Life Out There
Martin Luther King, Jr. once remarked that religion is only alive at its edges. I remember reading that statement for the first time and doing a doubletake. Only is a bold word, but after mulling over the concept, I agree. King is equating religion with actionable faith and actionable faith always entails stepping into the unknown. Religion certainly comes alive at its edges!
Edge dwellers occupy a difficult space in this life. It can be a lonely place to reside. It can even be a deadly place to reside. People don’t like being stretched to the edge and the inevitable changes involved. I’m right there too! Dwelling on the edge cost Martin Luther King his life. Dwelling on the edge cost Jesus His life at the hands of pharisaical conformity. Think about that one for a minute. We gravitate towards the predictable and comfortable so intensely that edge dwellers often do so at great peril.
Why would anyone dwell on the edge? Because that is where our religion comes alive. In fact, it is the realm in which our religion transforms into actionable faith!
Edge dwelling could be considered from 2 perspectives. One perspective is the edges of our own life. Pastors love to talk about stuff that happened 20 years ago, but I’ll willingly acknowledge that God is leading me into deep waters. Right now! This year has put me on the edge when it comes to my personal comfort zones. There are things I do not like to do and would naturally avoid. Yet, God’s hand nudges me out to the edge of my own life and all I want to do is retreat. God loves me so much He pushes me to the edges of my self-imposed limitations. This is the realm of faith development.
There is another form of edge dwelling that goes beyond our personal limitations. Our religion comes alive when our faith stretches us toward the edge and what we often discover is God’s mission is already alive and well there! The second perspective of edge dwelling is that God moves at the edge in fresh and powerful ways! Religion comes alive at its edge because God moves most profoundly among the marginalized, abused, and powerless. Human control and power are antithetical to the gospel. I fight against this reality but it’s true. To experience Jesus, I must be willing to lose myself and join Him in the very places that my pride resist.
But don’t take my word for it.
Jesus once told a story about God’s invitation to insiders to join His party and they rejected that invitation. When the invitation was rejected, He said to His servants, 8“The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.” (Matt. 22:8-9) The party in the end was filled with outsiders!
It’s natural to resist life on the edge. To be stretched is to embrace tension. But I still agree with King’s conclusion, religion is only alive at its edges. God give us the faith to join You at the edge.