The Long Game

The other day I was reading an article, "Herbert and Ferrar: The Quiet Resistance",  by Fr. Dwight Longenecker about a pair of priests in England during the early 1600's, a time of considerable Anglican/Catholic trouble. Fr. Long concludes, 

"When faced with corruption in the church, immorality in the culture, heresy, apostasy, and atheism in the culture, one can go down the path of blame and complain, or one can choose the path of activism and engagement in the culture wars, or one can follow the third way, the way exemplified by Ferrar and Herbert and many other saints down the ages: One can simply get down on one’s knees, then roll up one’s sleeves and do what one can with what one has where one is. At the time, this course may seem unproductive—a failure even. However, God plays a long game, and those who are faithful are never a failure. The seeds of truth, beauty, and goodness eventually bear a rich harvest."

Didn't the apostles engage in their cultural wars by preaching the Gospel of Christ boldly, teaching a new set of cultural values at the cost of their lives? To some extent we shall always have to deal with the culture wars. 

As far as corruption in the church goes, in their time Ferrar and Herbert did not have the option that we have, and that is to go to the next church down the road. 

I know that there are still a few Episcopal priests who are trying to follow the path of Ferrar and Herbert, but I believe that the long game will pass them by. Stay they might, but those priests will produce more fruit if they let their congregations move on to more fertile ground.

Rolling up yours sleeves certainly involves  feeding your sheep, but shepherding also demands that you fight off the wolves by night or the culture wars by day.

How you choose to play your role role in the long game is up to you. Just don't worry too much about the final score. We know who is going to win.