Renewing a Faithful Church: Part 1

Traditions are like lampposts.  They light the way we are supposed to follow but only drunkards hold on to them.  (Gerhard Lohfink).

Renewal, change, revolution – has there ever been a generation, at least in my own lifetime, that has not entertained these three perspectives on life to some degree.  Certainly, within the ranks of the Church, these waves have threatened the life of the Church at every level.  In the 60’s and 70’s, it was not just the Church, but Western society and every institution within it that was being threatened by tidal waves of revolt. 

A famous quotation from the Polish Philosopher Leszek Kolakowski puts this into a helpful perspective:

There are two circumstances we should always keep simultaneously in mind: First, if the new generations had not continually revolted against inherited tradition, we would still be living in caves; second, if revolt against inherited tradition should become universal, we would soon be back in the caves. . . . A society in which tradition becomes a cult is condemned to stagnation; a society that tries to live entirely through revolt against tradition condemns itself to destruction.

The scale of his argument is important.  There is nothing wrong with a sensible and balanced sense of revolution and rebellion, but a society that merely abandons its traditions eventually tears itself apart.  Those hard-earned, inherited experiences reflect the heart of an institution and especially at the heart of what makes the Church the genuine Body of Christ in the world.  While her traditions will always need to be clarified, renewed and deepened, they cannot be abandoned or rejected.

Traditions are essential elements of faith and practice, encompassing both the teachings of the apostles that have been handed on under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and various other practices passed down through generations. They are crucial for maintaining continuity with the Church's origins, deepening understanding of faith, and fostering a sense of community and belonging. 

One of the challenges facing those who speak of Church renewal is establishing of the standard to be used in evaluating its traditions.  Are they to be found “out there” in society?  Does the world set the agenda and dictate the future shape and priorities?  The answer must be a resounding “No”.   They have been tried, and while it was at times exciting, that journey led nowhere – Marxism, Liberation Theology and today’s destructive Social Justice Theory with its divisive race, gender, Me Too, Black Lives Matter and cancellation philosophies.  They are all dead ends that have done more to divide us than they have done to bring us together more cohesively and productively. 

The only guide, the only measure for renewal, must be Jesus Christ as he is revealed to us in the Gospels.  He sits at the very heart of the Church, our centre and our foundation, and any renewal must be focused on bringing us closer to Christ himself, his mission and ministry among us. 

What is our basis for making this emphatic statement?  Jesus is the logos, (divine Word), the One sent to us by God. Who speaks to us with the fullness of divine authority of God behind him.     It is a message that does not change, is not one subject to the vagaries of new generations and movements of ideas.  Our vocation remains the same as it was for the disciples from the very beginning:  follow him.   

We live our faith in a world of conflicting ideas and demands

We live in a world that has long abandoned its Christian foundations, and believers now find ourselves buffeted and challenged by an abundance of shifting values in a world that demands conformity to its own standards and ideals.  Those standards are proclaimed in the press, taught in schools, made into internal rules and expectations in universities, government agencies and even multinational corporations.  Those unwilling to conform are marginalised and even condemned.  Compliance is the price for participation in society.

Self-reliance is the new mantra – be all you can, be in touch with your real self, accept yourself, God loves you no matter what you do, forgive yourself, live at peace with the person you are now, and the hubris goes on.  It is the tower of Babel all over again and because there is little of Jesus in this, we are not even aware of what we are building for ourselves. 

They are, however, seductive, and their promise of being able to build a new and better world, a new and better self, is quite attractive.  The thing they leave out is Jesus, the logos of God, who offered the same kinds of promises but couched them in terms of repentance, reconciliation and humility under God’s reign.

The call of Jesus is to discipleship, not self serving

  As early as Leviticus 19:18 God commanded you shall love your neighbour as yourself.  We are used to that sublime revelation, but it represented a massive revolution in the time it was revealed.  The Ancient New East was a world of families and clans a world where individuals were bound by responsibilities and the demands of solidarity.  Anything outside of the clan was not their responsibility.  Leviticus 19 expands that to include all Israel and even those foreigners who were dwelling within their national boundaries or simply passing through.  All are now encompassed by that word “neighbour”.  Gone are the old values and rules.  God has established new ones and they are binding.

In the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, the commandment to love God and to love one’s neighbour are not connected.    It is Jesus who joins them together giving the command to love of neighbour the same weight as the command to love of God.  He places both of them at the heart of his teaching on the coming of the Kingdom of his Father.

How forcefully this must have resonated around the community.  His was a world of conflict, with groups lining up one against another.  Pharisees, Zealots, Romans, Samaritans, Essenes, an endless array of religious and social groups all fighting for the primary position of influence, for the mantle of being the “true Israel”.  They all claimed to speak for God and yet each had a different emphasis to their teachings and demands.  Through it all, God’s people were divided. 

There is only the One Body of Christ

In line with the revelations of the Old Testament, Jesus, from the very beginning of his ministry, preached a message of unity.  He gathered people together, uniting them under the one message of the Kingdom he was inaugurating in the name of his Father. 

The unity of the Body of Christ is not found in the diversity of its members but in their shared, unwavering commitment to the truth of Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we are woven together in a unity that transcends human concepts, calling believers to rise above divisions that are rooted in ideology or identity. It is a radical invitation to surrender, to lay aside the self and embrace the shared mission of love and reconciliation.

In this unity, the message of discipleship emerges clearly: it is not about becoming one’s own master but about humbly submitting to the Lordship of Christ. It is a journey that redefines greatness not as personal achievement but as service—a call to live sacrificially for the sake of others and for the glory of God. Jesus' example of washing the feet of His disciples serves as a poignant reminder that leadership in the Kingdom of God is marked by humility and a servant's heart.

This profound unity also challenges the believers to stand firm against the erosion of faith by the twin temptations of secularism and relativism. Even as society celebrates self-reliance and autonomy, the Body of Christ is called to shine as a beacon of hope, proclaiming the enduring truths of repentance, grace, and redemption.  Jesus did not say this was going to be easy.  He did say it was necessary, and he did say that it was a shared divine calling that ties us into the unchanging nature of God's love.

303 Committee meetings over 156 days in 2024

Fortunately for us, Jesus did not follow the protocols of the Australian senate when it came to transforming the world through the Kingdom of God.  The 303 Committee meetings over 156 days in 2024 would transform nothing, contribute nothing for the divine plan of salvation.   God did not use buzz groups or committees for his saving works.  God revitalised, transformed, and enlivened the world by grace, grace freely given. 

Fortunately for us, Jesus did not follow the protocols of the Australian Senate when it came to transforming the world through the Kingdom of God. In governing and transforming Australia, more time is spent by senators attending committee meetings and hearings than in attending sittings of the Senate!  He set about proclaiming the Kingdom of God, chose twelve men as his disciples and declared by word and deed that the End Time Israel (eschatological Israel) had begun.  The world was now in its final days, the time leading up to the End.  He called disciples to follow him and instructed them in the ways of the Kingdom of his Father.  He preached a new world, a reconstituted Israel that lived faithfully under divine rule.

It was a message of universal love, embracing everyone, including the hated and despised Samaritans.  He taught a love for all, a fellowship embracing Pharisees and Sadducees, Zealots and collaborators with the Romans, Scribes, farmers, foreigners and most of all, sinners.  This new “Jesus movement” was comprised not only of those who followed him along the roads, but included many who remained in their homes, touched by his presence and his message, and left to ponder it and to live it (Martha, Mary and Lazarus are but one example).  For some it was a chance encounter, like the experience of Joseph of Arimathea who assisted Jesus in carrying his cross to Golgotha.  There was Bartimaeus the blind man and Levi the tax collector, those who had been healed and those who had been welcomed. These were the ones called by Jesus to be a part of the wider ‘crowd” preparing for what was to come after the Ascension of the Lord and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  And, of course, there were the curious, those who were attracted, who were inquisitive, tempted but not yet committed. 

What is important here is the great mishmash of people who had found themselves in one way or another responding to Jesus, following him in their multifaceted ways.    Not all were committed to the same extent, with the same level of passion.  But what remained constant; what held this broad cross section of followers to a common faith was the faith and hope of that first band of Apostles.  They were the people all were called to become – the reconstituted Israel, the eschatological Twelve Tribes.  They were the yeast.

Conclusion:

The fledgling faith community of the followers of Jesus was not composed of an elite group set apart from others by their holiness or unique powers.  They did not set about creating a new esoteric group like that of the Essenes who had set up their home in the wilderness of Qumran.  They were not closed off and exalted by others.  They were what we are called to be today – yeast.  They set the agenda for the Church of every age, the model for which we strive today.  A coming together of who all Christians are called to become. 

We know this from Mark’s Gospel where an inordinate length of time, chapters 8-11 was spent in instructing this core group for their eventual mission, teachings that included Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount and Luke’s Sermon on the plains.  The Apostles had a key role but theirs was not the only ministry in this End Time Israel.  Wherever Jesus had travelled and engaged with the local populations, people came to him and were touched by him.  He moved on, taking his apostles with him and left behind a network of people who were beginning to see the world in a very different light.  As they in turn began to reach out to their new “neighbours”, welcoming into their family circle everyone who came their way, the Kingdom was beginning to put down roots.  Others began to take notice. 

Bishop Michael Hough June 2025