BLOG 6.29.16. SO MANY MIXED SIGNALS: THE CHURCH

BLOG 6/29/2016. SO MANY MIXED SIGNALS: THE CHURCH

I sometimes wonder what the image of the church is (if any) among those whose only encounter with the phenomenon is formed by their exposure on the media. A young friend asked me over supper recently, the innocent question: “Why is the pope called the Pope?” That, in turn requires a whole historical background of the development in one particular expression of the church. And how does one explain the grandeur, the sheer splendor of the Vatican, with the teachings of Jesus about the danger of wealth.

But even the concept of: church, is hardly the whole picture. Somehow the church, in the design of Jesus, and the scriptures, is the recreation of the human community as God intended it to be. It is a people ‘called out’ of all other “lords and loyalties” to be the incarnation of a whole new community that incarnates their love for the God who calls them in Jesus Christ, and also who incarnate God’s love for one another. These form themselves into all manner of communities and colonies in a myriad of different circumstances, cultures, economic and social conditions, hostilities, and generations. There is no one expression. The church is a huge mosaic.

In the media one confronts all manner of good, bad, disgusting, thrilling, oxymoronic, contradictory, and awesomely beautiful folk—who identify themselves as the church: political arch-conservatives all the way across the spectrum to political and social progressives. So many mixed signals. One does need discernment, alas!

Even the venerable Apostle’s Creed (and Creed of Nicea) of the early centuries distinguished between “the holy catholic church” and “the communion of the saints.” The church refers to the whole company of the people that Jesus has called to himself and to new life in which he, himself, is the one true foundation—and then the communion of the saints, which word communion has the very intimate flavor of strong and knowledgeable relationships to it. It is a fact that one can celebrate, and be taught about, one’s Christian calling in larger assemblies, … but it is near impossible to have sensitive, knowledgeable, caring, and responsible relationships in larger assemblies, so smaller communions are required.

Jesus sought out twelve intimates to spend his months of earthly ministry with. (Remember, even among these there was a traitor.) Communion involves mutual engagement in being responsible for other real persons. Jesus said that wherever two of his followers were together in their identity with him, that he was there with them. Does that mean that my regular informal encounters with several of my Christian friends at the coffee shop, where we share a keen interest in each other’s Christian life and engagements, … is the communion of the saints? Or does my engagement with my pastor over beer constitute that as such communion? Or is my decades-old friendship with intimate friends now separated by many miles, but which is still vital and is a relationship that can be considered “the communion of the saints”? I don’t doubt it at all. Relationships in which I can embrace all of the one another” responsibilities spelled out in the New Testament writings and which is alive and dynamic meets the test.

As I have often written, the whole subject of the church is complex and ambiguous. Both holy catholic church and communion of the saints are essential components of the New Humanity that God is creating in the world. One friend offered the metaphor that these two expressions are like the phenomenon that aspiring mountain climbers experience: first, the staging area where experience climbers teach the aspiring climbers of the joys and hazards, physical demands, and unexpected components, … but then, secondly there is the base camp, that small group of climbers committed to each other’s welfare on the climb. I like that: the church, and the communion of the saints. Maybe this will help you sort out the mixed signals (or maybe not?). I would appreciate your comments

http://wipfandstock.com/what-on-earth-is-the-church-13883.html

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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