Conversion and its Discontents

One of the difficulties of living human life and spirituality is how the corporate/institutional interacts and takes on a life of its own which may pull across or against the values or objectives we most wish to espouse. In Christian terms this shows itself most flagrantly in the awareness that people may be attracted to Jesus but find the Church a huge stumbling block. As churches become social, political and cultural actors and artefacts, they gain identities in those terms which may or may not speak well of Christ.
This quote from India puts it well:
"'Conversion, instead of being a vertical movement toward God, a genuine renewal of life, has become a horizontal movement of groups of people from one community to another, very often backed by economic affluence, organizational strength and technological power. It also seriously disrupts the political life of the country by influencing the voting patterns of people. Why then should Christians be surprised when the very words mission and conversion provoke so much anxiety, suspicion, and fear?'"
The issue can be looked at from the other side too. The social, cultural, economic and political dimensions of another religious identity can make it hard for someone to really engage with Christ and then to consider changing a whole cultural (even civilisational) identity. To what extent do we think it right or desirable to allow Christ to become so identified with provisional human structures or to be identified against certain provisional human structures. This is an issue that touches on the Powers. Hopefully I'll be able to develop that thought more fully at another point ...
We're probably all aware to some degree how our desire for peace or justice is made turbulent by the cross-currents of being citizens of a particular nation and wanting to preserve the goods of democracy, welfare and liberty
Conversion and its Discontents: