This quote by the pope is onto something. An active church will find itself in trouble, discover that initiatives blow up in their faces, and face frustration and disappointment. Hopefully not because they are bad at doing things right ... but because mission is messy.
Check out both 1 and 2 Corinthians and see how many times Paul talks of being beaten, bruised, in tatters and the like. Paul's view was that this was not something that should be reserved for just him (or maybe him and a few others). Paul understood this as basically the norm for the church!
He expected the Corinthians to become like he was. Not through self-harming, but through the business of getting out there and trying to help the last, the least and the lost as servants of the world. You can't do that without getting hurt.
Several times Paul and his companions put their own security at risk. Paul could not guarantee success for any of the churches he planted ... and yet he pressed on in mission.
We are to do the same.
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