Good Enough for God?

This article first appeared in the July 2021 edition of the parish magazine of St John with St Mary, Devizes.

Among my closest friends are the three remaining Anglican Benedictine monks from what was once Nashdom and then Elmore Abbey, now resident in Salisbury Cathedral Close. When I first came to Wiltshire in 2013, they were four, and Dom Kenneth Newing, who had been Bishop of Plymouth before taking monastic vows, was one of the dearest, wisest, and holiest friends I have ever had. 

Dom Kenneth Newing on the Diamond Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood, at the tender age of 93. © Gerry Lynch, 30 September 2016.

I first met Kenneth when he had just turned ninety, and he already showed signs of mild but definite cognitive impairment. He took time to process complex conversation and find the precise words in response, but he remained an acute observer of people and retained excellent memory for both the immediate and distant past. For those with the patience to take time to talk to him, he was wise and perceptive in conversation. He remained so almost until his death five years later. In his last years, he contributed much to the Church and the life of those he lived and worshipped among.  

The Church of England has set itself the task of becoming younger and more diverse. On the surface, nobody could object to this. Scratch deeper and this objective is riddled with problematic assumptions. The Church should seek growth, just as the leaves on the trees do at this time of year. That’s one of its jobs. Must new or revitalised Christians, however, necessarily be young? Are the older members of our society redundant passengers to be ignored in favour of those likely to have more years of active Christian commitment? Similarly with diversity. We must absolutely reject anything in ourselves that refuses to embrace as equals everyone regardless of race, class, gender, or sexual orientation. But are congregations that look less like our metropolitan centres and more like our provincial small towns of less value to God?  

If we don’t love and value ourselves as we already are, why would someone encountering us for the first time trust us to love and value them?  

Our national church leadership sometimes gives the impression of being embarrassed by an inadequate flock because we don’t fit an ideal. We should be particularly suspicious because the ideal we’re presented with is exactly the same youthful, physically attractive, and diverse vision utilised by the advertising that bombards us everywhere. Making people feel inadequate is a powerful advertising tool. It’s when we’re unhappy with ourselves that we’re most likely to convince ourselves that fulfilment lies in a new car, a new kitchen, or a fifty quid flutter on United’s next match. 

The Christian message is instead that we’re already redeemed from our inadequacies through Christ’s love for us made manifest in His sacrifice on the Cross. We’re already good enough for God. After all, His closest companions, an undiverse group of Jewish men from a small town in the backwater of Galilee, were so inadequate that they deserted Him in darkest hour. He not only loved and forgave them, but through them built a great extended family that today reaches from St John’s in Devizes to the flourishing house churches of China’s megacities to the refugee camps of South Sudan. All of us are equal before the Saviour we share. We live in a grotesquely unequal world but guilty self-contempt is a diversion from, not a means to, making it fairer. 

It’s only when we accept that God loves us in and through our flaws, that we can abandon our attempts to impress Him and guilt for not being impressive enough, and allow Him to lead us to the fullness of life that He promises to young and old.