As we begin our discussion of why we go to church on a weekly basis, perhaps the best place to start is a conversation about what the church actually is. Many definitions have been given, beginning with the images offered in the New Testament. The Church is the flock with Jesus as our Good Shepherd (John 10). It is the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:4-5, 1 Cor. 12:12-31) and a building (1 Pet. 2:5). To quote a well-known verse from 1 Peter, the Church is a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession...” The church has been grafted into God’s chosen people, Israel, as the means for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed in the world (Rom. 11:11-24).
The Church has also been defined in various ways throughout church history. Beginning with Augustine in the 4th century, there a distinction between the visible church and the invisible church arose.[1] This idea actually has roots in the New Testament where it is written that circumcision is of the heart and no man knows what is in another’s mind. (Rom 228-29, 1 Cor. 2:11) This distinction has been important throughout history as a means to excuse bad behavior in the church and to also admit that we as humans are ignorant in some ways of who is in fact part of God’s Kingdom now and in the future. Another distinction made is between the Church universal, and the local church. A captital "C" refers to the Church of all times and cultures, made up of all demoninations and local churches. A lowercase "c" means the local church you visit on a Sunday morning. This distinction might be helpful if you find yourself reading theology in the future.
One classic and creedal definition of the Church is that it
is “one, holy, catholic [universal], and apostolic.” This statement comes from the first Council
of Constantinople in 381. These
statements are pretty straightforward, but a word on each. First, there is only one Church, despite all
of the denominations around today. Christ
only recognizes one church of which he is the head. The Church is holy, not because of anything
it does or doesn’t do; in fact, it is full of unholy people. But, it is holy in the sense of being
consecrated to and for God and derives its holiness from its relationship to
God. The Church is also catholic, or
universal, in the sense that it is a reality in all places, times, and
cultures. Finally, the message and
teaching of the church is apostolic, meaning it has been passed down from the
Apostles in an unbroken line of succession.
Finally, because most of the readers of this blog are
Nazarene, let me offer the definition from the Nazarene Manual. The Church is “the community that confesses
Jesus Christ as Lord, the covenant people of God made new in Christ, the Body
of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through the Word.” [2]
So, what does this mean for us? It has been said that one cannot have God as
Father, if they don’t also have the Church as Mother.[3] Is this statement true? There are two ways we can go from here, but I
will only point the way and let you consider these issues on your own. The first thing to consider is what this says
about what the Church does. We have
briefly explored what the Church is, but how does this affect what the church
does in the world? These two are
intimately related and what the church does, its mission in the world, must
flow out of who the Church is. A good
place to start answering this question is to explore how the church can be one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic in and for the world today. We can consider these words not as adjectives
but as verbs.
Secondly, we can also discuss how this relates to our topic
at hand, why we go to Church. These
definitions all have one thing in common; they all require and assume
community. The Church is the means
whereby we meet our fellow believers and God.
We only know God in Jesus through the Church. We are only connected to the Head of Jesus
through the Church. We are a part of a culture which
assumes that we are capable of doing everything by ourselves and don’t need anybody
else. The Church stands in contrast to
this and declares that we can only fully know Jesus through his Church. Sure, you can pick up a Gideon Bible in a
hotel or come to believe there is a God through nature, but it is in the Church
where the Triune God is most fully proclaimed and taught.
These are some of the ideas we will be exploring in the next
few weeks. What do you think about the
Church? Is it needed? Can we be Christian on our own?
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