Power and salvation are two cards that have been in the deck of the church for a long time. The church can assert its influence in the world and demand certain kinds of behavior because it has the key to salvation. It has the ability to set the parameters for salvation and can withhold it from those who differ.
In one sense the church has been entrusted with the Gospel and must carry it forward, but in another sense it can abuse this position. The church has a mission to carry God’s message of blessing to his creation, but can easily become lost in condemning and excluding. And though the church should not just welcome everyone without the radical call of commitment and allegiance that makes up the Gospel, there is a sense in which the church should not become hostile to the world.
The church can too easily become antagonistic to those on the outside. In addition, the church can become antagonistic to those within its fold and threaten them with expulsion. Those who set the theological agenda can remove those disagree and can also keep out those who would threaten the way things have been.
In welcoming the other, it is important to seek ways to open up the theological conversation to minorities, women, and other countries who are entering the global theological conversation. In bringing the Gospel to those on the outside of God’s Kingdom, it is not our place to set obstacles as much as to welcome. Welcoming the other in without losing the integrity of the Gospel message is THE challenge that faces the church in the 21st century.
Filed under: Emerging Church
Ed – this is a great post. There’s so much to unpack here. We don’t usually think of the gospel in terms of power, but I think it’s at least in part a call specifically to a different kind of power dynamic, one of submission and service instead of triumph and domination. Great thoughts.
Imagine that, empowered to not be powerful. Empowered to empower others.
I forgot to mention that this post was started by the sermon at the Episcopal Church we occasionally attend in town. It’s fairly liberal, but I think the rector really has a good grasp of the heart of God.