Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, May 16, 2020
by R. Fergus Moir, Clergy Stuff
Newcomers to our faith communities can be scary. We like things the way they are. They’re comfortable. We know what we think and believe, and when new people come seeking God, our instinct is to assimilate them into our culture as quickly as possible. We don’t want to listen to their questions or doubts, accommodate their ideas, or, well, change. But Jessicah Duckworth, in her book Wide Welcome: How the Unsettling Presence of Newcomers Can Save the Church, argues that embracing the questions, doubts, and ideas of newcomers to our faith communities are what renews and revitalizes them, pushing us out of our comfort zone to see where God is doing a new thing. It’s critical to have our beliefs, practices, and traditions regularly challenged to see where they might no longer be life-giving, or contributing to being God’s presence in the world.
How can I welcome the questions, doubts and ideas of others to strengthen my own faith?
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