BLOG 11/9/14. JUST SAY THE WORD: ‘CHURCH’ … AND WHAT RESPONSE?

BLOG 11/9/14. JUST SAY THE WORD: ‘CHURCH’ … AND WHAT RESPONSE?

In the circles I operate in one cannot assume that there is any consensus on what that phenomenon called: the church really is, or what its purpose is, or of its significant role in the development of the very cultural tradition of which we are all heirs. It draws so many disparate responses—good, bad, hostile, confused, thankful, contemptuous, or maybe enormously grateful.

To some it is a religious institution that has been a significant part of the social fabric of their lives; to others it is a questionable community of bigots; to still others it is a mystery on the fringe of their consciousness that they can live without, thank you very much. It is a blessing. It is a contradiction. It is a community of hope and love. It is and has been a formative influence in the society’s quest for justice. It has been the scene of scandalous internecine conflicts. It has been the object of horrific persecutions with a huge number of martyrs. It has been the generous and compassionate sponsor of humanitarian agencies such as orphanages and hospitals for the poor.

It has been a subconscious puzzle to outsiders who have tried to understand all of those vast institutional edifices that dot so many of our communities, yet seem so disconnected. It has been an association that has left many burnouts and disappointed folk in its wake. It has been the expression of an authentic community of meaning and hope and love flowing out of one’s response to a person called: Jesus. It has produced anger in some, joy in others, and despair in still others.

All of the above, … and so much more.

So here we are after two millennia of what is known as: the Christian Era, … and here is the church. The church was initiated by a peasant-prophet by the name of ‘Jesus’, in a remote country occupied by the Roman Empire. Within a couple of generations it had permeated a good part of the known world, and after a couple of centuries was the dominant influence in the Roman Empire. And yet it was always so beautifully counter-cultural when it was formed by the teachings of this obscure person: Jesus. One has to ask: Why?

It has transformed cultures, created all kinds of humane and encouraging expressions, and yet it was made up of such a messy, wracked-out, confused, unlikely, and imperfect set of constituents. How did this happen? How does it happen?

Yes, and in these two millennia it has taken on an untold number of different forms … from those which have been housed in obscenely expensive, yet architecturally very impressive institutional edifices, … to persecuted and illegal colonies meeting in caves and catacombs, or in underground gatherings in hostile nations.

To even the most cynical inquirer, there must be something there to motivate all of this. The church must be much more that it appears at first superficial impressions. From the beginning, when you got two or three followers of Jesus together with his teachings of Jesus, there has been a bonding and a transformation and a power, a new kind of community is born. And, yes, there have also been embarrassing contradictions when its participants reverted to the thought and behavior patterns of the larger society from which they had come.

How does one explain all of this? Would the world be better off without the church? Or is the reverse true? What was Jesus’ intent for this community he was summoning? How is it intended to incarnate his teachings? What are the encumbrances that hide the basic intent of Jesus and render it simply a merely human religious society, which is the choice of certain kinds of ‘spiritual’ persons? Does a particular ‘church’ reflect the life and teachings of Jesus?

Those are the questions. But as one ‘wag’ so cleverly stated: “The most significant evidence of the divine nature of the church of Jesus is that it has survived its human leadership!”

 

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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