Though we may seem obsessed with ways in which people of faith are different, there are several things which are common among all Christians. Here are a few things upon which we can all agree we want.

1. Peace

I like to joke that the safest thing to want is world peace, since every beauty scholarship contestant knows that she can say she dreams of world peace and not get into trouble. It’s the definition of safe. It also happens to be foundational to the Christian faith. Jesus is known, of course, as the Prince of Peace. Peace also is our version of Shalom, the constant refrain in Hebrew Scripture.

2. Hope

Christians aren’t supposed to be pessimists. For all the sky-is-falling talk and the doom-and-gloom of the last decade, Christians don’t really want to be talking like the world is ending and we aren’t part of it. We really want to be hopeful and inspired people. I think we just need to make it easier for each of us to trust in GOD and one another: that there really is something for us to hope for.

3. Love

A really big part of the appeal of the phrase “God is love” is that we hope that GOD will love us and we want our faith to assure that we will receive love. Considering the parable of the Prodigal Son(s) is probably the most adored parable in the gospels, it is safe to say that Christians want to be loved by GOD in a big way. But we also just want to be loved by our parents and friends and coworkers and church. We want this group, devoted to loving like GOD to actually share some of that love with us.

4. Place

The way we talk about love, you’d think that is really the thing we want most. But we want something more fundamental than love: we want place. We want need safety. It is the base level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and, it seems, like it is the thing most up in the air in our churches. Long-time members, unsettled by the effects of postmodernity and post-Christendom are feeling displaced. So are younger members (for different reasons). Many of us don’t feel placed at all. The fundamental need for place is something the church can provide. As long as it can figure out how to provide that sense of place between groups with very different ideas of what place needs to look like.

Our wants are the same. It’s how we go about dealing with them that brings the greatest challenge. And requires the most courage.

 

See also

How to get the most out of church
Of darkness, confusion, and hope
Mercy is what we love
What if the church believed in eternal life
Not the Sacraments, but the Sacramental