Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith

p. 272

Contentiousness is a sign of life in the church. Don’t think that placidity is the only way to be. If people care deeply about things they will contend. And the unpleasantness–it looks awful and it feels awful–may sometimes be the cost of Christian discipleship. The church is a shaky investment, a sinful institution. So when the battles rage faithful people hold on for a time; they hang in there; theyare faithful. But in love. Old story: “Abbot Macarius said, ‘If, wishing to correct another, you are moved to anger, you gratify your own passions. Do not lose yourself in order to save another.’”