There was a trend among church leaders years ago to call non-church-goers “seekers.” It seemed like a polite term at the time: better than “the unchurched,” anyway. The problem is that “seekers” implied that members of the opposite group are “finders,” as if people who have found a church home aren’t seekers anymore. “Finders” sounds so absolute, as if we’re not seeking anything anymore, as if we have no more questions and are just filled with answers. And that sounds scary indeed.

It is God Who finds us, not the other way around. I hope we will always be seekers: seekers of the Holy Spirit, seekers of truth, seekers of peace, seekers of all the fruits of the Spirit. Hopefully we act in a way that shows what we are seeking – that is, to the degree that we have integrity, or wholeness, a consistency between what we do and who we are and seek to be.

One song by Jim and Jean Strathdee I love to sing begins, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,” referring to Matthew 6:33. I hope we’ll keep on seeking God’s Reign, no matter how many times God has found us, or where we are on the journey.

Your partner in ministry,

Betsy Schwarzentraub