In his address to the General Synod of the Church of England, The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York challenged the church to act out of faith and not fear. Some quotes from his speech:
“There is a commanding invitation which echoes throughout the Bible. It’s a message given at various times to patriarchs and prophets, to nations and to shepherds, to Zechariah and to Mary, to disciples and to fledgling congregations in the church’s earliest days. ‘Fear not, do not be afraid.'”
“As a church, we need to learn once again to become risk-takers, people who take risks for the Gospel, who take risks for Christ, who take risks in the service of God and one another. We have to take risks, in order to make the journey. We discover courage by doing courageous, God-like actions. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.’ An act at a particular time and place. It is the sin of the world that Christ takes away. Action!”
“So what are we afraid of? And what are the consequences of our fearfulness? The result of fear can be dangerous, fear itself can create its own risk. Because often when we’re reacting out of fear we don’t behave with courage and determination and grace, we become defensive, we behave badly.”
“In the same way we Christians must beware of taking the holiness of God to imply that his wrath and judgement are out to destroy sinners instead of redeeming them, loving them and forgiving them. For those who follow the man of Galilee who was crucified, self-righteousness must die at his Cross. It’s from the Cross that the light of God shines forth upon the world in its fullest splendour. And as David Bosch has said (in Transforming Mission) ‘The Church is an inseparable union of the divine and the dusty.'”
Read it all here