Making Sense of the Church

In order to make sense of church, two questions must be answered: (1) Why is faith a communal experience, rather than a private one? (2) Why is there a church – an ordered community of Christians?[1]

These are important questions that must be answered in order for a church to faithfully respond to God’s call. If we possess no clear answers to these fundamental questions we will…

• Express minimal commitment to church-life. Church becomes a low priority in the grand scheme of things.
• Burnout. People burn out, not from exhaustion, but from lack of meaning and purpose.
• Give up. When we forget the purpose of an activity, we lose any reason to continue it.
• Expend all our efforts in misguided activity. We may spend a lot of time doing good things, but not kingdom things. This is the worst problem of all. It would be better to experience the previous three responses which do little positive damage, than to possess this problem, which can have serious negative consequences.

It is vitally important that we have a handle on our corporate identity in order to possess a reason for regularly meeting together.

The Relational Nature of Creation, Salvation, and Kingdom

We begin with the first question: Why is faith a communal experience, rather than a private one? The answer is so obvious that we often miss it. Faith is a communal experience because life is a communal experience. We are born into a large and complex web of relationships (world, nation, culture, community, family) because of the most basic and fundamental web of relationship (the union of a man and woman). These relationships themselves only exist because of the triune God who exists as a web of relationships – Father, Son, and Spirit.

From our first moments of consciousness we find ourselves firmly and completely enveloped in a web of relationships. Our whole existence is supported and sustained by others – God, nation, community, family. This is fundamental to the biblical view of reality.

Dr. Harold Turner, well known as a student and interpreter of new religious movements in primal societies, says that there are only three possible ways of understanding the world: the atomic, the oceanic, and the relational – symbolized respectively by billiard balls, the ocean, and the net. This is a classification of worldviews rather than of religions, but all religions embody some kind of worldview. The atomic, which is characteristic of contemporary Western society and has deep roots in Greek philosophy, sees reality in terms of its individual units. The atom, conceived as a minute piece of matter, is the ultimate constituent of the visible world. The human individual, conceived as an autonomous center of knowing and willing, is the ultimate constituent of society. The oceanic view, on the other hand, sees all things ultimately merged into one entity which is both the soul and all that exists. Atma is Brahma. The third view sees everything as constituted by relationships, whether it is the material world or human society. This view, characteristic of what we are accustomed to call primitive societies and primal religions, is also the view of the Bible.[2]

Because of this, in the Bible “there is no attempt to see the human person as an autonomous individual, and the human relation with God as the relation of the alone to the alone. From its very beginning the Bible sees human life in terms of relationships.”[3]

This web of relationships finds its origin and source in the triune God who is relationship. God is one divine being eternally existing as three distinct persons – Father, Son, and Spirit. The essence of God – the very being of God – is persons in communion. For this reason, the Bible teaches that God is love. The constant experience and expression of love – giving, receiving, and sharing – is the supreme reality of God.

Out of the fullness of God’s delight in the love, fellowship, and blessedness of the triune relationship, God fashioned an ordered creation that itself is interwoven in relationship. Furthermore, God created image-bearers to corporately reflect the triune relationship. As image-bearers, Adam and Even were created to reflect God in the fullness of union in communion – two bodies bound together in one flesh and sharing one heart. As creatures created for relationship, Adam and Eve found their joy in knowing and being known by one another and God. This harmony of relationships existed in a creation that was entirely suited for the support and furtherance of human and divine relationships. Thus, in the beginning, humankind existed in and for relationship – with God, others, self, and creation. This is what it means to be fully human, fully alive, and fully responsive to God![4]

The tragedy of sin is that it severs all of these relationships and leaves us alienated, isolated, and egocentric. We painfully feel the loss of relationships, but grievously perpetuate our pain through egocentric actions that further hinder and harm relationships.

Since everything and everyone exists in a vast and complex web of relationships, sin – every sin, both individual and corporate – reverberates through the entire web. Like a computer system infected with a virus, sin’s damage extends to the entire network. It is not just one file (or even a series of individual files) that need purging. The whole system needs purging and restoration.

This is exactly what God’s salvation brings. Since reality is relational, salvation is also relational. God’s saving work heals the divisions and wounds between humankind and God, others, self, and all creation. For this reason, it is a travesty to reduce salvation to a transaction between an individual and God.

Even the way we receive salvation highlights its relational nature. Those who reject a personal God have trouble believing that God’s salvation is passed on person-to-person. They assume that all individuals should have equal access to God at all times. They ignore the broken web of relationships that results from human sin and life in a fallen world.

It follows that this mutual relatedness, this dependence of one on another, is not merely part of the journey toward the goal of salvation, but is intrinsic to the goal itself. For knowing God, for being in communion with him, we are dependent on the one whom he gives us to be the bearer of this relation, not just as a teacher and guide on the way but as the partner in the end. There is, there can be, no private salvation, no salvation which does not involve us with one another... In order to receive God’s saving revelation we have to open the door to the neighbor whom he sends as his appointed messenger, and – moreover – to receive that messenger not as a temporary teacher or guide whom we can dispense with when we ourselves have learned what is needed, but as one who will permanently share our home. There is no salvation except one in which we are saved together through the one whom God sends to be the bearer of his salvation.[5]

Salvation is relational because it occurs and is experienced in a web of personal relationships that ultimately lead to the formation of a new corporate reality – the church.

In light of this, we need to seriously consider what we mean when we speak of “personal salvation.” If by “personal salvation” we understand that we are persons in relationship with others, and that salvation restores broken relationships with God, others, self, and the world, then by all means, salvation is personal. However, if by “personal salvation” we limit our scope to an individual’s relationship with God, then “personal salvation” is not really personal at all, but rather, private and individual.

“Jesus is Lord” is not a private claim, but a public claim, and it is lived out most fully not by an individual but by a community – a kingdom community. It is for this reason that almost every epistle in the New Testament is addressed, not to individuals, but to churches. The only exceptions to this are the Pastoral Epistles – written to pastors on behalf of the church – and Paul’s brief letter to Philemon.

We return to our initial question: Why is faith a communal experience, rather than a private one? The answer: Because God, humankind, and creation – in other words, all reality, divine and human – is relational.

If creation and salvation are relational, there is no better way to manifest salvation than through a community. An individual does not represent the Trinity well; a community does. And not just any community, but only a community that is united by the giving, receiving, and sharing of divine love.

Sharing God’s Mission

Having answered the first question, we now address the second: Why is there a church – an ordered community of Christians? Put simply, who are we – not individually, but corporately – and why do we meet together?

The church exists because Jesus has chosen and called us to share his mission of declaring and demonstrating God’s kingdom to the world. God is a missional God. God sent Jesus to accomplish his mission. In the same way, Jesus now sends us to further his mission: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Thus, Jesus prays to the Father, “As You have sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).[6]

Jesus calls us to share his divine mission. He has chosen us to this end. This call to mission is the heart of the doctrine of election. We, the church, like Israel before us, are elect unto divine mission. We are not elect simply to enjoy special blessing but to share divine responsibility. There is no partiality with God; God does not play favorites. No one can claim privileges with God which are denied to others. We are elect in order to be God-bearers to others, and not just beneficiaries of blessing. We are the people that Jesus has chosen to be a visible manifestation of the reign of God.

We fulfill our mission by witnessing through word and deed of God’s kingdom. Jesus put it simply: “You are my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Jesus entrusts us with the privilege and responsibility of delivering his kingdom message to the world. Like Jesus, we proclaim and manifest God’s kingdom.

As a visible manifestation of God’s kingdom, we are called to embody God’s mission. The gospel of the kingdom “does not come as a disembodied message.”[7] Because reality and redemption are relational, the gospel comes to us to by means of a web of personal relationships – by means of the kingdom community. The church visibly manifests God’s reign as a sign, instrument, and foretaste of God’s kingdom.[8]

The church is not the kingdom; it is merely a sign of the kingdom. Like a sign, we point to God’s way of life. We don’t build, establish, or advance the kingdom. This kind of language is not found in the New Testament and is far too triumphalistic. Instead, we are those who have entered the kingdom, who currently participate in it, and invite others to do the same. The kingdom is God’s work. Only God can build it. We merely respond to it, enter it, and receive it. As such, we point to it as a reality that all are invited to enter.

The church is also an instrument of the kingdom. Even though the church is not the kingdom, it truly serves God’s kingdom. We are called to do kingdom work on behalf of God’s kingdom. We are challenged to walk worthy of our calling from God who calls us into his glorious kingdom (Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12). We do this primarily through proclamation (kerygma) and service (diakonia).

Finally, the church is a foretaste of the kingdom. Our community is meant to provide a taste of things to come – “a taste of the powers of the age to come” (Heb. 6:5). We are called to live a kingdom life in a fallen world (Matt 5 – 7). We embrace kingdom values – values that confront and challenge the world’s values. Joy, righteousness, praise, unity, love, compassion, grace, mercy, gratitude, and hope should characterize our communities (e.g., Rom. 14:17; Gal. 5:22-23).

Critical Concerns

If the church is a kingdom community called to share Jesus’ mission by visibly manifesting the reign of God as a sign, instrument, and foretaste of salvation to the world at large, then how can we address the dissonance that exists between our holy calling and its actual execution? Lesslie Newbigin puts it this way, “With what right can we dare to speak of the presence of the kingdom in the life of the church?... [W]ith its long history of shameful betrayal, cowardly compromise, and outright wickedness, how can we dare to speak of the church as the place where God’s reign is present?”[9]

For all practical purposes, this claim appears convoluted. Are we really to believe that the secret of God’s cosmic purpose has been entrusted into the weak and sinful hands of a small minority of people?[10] As difficult as this is to accept, this is exactly what God’s word leads us to believe. God’s kingdom is manifest in and through the church.

It is admittedly a foolish plan, but it is a divinely foolish plan. It is proclaimed through “the foolishness of preaching” and embodied in weak “nobodies” (1 Cor. 1:18-31). Outwardly, it is unimpressive. For image-conscious people, it falls far short of its hype. Strategically, it has little going for it. For business-minded people, it leaves much to be desired.

And yet, this should not surprise us. The church is God’s kingdom community – the key word being “God’s.” It is a kingdom established by the crucified one. Our main symbol is an object of execution. The failure of the cross is our success. The weakness of God is our power. The foolishness of God is our wisdom. Everything in God’s kingdom is upside-down – in complete contrast to the powers and kingdoms of this world. Therefore, evaluating God’s kingdom in light of the kingdoms of the world is foolish. There is absolutely no comparison (cf. John 18:36).

It is the weakness of the kingdom community that highlights God’s power, grace, and goodness.

It is his work – and he is quite capable of it – to take the weakness and foolishness of the cross, mirrored in the life of the community, and make it the witness that turns the world upside down and confutes its most fundamental notions… Because we know this we can be assured that the mission of the church is not conducted, nor is its success measured, after the manner of a military operation or a sales campaign.[11]

Like parables, we both reveal and conceal the kingdom. We follow in the way of the cross – an event that Newbigin calls the “supreme parable, the supreme deed by which the reign of God is both revealed and hidden.”[12] Like Jesus’ cross, our failure is our success, our weakness is strength, our foolishness is wisdom, our death is life.

By divine design, the mysteries of God have been entrusted to a community of clay jars – to cracked pots (1 Cor. 4:1; 2 Cor. 4:7). Peter is our model of the extremes we can express: “‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,’ is followed instantly by a terrible rebuke, ‘Get behind me, Satan’ (Matt. 16:18, 23). Would that Michelangelo’s great dome at St. Peter’s had been designed to make room for both of those texts, for one without the other can only deceive!”[13] Likewise, in the same letter, Paul relentlessly exposes “the sin of those very communities which in the same letter he hails as the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17) and the body of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15).”[14]

As crazy as it may seem – and if we were not so familiar with it, we would see the absolute irony of the whole proposition – this is Jesus’ plan! Lesslie Newbigin continually draws attention to this:

Jesus appears to have taken no steps to embody his teaching about the kingdom in a written form which would be insulated against distortion by the fallible memories of his disciples… What, on the other hand, did occupy the center of Jesus' concern was the calling and binding to himself of a living community of men and women who would be the witnesses of what he was and did. The new reality which he introduced into history was to be continued through history in the form of a community, not in the form of a book.[15]

It is of the essence of the matter that Jesus was not concerned to leave as the fruit of his work a precise verbatim record of everything he said and did, but that he was concerned to create a community which would be bound to him in love and obedience, learn discipleship even in the midst of sin and error, and be his witnesses among all peoples.[16]

The kingdom community is Jesus’ legacy to the world.[17] “And however grievous the apostasy of the church may be, it remains that God has entrusted to it this story and that there is no other body that will tell it.”[18]

This leads to a second critical concern. The church is so unimpressive. And in some cases, so little, so marginalized. It certainly does not seem to possess the power necessary to impact the world.

When we say such things, we evidence how captive we are to the powers of this world. We should not make light of little things.

Our role as Christians, as the people of the cross within that world, is precisely what Jesus said it was: to be salt, yeast, and light. All of our Lord's metaphors for his community of witness were modest. A little salt, a little yeast, a little light… Today we are constrained by the divine Spirit to rediscover the possibilities of littleness. We are to decrease, that Christ may increase. We cannot enter this new phase without pain... It seems to us a humiliation that we are made to reconsider our destiny as “little flocks;” as “merely salt, yeast, and light.”[19]

Do we really believe that the first will be last and the last, first? Do we really believe that a little light, a little yeast, a little salt is sufficient to truly manifest God’s kingdom to the world? Or are we so enamored by the powers of this world that we are only able to find greatness in extreme expressions of power?

The Christian church was a pathetically small movement in its early years, barely encompassing a fraction of a fraction of people. And yet, Paul was content to consider his work done in the cities which he had visited (Romans 15:19-20; 2 Timothy 4:17). Paul could say this even though only a very small community of believers existed in specific location. Clearly, he was not enamored with size, but with mission. Having established a mission outpost in a local community – a kingdom community – he was confident that his work was done.

The sinfulness, weakness, smallness, and unimpressiveness of the church make it hard to believe that this is truly God’s way of impacting the world. It is for this reason that the early church was wise to encourage us in the earliest creeds to regularly confess: “We believe in the church.” Believing this was no easier for the early church than it is for us.

Since the church that consisted of a small, minority voice in a relatively inhospitable world could always feel itself in a precarious position and on the verge of extinction, it took faith to say that God was in control of history and that the reign of God had already triumphed in the resurrection of Jesus.[20]

Like Israel in exile we are called to witness the presence of reign of God on earth in midst of an ignorant, wayward, and corrupt society (Phil. 2:15; Jer 29:7). As citizens of another country and subjects to another king, we exist as resident aliens in mission outposts subversively undermining the powers that be through the divine and paradoxical power of God in Christ by the Spirit.

Conclusion

The announcement of God’s kingdom reign is a public proclamation for the entire world. The church is called to witness to this divine reality in word and deed. As such, the church is called to be a sign, instrument, and foretaste of what God is doing in world. We have a mission – to represent the reign of God where we are and in, with, and through the people God gives us. The kingdom is best reflected in community. The mission field is not just overseas in foreign cultures, but all around us. Indeed, we are only faithful to God’s mission when we exist as a missional community committed to manifesting God’s kingdom in our local community.

In order to do this, we must believe in the gospel of the kingdom. We must believe the kingdom vision enough to form our lives around it. It is to this end that we daily pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Likewise, we daily align our lives with this kingdom by following this prayer with, “Thy will be done.” When “Thy kingdom come” is our priority and “Thy will be done” is our passion, then we will begin to truly and corporately (for we pray, “Our Father”) fulfill God’s dream in our faith community.

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© Richard J. Vincent, 2005