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Theological Studies: Ecclesiology Core Competency Project: Week 4 Ecclesiology Statement of Belief What is the Church? Or is it the church? Is it a building? Is it a movement? Is it a person? Or is it a group of people? Not to sound clich�, but to the surprise of some, the answer to this is all of the above. The non-Christian may see the church as a building where be go every week. A philosopher or historian might say it is simply a movement that spans many religions. The Christian might say that it is a group of people gathered together. And a theology might even go so far as to say it is one person, as in one body of the living Christ. No one view is wrong, but some are definitely more pertinent than others. With such a vast understanding of what the church is, it is critical that as Christians learning to be leaders therein, we know what we believe and why we believe it. The Church as One Body Romans, First Corinthians and Ephesians all portray the idea of the Church as one body. While Paul does not specifically call them �a church� in most of his writings, this is evident because we know he was writing to churches in the various cities. In Romans 12:5 Paul writes, �So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others� (NIV). In 1 Corinthians 12:13 he writes, �For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body�whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free [Nazarene or Baptist, Pentecostal or Catholic]�and we were all given the one Spirit to drink� (NIV). And in Ephesians 3:6 he writes, �This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus� (NIV). These are just three of the ten instances in the New Testament where Paul uses the phrase �one body� in reference to the Church. It is critical for us to know that we are one body in Christ, that is, the body of Christ formed here on earth to expand the Kingdom and to be in relationship with our Creator. I recently heard a devotional thought on the radio that did not sit well with me at all. The pastor made the passionate claim that our lives here on earth are not really worth investing in. Of course his main argument was not to become of this world, but he also placed great emphasis on heaven being so much more important than earth. This was upsetting because we have the utmost importance here on earth. God did not create us here so that we could live, die, and go to heaven. God�s original purpose for creating humankind was so that we could be in relationship with him. Our purpose expanded with our fall from the image of God and the calling of Christ to go and baptize all nations. This life is of great value to God and he treasures the relationships and love that we bring before him. What great joy it is to be able to do this in community, as one body. Let us now focus more on this aspect of community. The Church as a Group of People Gathered Together We have established that the Church is but one body with many parts working together to bring praise to God. Let us focus herein on the role of the individual who brings him or herself into this body. How productive might my arms be without my hands attached to them? What about my legs with knees or mouth without a tongue? So just as each of us is a part of the body, so are we each crucial to the successful functioning of the body. And just as we exercise and eat right to keep our own bodies healthy, so also must we exercise our faith so that others maybe empowered to join with us in this so great a salvation and improve the health of the Church. I once heard a statement to which I will forever be bound: �you can believe in God and not go to church, but you cannot be a Christian and not go to church.� So while it is possible to believe in God and even develop relationship with God outside of a church, to be a Christian is a calling to community and fellowship. John Wesley regularly held love feasts. In these feasts, believers would come together and share bread and water and share with each the events of their lives. It was a time for the outpouring of agape love (Maddox 210). The sharing of love and accountability was crucial to Wesley as he led people to and holy understanding of God and the Church. The Church as a Building When we say that we �go to church� on Sunday, most of us are referring to the building to which we are traveling. It might be of interest to some though, that the church building itself has looked very different over the centuries. During Paul�s time actual places of worship were almost completely reserved for the Jewish people. And so, most �churches� came in the form of people�s homes. Indeed, this practice continued through much of the 17th and 18th centuries. The Catholic Church did of course begin to build churches, but meeting in homes remained quite popular for nearly two millennia. Of course people still meet in homes today, but rarely is it for what would be considered a formal church service. With ten different denominations and thirty churches to choose from within a 10 mile radius, most actual church services are now done in official church buildings. The Church as a Historical Movement It cannot be denied that the idea and formation of a �church� spread far beyond the realm of Christianity. Buddhists, Mormons, Muslims, and Hindus all have official places of worship. The church has historically been formed as a place for people of like spiritual understanding to meet together for encouragement and growth in hopes of finding happiness in this life and beyond. The Toughest Challenge Facing the Christian Church Today Not to take away from the next section, I believe the biggest challenge facing the church today is balancing or transition from traditional to postmodern worship. I do not wish to restrict worship to the acts of singing and prayer, however. One hundred years ago a liturgical service was the norm and anything outside of that thought was unnecessarily betrayal to God. God demanded respect and honor in the Church service. This was the typical defense for such a format. Today we find ourselves in the midst of a generational bind in which on one side we have entire churches of 60-to-90-somethings who want nothing more than to sit in their pews and sing hymns, and on the other side have churches of five thousand or more who stand and clap and dance, shout and yell, all to the glory of God. The problem arises not in that both exist, but in the balance that over 90 percent of churches must find so that they can meet the needs of both these types of people. It is a sad truth that young people will leave a church because hymns are being sung, while older people will become bitter and remorseful toward the church and the younger generation if too much hoop and hollering is going on. In thirty or forty years this will not be an issue because those generations that rely on the liturgical aspects of church, will have passed. But for now, every pastor, church board, music pastor, or leadership team must decide how to tackle this issue without destroying their churches. What it means to be a Missional Church I have expressed this a few times in class responses, but the aspect I appreciate most about my local church body is that there is a focus not only on reaching out to the nations far from home, but also reaching our own Jerusalem and our own Samaria. To truly be a missional church is to have a heart for the lost, both near and afar. It is to again step back and realize that the love to which God calls us is one which puts others above ourselves. We must not lose sight of this. Mission is about love, nothing more, nothing less. When we love, we are obeying the two greatest commandments of God. Let us love as such in missions. Word Count: 1436 |