that you try to engage people if you discover that to be the case.
But I do think of what Jesus told his disciples when he sent them out: “ Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.” You are looking for someone who is a “son of peace” or “daughter of peace” even though the two of you seem to have different perspectives about how Christians should be engaging our culture and world these days. If you recognize in them a genuine openness to listen, learn, and grow in understanding, share your concerns, maintaining that same openness yourself. I have seen that this can and does lead to all participants seeing things in new and better ways. It also makes each of us feel much less like a stranger to the other.
As I said, this must be done carefully and selectively. But it can be done. Each such conversation plants a small seed. And Jesus talked about how great things can grow from small seeds.
Good Question 