GMD 30: Smaller Church–Not So Much

Our examination of Go and Make Disciples includes another response to the “why.”

We evangelize because people must be brought to the salvation that Jesus the Lord offers in and through the Church. While we acknowledge that the grace of God is mysteriously present in all lives, people all too often resist this grace. They refuse change and repentance. We evangelize so that the salvation of Christ Jesus, which transforms our human lives even now, will bring as many as possible to the promised life of unending happiness in heaven. (GMD 30)

Resistance to change: this is something we believers know all too well. Or if we looked deeply enough into our own lives, we would.

Does it help to think of the situation in terms of how the bishops frame it? We do not evangelize to create our own disciples, people who look, think, act, and blog like us. We don’t conduct the show. We open the door, gesture to the way, and encourage others to come close to Christ.

That small church, getting smaller, is what it looks like when the Church is made up of “me.”

About catholicsensibility

Todd lives in Minnesota, serving a Catholic parish as a lay minister.
This entry was posted in evangelization, Go and Make Disciples. Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to GMD 30: Smaller Church–Not So Much

  1. “That small church, getting smaller is what it looks like when the Church is made up of ‘me.'”

    Bravo! Well said!

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