Systematic Theology - Ecclesiology

Ecclesiology

The Nature of the Church:

There are many ways to define the Church. For example, the Church is a communion delighting in thanksgiving for the union of human life and eternal life that is given to us in Jesus Christ (Morse, 299). Or, the Church is “the beginning of God’s new, inclusive community of liberated creatures reconciled to God and to each other and called to God’s service in the world” (Migliore, 186). Yet another says that although the Church is not equal to the reign of God, the Church universal is a sign of God’s reign (Mil Voces, 70). Finally, the Church can be viewed as “the vessel of God’s Word of grace” (Benne, 196). These definitions bring to mind many questions. For example, how do we move from thanksgiving to mission? Or, how is the Church, plagued by division and dissent, a sign of the reign of God? Or, how is the Church a vessel of God’s Word of grace when some of the most horrific acts of hatred and violence have come from within? Add to these definitions the metaphors provided to us in Scripture, and we are left with a convoluted mess of descriptors and no real definition as to what it means to be the Church.

At first glance, the Nicene Creed attempts to alleviate this tension by attributing defining characteristics to the Church; namely, that we believe in “one holy catholic and apostolic church” (UMH, 880). This understanding, however, is replete with its own difficulties, for it has been subjected to interpretation without canonical grounding or commitment. For example, the Church can be viewed as one because it has one source in Jesus Christ; holy, because it has been elected by God; catholic, because it “strives to impart the fullness of God’s revelation and to embrace all Christians through all time and space;” and apostolic because “we believe that the Spirit has assured an accurate continuity through the ages in the Church’s witness to Christ” (Benne, 206). This interpretation lacks the full intimacy that exists between the Holy Spirit and the Church and mistakenly neglects the understanding that Christ’s activity in salvation was once and for all; it is not Christ’s mission of imparting the fullness of God’s revelation that we partake in, but rather the mission that we partake in is the one that we were commissioned for by Christ.

What, then, is the nature of the Church? First, the Church is a direct result of the dynamic, divine, personal agency of the Spirit. The people of God are marked by the outpouring and indwelling of the Spirit. As such, the Church is called to wait upon the equipping, empowerment, and guidance of the Spirit in all that it does. Second, the nature of the Church is like the nature from which it is birthed, namely the nature of witness. The Spirit continues to witness in real and dynamic ways to the truth of Jesus Christ and that witness continues to point the Church and the world to that same truth. Third, the nature of the Church is missional. The Church is called to be a dynamic agent in the world with Christ as its head and the Spirit as its guide. The Church is called to go out, not to create havens of retreat. We cannot live up to our call to witness if we are not missional.
The marks of the Church provided to us in the Nicene Creed are at the heart of God’s intention and original establishment of our nature as the Church; we are “one holy catholic and apostolic church” (UMH, 880). Being one is necessary; otherwise, is our witness in truth? We need only remember Jesus praying, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21). We are holy; set apart and different from the world around us and serving no other purpose but God’s (Abraham, 2008). We are apostolic, ever leaning on the teachings of the apostles and their genuine transmission from generation to generation. And we are catholic in that we move as a single body, universally cohesive, always considering the edification of that body in relation to God and not our own special interests.
This presents the obvious problem of how the Church actually is today. While the dynamics of agency on the part of the Spirit may be obvious in some areas of the Church, much is lacking—especially relating to the previously mentioned marks of the Church. This is attributable to the fact that in as much as there is agency on the part of God through the Holy Spirit, there is also agency on the part of the humans that make up the Church. The Church is no less responsible for confession and repentance than the members are who make it up. Much is to be gained by recommitting ourselves to the Spirit that called us into being and seeks to restore us in right relationship, reordering our love towards God and others.

The Church’s Mission:

The mission of the Church was first given to the apostles when Jesus gave them the commission to go forth and make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). The mission was to be embarked upon only once the promise of the Spirit had come upon them (Acts 1:4-5). Since the time of Jesus’ proclamation of the Great Commission and Pentecost, the mission of the Church has remained the same; to witness to Christ by teaching all that the apostles had learned, to make disciples, and to baptize them into the family of God. The mission of the Church is fulfilled through worship, teaching, preaching, serving, and administering the sacraments because these all point to the ultimate self-revealing and saving actions of God through Jesus Christ.

The Sacraments:

The sacraments are outward signs of an inward grace, and are also a means to the grace “by which God works invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening and confirming our faith in him” (BOD, 68). While Wesley posits that there are numerous means of grace, there is something special about the sacraments. First, they are ordained and instituted by Christ. Christ is baptized at the beginning of his ministry and prior to his ascension the apostles are called to go forth baptizing. Christ, at the last supper, institutes the Eucharist when he gives bread and wine to his disciples. Second, only those who are properly ordained are to preside over the sacraments. This is sound historical and theological thinking; however, if we are to truly live into duly administering the sacraments, churches like the United Methodist who operate with an ecclesiology of exception, must truly confess, repent, and reorder their sacramental lives in order to be in tune with the Church universal. Solving this problem will make great strides towards being the Church universal. Third, the real presence of Christ exists in these sacraments by the power of the Spirit.

There are two sacraments; and these are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism marks our initiation into the body of Christ, while the Lord’s Supper sustains our growth in that relationship with God and with others. In both cases, it is God, not the one presiding, that is at work in the lives of the recipients. While the Lord’s Supper can be, and should be, taken with great frequency; baptism is unrepeatable. Staying in tune with the character and nature of God, we must admit that what God does once, God does right. While neither of the sacraments are necessary for salvation, they are still essential to the Christian’s life and faith as means to encounter God’s grace and to grow in the very same.

I would love to hear how more about what you think about ecclesiology. What was left out here? What more needs to be said?