It is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need … (2 Corinthians 8:14)
Lately, I have been thinking about balance. Balance between haves and have-nots. Balance of power. Balancing act. Work-life balance. I’m not sure that balance is always achievable, but as we wonder how or even whether Sanctuary will continue, I become more and more convinced of the importance of striving for balance.
In 2 Corinthians 8, the Apostle Paul is clear that reciprocal favours are necessary and that “a fair balance” is the goal. He describes one congregation as sharing the gospel, while another has wealth to spare. When these resources are balanced across both congregations, there is enough for everyone and both become strong.
As Sanctuary considers its future, some of us have wondered about partnership with another church. Reflecting on Paul’s words, I wonder, what does a fair balance look like here? What would we ask another church to share? Money? Administration? What else? And what would we offer in return?
I wonder this even as I notice something else: Paul’s letter implies that the wealthy congregation is all talk. When it comes to actually doing the work of sharing, there seems to be a lot of foot-dragging and reluctance. Many of us have observed this ourselves. It seems few churches with institutional wealth are genuinely open to partnership, and I wonder what it is about wealth which makes it so hard to let go of it or to seek balance.
I also wonder about balance within a congregation.
Some of us are financially comfortable, while others are closer to struggle street.
Some of us are rich in family and friends. We have dynamic networks and relationships, and rarely want for companionship. Others of us, whether because of family background, life stage, personality, mental health or other factors, have far fewer relationships. We know what it is to be lonely, or to feel unseen and unloved.
Some of us are rich in skills, wisdom, or life experience. We know how to run things, or lead people, or interpret the gospel, or raise children. We have skills and stories and gifts to share. Others of us are just bumbling along, our gifts not yet realized, our potential not yet awakened.
Some of us are rich in faith networks. We are members, perhaps, of several faith communities, and the doors of most churches are open to us. Others of us have few choices. We have a long history of being told by churches that we are not welcome, or of being condescended to, told to change, or limited in the ways we can participate.
In all these things and more, what does it mean to strive for balance? For those of us with resource, this is the challenge of the gospel. It asks us to devote time, skills, money, and capacity for relationship so that those who lack these things can also thrive.
Sanctuary occupies a special position in the region, and serves a unique demographic. It’s a place for questioners and doubters, neurodivergent people and LGBTIQA+ people, and others too often shoved to the margins of the church: people who disrupt comfortable assumptions, witness to faith in adversity, and call on others to check their privilege.
But for this special space to continue, some of us with resource are going to need to devote more time, skills, money, and capacity for relationship towards the congregation so there is balance between members and the whole body can thrive.
Shalom,
Alison
Emailed to Sanctuary 21 June 2023 © Alison Sampson, 2023. Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash.
Alison and the whale 