Christianity Is Leading Us Home

May 19, 2024

Pentecost Sunday

When I was nine or ten years old, my parents sent me to a summer boys camp for a two-week stay. I had never been away from family for that long in my life. Part of me was excited, and part of the scrawny little boy in me was terrified. After a few days, I’d had enough. I needed to hear my mom’s voice. The camp counselor was very kind and arranged a collect call to my parents. When my mom answered the phone and asked me what I wanted, I think I replied “nothing.” All I needed was to hear my mom’s voice and I was immediately calm and happy. The rest of the trip was a great experience, and I returned the following year to do it all over again.

That experience taught me that I could trust myself in strange situations, but it also showed me that my parents were only a phone call away of I ever needed them. That knowledge gave me courage even into my adult life, and we tried to teach that to our own sons as they grew and matured. We all have to go out on our own at some point, but we will always need the backing and support of those who we rely on the most.

I think that is part of the story of Pentecost. The disciples knew what Jesus had taught them and they were more than capable of carrying on his mission. Yet, there they were, cowering in the upper room, too afraid to move out on their own. That’s when Jesus arranged a “collect call” from the Holy Spirit to give the disciples the message that Jesus was, in fact, still present to them, and that they could handle this on their own.

We all know the stories of what happened next and over the subsequent two millennia. We would not be discussing this if they had not been successful. The history of Christianity, even with all its faults and blunders, is a story that could not have happened without the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. While some people are distressed about the future of Christianity, I believe that the Holy Spirit remains firmly in control. She has not allowed the Body of Christ to completely falter thus far in history, and I am convinced that she will not allow us to falter in the future.

What the face of Christianity will look like in 10 or 20 years is still to be determined. What is clear is that how things have been done in the recent past, cannot be continued. God’s people are smarter and better in-tune with what God wants of all of us. The churches that honor that wisdom and help to grow it and develop it will thrive. Those churches that attempt to maintain a medieval-style control over the thoughts and action of the people will shrivel.

The path of Christianity is leading us home. I don’t know if we are headed towards a full circle return to a church of the disciples, but I firmly believe that we are being called to act in a simpler, more humble style. If I understand the Gospels at all, that is what I believe Jesus was trying to teach us. Maybe that future begins today. Maybe that future begins with me.

For myself, as Richard Rohr so eloquently states, “I want to learn to be who God really created me to be. And I think all God wants me to be is who I really am.” [1] Every Day.

[1] Adapted from Mike Petrow, Paul Swanson, and Richard Rohr, “The Two Halves of Life with Brené Brown,” Everything Belongs, season 1, ep. 1 (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation, 2024), podcast.

© 2024 by Timothy J. Doppel

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