by Steve Burden

Created on: May 20, 2007   Last Updated: February 17, 2010

Church, should be a place of welcome and safety for all, a place where everyone should find acceptance and respect. Nevertheless, the genuine efforts of dedicated and gifted Church leaders, cannot create Utopian communities out of thin air. Inter-personal relationships, even among Christians, are never straightforward. In Church, where we might more particularly expect to feel safe, relationships can be fraught with fears and worries, old wounds can flair up with no warning-light to alert us of impending trouble. Since the days of Acts chapter 2, the Church has struggled against a fierce adversary, whose purpose has been to divide the people of God. 

A consequence of this protracted struggle, is a staggering number of backsliders. For whatever reason, they have slipped through the net, they are considered to be collateral damage in a war between invisible forces. Abandoned and neglected, many of them still bear the scars of shattered dreams, they constantly grapple with an unforgiving guilt as they try to forget their splintered faith. A Christian without a church is evidence enough, that the Church is itself, the theatre of a great conflict, a clash between the forces of good and evil.

Though spoilt by 'men', through their determination to live as they please, the world is waiting for the ‘Sons of God’ to be revealed. We do not know how this will happen, or when. An Old Testament Prophet’s words, reverberate down through history, still throbbing with prophetic power: “The earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Lord”! 

However far men stray from the ways of God, His loving-kindness endures for ever. He always looks for a turning around, a change, a resolve to look once more to the ways of God. Our world is the focus of His gaze, for this is the same world that, 'God so loved, that He gave His only Son' in order to bring about a breathtaking change: Peace in a world filled with His glory.

It is not easy for backsliders to turn once again towards God and His church. An arduous and steep climb takes resolve and dogged courage, but if ever a journey was worth taking, this is surely it. Every step, reclaiming lost ground, is brimming with promise as we allow God to calm our fears, to bind up our broken-heartedness, and to proclaim to us the liberty that we, as captives, had always desired.

If, eventually, we can find it within ourselves to risk pain and hurt, and yet, still to love, then we shall surely demonstrate that we are His disciples. We shall indeed, be bearers of Good News!

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