Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Colossians 3.14

One day,  a friend of Church of the Brethren founder Alexander Mack asked him about the group of Christians who’d come to see their shared commitment to radical discipleship as the beginning of a new movement.  “Is this a new group?  How will people know who they are?” (my paraphrase)

This friend may have been wondering whether the movement would form a distinctive creed, or start living in communes, or adopt some unique type of religious clothing.

A. Mack replied, “They’ll be known by the manner of their living.”  Maybe Mack was recalling Paul’s instructions to the church in Colossae.  Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Bear with one another…Above all, clothe yourselves in love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

There have been times when the brothers and sisters practicing these instructions focused more on the clearness of their recognizability than on the quality of their love.  I think this is still one of our struggles.

But Olympic View has another struggle.

As a ‘Community Church’ founded by the Brethren, it has sought to widen its welcome to those coming from different faith backgrounds.  At times this has been done by adopting non-Brethren practices, or de-emphasizing Brethren ones.  Like Paul, we proclaimed that we should never allow our practices to cause those who are just growing in the faith to stumble.

But communities that practice their faith in distinctive ways and those who de-emphasize practice can each make the same mistake.  In our attention to the forms of religious practice, we can neglect what matters most of all.

A friend of mine recently went on a hike up in the North Cascades.  He was an experienced hiker, but several things distracted him as he chose his socks.  After three miles, he knew he’d made a foolish mistake.  After five miles, his feet were rubbed raw and bleeding.  After another three miles, his pain and growing exhaustion led him to take a risk which could have ended his life.  Fortunately, he only broke a few ribs.  Sometimes the clothing we wear makes all of the difference.

And so it is with our spiritual clothing.  The brand label may indicate the origin, but a church which is continuing the work of Jesus ought to be more concerned with the activity of the wearer.  When we read the prophets, we’re studying God’s activity.  When we read the Gospels, we’re studying Jesus’ activity.  When we’re examining the history of our denomination, we’re trying to learn how our forebears put these into practice.  And when we gather for worship, and depart to serve, we put our active wear to the test, building the relationships in which we discover Love’s voice to us here and now.

So, may we bear with one another as we consider the places from which we’ve come and the way we’ve taken to get here, and just where it is, from here, that we will choose to go together.