For most of our lives we have been taught that we must believe the right thing, do the right thing and only then could we belong to the Church. There didn’t seem to be much room for those struggling with their faith, or those living complicated and imperfect lives. The Believe – Behave – Belong model only really worked for those already inside the Church.
In the New Evangelisation promoted by St Pope John Paul II and continuing up till now, a new model is being spoken about and put into practice though evangelisation programs such as ALPHA and Divine Renovation. This is Belong – Believe – Behave. This model acknowledges that most people need to experience welcome, love and acceptance before they can believe and then change their lives, whatever that change may look like. This is a model of evangelisation and being Church that makes room for the seeker and the questioner, for those who don’t have their lives put together in every way. It is the model of a church that is invitational and welcoming, that journeys together.
Let me remind you of our Parish Mission Statement:
Experience Christ’s love through worship, service and community.
Our Mission is to bring people into a relationship with Christ by embodying for them the unconditional love of a community that knows it doesn’t have it all together, but is trying to model itself on Christ, and how he loved and served.
There is an unarticulated word which precedes “experience” – “COME”.
It is an invitation that we extend to everyone,
both to the agnostic and atheist, and to the lukewarm Christian.
Right behaviour is the result of falling in love with Jesus and living faith in a community of belonging. Belonging is not the reward for behaving. I think most of us recognise the dysfunctionality of a conditional love which says I will only love you if… We all bear the scars of such love, and we want better, more, for ourselves, and our families and friends and for the stranger you love without knowing them simply because they are, like you, a child of God.
