Is the Church incedental? OR, is it part of God's plan for community?
Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 2:35PM One of the challenging aspects of my new ministry is that it puts me in contact with many high level Christian persons who have 'given up' on the local Church. For many of them they simply find it quite difficult to connect with their local pastor (I suppose when you're meeting theologians, Bishops, and some of the world's brightest and most engaging teachers and preachers that can be a bit of a challenge). Then of course many of them are very driven and successful business people who have expressed frustration at the smallmindedness of some Church leaders, as well as the lack of commitment and creativity among some Church members.
The reality is that more than half of the top leaders that I know do not worship regularly at a local Church... It scares me! Megan and I have chosen to commit ourselves to our local Church. We worship at Coronation Ave Methodist Church. Our ministers, Philip Buckland and Steven Lottering are a blessing to us, and we enjoy the worship, fellowship, teaching, and challenge of the community. The same cannot be said for many of our friends. They love Christ, but do not find a local Chruch in our area in which they feel they can belong and grow.
Whilst reading William P. Young's book The Shack recently (which is a magnificent book by the way! Just look past some of the idiosyncratic theology and you'll be challenged, blessed, encouraged and ministered to!) I began to think about the community of the Church. The question that arose in my mind is this: Is the Church (as in local churches or congregations) incidental, or is it part of God's plan for human community?
Of course I realise that the Church exists in many places outside of local congregations (it exists in hospitals, schools, workplaces, homes community gatherings etc. since the Church is the community of believers and not the building)... But, is the local congregation part of God's plan for humanity!? I happen to think it is...
The attached audio file (which is a sneak preview of my Radio Show for this week Wednesday) gives some of the reasons why I think that God wants us to commit ourselves to the disciplines of community worship, service, learning, and fellowship.
Download the MP3 here (Why we're better together) (6.2MB).
Let me know what your thoughts are. Wes I would love to hear from you if you have a chance - I know that you have done extensive research on the theology of Church (ecclesiology). but, I would like to hear the perspectives of everyone who visits the blog.
Rich blessing,
Dion (in the throes of packing... We move into our new home tomorrow, and guess what!? It's raining again!!!)
Reader Comments (3)
Hi Dion
Thanks for inviting comment. I can only give my 2 cents worth. I find Luther, Calvin and Barth's ecclesiologies especially meaningful. Calvin and Barth obviously differentiate between Church and church, Church and worshipping communities, and even these concepts are too complex to comment on. That is for another book. Luther describes the Christian faith as existing in "torment".
All of these notions suggest that the label of "church" assumes too much. Even the term "local church", for it attempts to locate within the human consciousness of time, space and awareness a "form" (borrowed from Plato) that cannot be narrowed down to these dimensions.
It is the same as the misnomer where people say "I have Jesus in my heart". One cannot "have Jesus" as if we grabbed Jesus by the scruff of the neck and now declared that Jesus is mine. The link in theology, for me as with Barth, is the strong relationship between revelation, Christology and ecclesiology. The doctine of election (not predestination) makes space for the incarnation to be not only the place where God and humanity find common being, but where the possibility starts for the "Shekinah"-type community to exist between God and creation. The expression of this community within the limitations of time, space and consciousness can then at best be the starting point of what we could describe as the building blocks of church.
Church cannot be defined by denominationalism or non-denominationalism, for both assume too much in terms of ownership of the Kingdom at the expense of the other.
The institutional church, whether in a cathedral or in a garage, is perhaps our best attempt to harness God's dream for this world. By doing this we already fluff it up. And so we have to go with Barth that "God makes good what we do badly".
This now starts a very interesting discussion in eschatology. Is the church an eschatological community? How do we answer this without falling into the trap of Process theology? Here I am not convinced of Moltmann's argument (see Das kommmen Gottes or The coming of God).
Ok, Long Way Down is on. Chat again later. Let's continue this discussion. I'm doing a lot of thinking on this subject at the moment. Your comment?
Oh dear. I am feeling rather stupid after reading Wessel's comments. I think I understood 3 things: Luther- Christain faith as living in "torment". Barth- God makes good what we do badly and... Long Way Down is on .
Seriously though, I find this particular blog very challenging - especially in light of the changes within my place of worship. I have printed it and will attack it with my trusty hilighter pen :-) Hopefully I will grow.
Perhaps I didn't pray hard enough for the weather Dion....
Love and blessings J
In my reading of your comments and questions I have added my pennies worth. I always try and simplify my thinking. My concern is about many "local churches" and the proliferation thereof. The question is, the following of 1. The Word and 2. The laws and disipline exersized. Outside the structured church what does one adhere to and what discipline do one follow? I cannot accept that personal objections about pastors and personalities should stand in the way of what the church is and represents. We need to be disciplined in what God wants from us and therefore serve the vehiclee has given his life for his instument the Church.