Pilgrim Soldier

Every day in my Google Reader I receive a quote from the Inward/Outward blog. Today’s offering was timely as it’s something that has been on my mind over the last few days! It’s a quote from Archbishop Oscar Romero, assassinated Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador:

A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone, that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in.¹

What a challenge to anyone who finds themselves in the position of regularly preaching. Whilst Romero was talking about the responsibility to preach to society as a whole, a position into which he found himself thrust because of the situation in El Salvador during his life, it is surely just as important for us to seek to constantly challenge those who we try to teach. We should not be seeking to give lead people to a comfortable experience, but instead to one that leaves them feeling uncomfortable because they have been challenged to dig deeper into faith and consequently be a better disciple.

Let it be so for me!