Summary of Hall’s Argument
It’s impossible for Christianity not to create
“church” of some kind. People learning
to be together in unity with Jesus’ teaching and way is not an add-on to
Christian faith; it is part of the message and a consequence of it.
But Christianity is not synonymous with the church,
for a few reasons.
First, Christianity is the faith of the
church, but the church is not perfectly and only Christian in its faith and
practice. The church also holds and practices
faiths and beliefs other than Christianity – national, ethnic, racial,
cultural, economic ideas and realities that are not inherently Christian, and
may even be un-Christian or anti-Christian in some respects.
Also, the promise Christianity offers is the
redemption of all the world, and the church is one means to this, not the end
itself. In both Old and New Testaments,
being “elect” and “chosen” means being called and moulded by God to be aware of
God’s loving, redemptive work in all the world, and to help the world become
aware of it as well. It is not about
being God’s specially saved "elite" (a Greek and gnostic notion), and having a guaranteed place in a holy
afterlife.
And finally, because it is God’s activity in
and for all the world that is the issue here, it is not only the Christian
church that is involved. Others beyond
the church are both effective agents of God’s work and articulate witnesses to
it – sometimes even in better ways than the church is. This is actually good and liberating news for Christians - that the future and hope of Christianity are not inextricably linked to the life (or dying?) of the church as we have known it.
So the critical question is not “how do we
get others into the church and save both it and them,” but rather “how do we as the
church stay open to, keep up with, and stay part of the work of God in the
world?” Rather than dreaming of making all
the world Christian, we can be seeing and celebrating how God is redeeming
the world’s goodness and making humanity really human, both in us and beyond us.
Reflections
Readings:
Matthew 25:31-46 (Jesus’ teaching about the Final Judgement in
which nations and people are affirmed or cursed on the basis of whether they have
acted in accord with God’s spirit and will of compassion that Jesus reveals,
even without having seen or known Jesus themselves.)
Luke 9:49-50 (John says to Jesus, “We saw someone casting
out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow
with us.” And Jesus says, “Do not stop
him; for whoever is not against you is for you.”)
One of the phrases I have heard recently is “God has a
mission; sometimes that mission has a church.”
What do you think this means, and do you agree?
The Christian church’s missionary efforts of the last two
centuries (around the world and in Canada) were often tainted and distorted by
unexamined cultural, ethnic and political attitudes that were not part of the
gospel, and even antithetical to it.
What cultural, ethnic, social and political attitudes that have are not
part of the gospel, are still part of our message – even in Winona?
Hall says that the redemptive work of God in the world
today is about making humanity more truly human. Does this seem a fair statement of the good
news the world needs to hear, and share in today? If so, where do you see it happening – either
inside and through the church, or apart from it?
Mark Toulouse, president of Emmanuel College (United Church of Canada school
of theology in Toronto) recently wrote that the question we need to ask as a
church is not “is God with us?” but “are we in tune with what God is already doing
in all the world around us?” What
prompts us to ask the first question?
What answers to the second question come to mind or heart?
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