This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Romans 12: 3 - 5
What does it mean to be 'members one of another'? We are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought because we need each other.
This passage is about mutuality. Unfortunately this concept has fallen out of modern political discourse. Arguments are usually around altruism and selfishness. 'Scratch an altruist and find an hypocrite'.
Like everything else, we can absolutise altruism; turn it into an ideology. No one is purely altruistic but this does not mean all actions are selfish.
'Love your neighbour as you love yourself' is a single commandment, not two. We're not being told to both love our neighbour and ourselves or that loving ourselves is an essential prerequisite to loving our neighbours (true as these positions might be).
As we learn of God's love, we discover God loves all people and I am one of the people God loves. God expresses God's love for us through our neighbours and love for our neighbours through us.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Ephesians 4: 7, 11 - 16
This builds on the previous passage. The point of disciplined listening and sharing is to attain maturity and the full stature of Christ. Note unity here is not something imposed through church structures but something which grows from genuine sharing of faith (v13).
The experience of unity flows from sharing between Christians of different traditions. In such sharing we learn of the ways we are deceived by our doctrines, tricks and schemes.
And as we overcome out delusions we find the body is joined and knitted together. The body builds itself up in love.
One problem ecumenists have is ecumenical reception. The councils of the churches make an agreement but have difficulty passing it on to local churches. The problem is where a formal agreement is imposed on others not party to it.
It is no surprise formal conversations have had a high degree of success. Of course they have. When Christians get together and share they will find common ground. The problems start when successful leaders impose their findings on others.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
1 Corinthians 14: 31 - 33
This passage tells us we are indeed different and so need to organise ourselves accordingly. If we prophesy one by one, then we will hear something new, we will learn and be encouraged by the breadth of faith expressed.
Peace is not a result of uniformity but of a disciplined approach to faith. Our call is to learn to listen to others and in turn share our own experience of God.
Much talk of unity ignores the impossibility of knowing God fully. No one tradition can possibly embrace all there is to know of faith. Indeed, if we put every tradition's understanding of God together we would still not know God.
The task is to perceive God in the here and now. To do this we can pool our experience. We need to do this in a disciplined and so peaceful way.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Acts 2: 1 - 6
It is a fallacy to believe this story illustrates the unity of the Church. Pentecost is always seen as the birthday of the Church but what do we find?
A flame divides into a number of flames. The people speak in different languages; although from all over the known world, they hear their own languages. They do not all understand a single language.
This reads to me as an affirmation of diversity. I cannot see a mandate for unity as a single organisational structure.
Organisational unity is a lazy way of understanding unity; 'if only we all agreed, then we would have unity'. It is much more rewarding to be united with those with whom we disagree.
The assumption is God seeks unity in the sense of a single structure but where is the evidence? The challenge is to love one another, not to become like one another.
There is another thing too. What about the dissenters, the marginalised? Where do they fit into the single full, visible and unified church? The static model of unity does not take into account the dynamic of love.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Romans 15: 10 - 11
This final passage, from the section of 'one light: one world' headed 'Christ's work in bringing us into unity', is something of mystery.
The burden of the message seems to be now gentiles are admitted into the faith, they can join all peoples in praising God.
Churches Together in England has selected these passages to encourage us to reflect upon how we may all be one. Some of them don't make any especial connection to ecumenism for me and this one in particular seems to be something of a space filler.
One thing I can do is use the opportunity afforded by the last line 'let all the peoples praise him' to reflect upon one theme that has emerged from this section of passages.
That is the theme of 'glory'. As I understand it, the glory of God is the means by which we are made aware of the presence of God. God is not accessible to our senses and so we need signs of God. These signs represent the real presence of God.
In a way the halo is one way artists have tried to depict God's glory. It is a metaphor for something more difficult to define.
What John 17 seems to be saying is unity is the glory of God. It is the ultimate reconciliation of all things. It can be prefigured in the church and the divided church is our opportunity to demonstrate the glory of God, being united despite our differences. Ecumenism is the laboratory in which the churches experiment with unity.
When we are prepared to take responsibility for unity, by being prepared to risk our own integrity in order to embrace the other, then we see God's glory. This is what the early gentile Christians experienced and what gave them cause to praise God.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Ephesians 2: 13 - 22
In this passage, the author describes the church as a place of reconciliation. Recently I have indulged in some negative descriptions of the institutional church and this passage is an opportunity to consider the church in a more positive light.
Our primary experience of church is the institutions and this has advantages and disadvantages. What we are invited to do here, is to perceive the church behind the institutions. Fundamentally, church is not an insititution but an event. It is where people who are otherwise divided are able, through Jesus Christ,to be reconciled.
The 1986 Inter-church Process was known as 'Not Strangers but Pilgrims' (see verse 19) and this vision of the church being somehow bigger than or behind the institutional expressions of church, was how many understood it.
People united in Christ is evidence of the glory of God. It is the breaking down of the walls our institutions create that shows us the power of God. Church institutions might point to the apostles, prophets and Jesus as the foundation of their particular version of the way but what is important is where the divisions created by the institutions disappear.
The dynamic of reconciliation generates a sense of the glory of God. As others are reconciled in a widening circle, as humanity is able to extend and deepen conversation across religious and political divides, we see the reality of God's intervention in the world.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Colossians 1: 15 - 20
The bombshell is in verse 16: 'in him all things ... visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers - all things have been created through him and for him'. These are the very things that enslave us! And these things were created through him and for him!
But note these are human institutions. The very institutions that enslave and disempower us are created though and for him. The thing is, these institutions are both necessary and oppressive.
The law is necessary to enable the development of culture and society. There has to be legal redress for wrongs done because the alternative is vigilantism. But these very institutions, designed to protect us, become oppressive. Why? Because in our minds we absolutise them and make them into gods.
The promised reconciliation is where these institutions begin to work as they should and not as the play things of perfectionist control freaks.
And so we learn, the church is intended to be the beginning of this alternative way, verse 18 'he is the head of the body, the church'. This accounts for the difficulties we all encounter. We have institutions based on the old methods shot through with the brilliance of a new way of working. The church is a hybrid institution, both near to and far from the will of God.
I think this is why the church is broken. It is the broken body of Christ because it is only in its brokenness that a place can be found for all.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Romans 5: 10 - 11
It beats me what this has to do with ecumenism, although once again it is about the reconciliation of all to God. And of course, the wrath of God is not far away (in verse 9).
So, let's nail this - how are a God of Love and the wrath of God compatible? This question is muddied by 1000 years of atonement theology. This theology is alien to the Bible and Paul would not have recognised it. So, what is this passage about?
The powerful use fear of death to control others. Jesus through his death and resurrection conquered death and so also the fear of death. The thing that makes God wrathful is not individual sins but the way in which we all collude with power, out of fear.
When we abandon fear, we no longer depend upon things that distract us from God and so we are reconciled to God. No longer fearing death, we are saved.
In addition verse 11 is saying, those who no longer fear death may boast in God. Those who live by control, use God to justify their actions. They practice unspeakable cruelty in God's name. Those who know Jesus abandon control, as they are no longer fearful. In this they are modelling themselves on Jesus and so reconciled with God.
And presumably this is the nature of the unity that exists between Christians, despite the best efforts of the institutional churches to find ways to keep Christians apart.
I am aware I'm sounding negative about the institutional churches in this series of posts. I hope for an opportunity to redress the balance as the series continues.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
John 17: 20 - 23
This is the passage most commonly quoted in ecumenical circles. If we read it in the light of the last post though, we see it is not just about ecumenism between churches, but the wider Oikoumene.
Jesus prays not only for his disciples but for those who believe through their word. He is asking for unity not of a narrow community but of the whole world. Jesus prays not for the church but the world. The intention is clearly the whole world and not some subset of self-appointed Christians.
The prayer then focuses upon the disciples. The world will know who Christ is through the unity of the disciples. It is the love we have for one another, whatever our differences, that is persuasive for the world. The unity of Christians is a precursor to Oikoumene.
The word 'glory' means those attributes of God we perceive through our senses. The glory, the sensory evidence of God, is the unity of Christians. This is why the ecumenical movement is essential.
If Christians are seen to be one, then God's glory is seen throughout the world and this will lead to the greater Oikoumene, the unity of all things.
This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world. If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts. This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.
Ephesians 1: 7 - 12
This passage moves between past, present and future, although not necessarily in that order. It focuses on Oikoumene, the ultimate reconciliation of all things to God. But we need to understand this is pointless, unless it makes a difference in the here and now.
So, the author begins in the present, reminding his readers of their experience of gifts of redemption and forgiveness. A third gift we have here and now is knowledge of the mystery of his will; the gathering up of all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.
It is interesting how Universalist this passage seems to be. It does say 'all things'. The main problem with Universalism is, to imply all will be saved rather subverts the idea that a saviour is necessary. My understanding of the Methodist take on this question is that it is God's intention that all shall be saved. There is, however, no certainty that all will be saved. If there is free will then there must always be the possibility that some will not choose God.
I feel great discomfort with the idea that we must fear the wrath of God. God is wrathful certainly, but the wrath is not directed to those who don't believe in evangelical doctrine. It is directed against the oppressors, those who exploit others for personal gain, lust for power or take pleasure in cruelty. Make no mistake about it, these are the true atheists. Whether or how they might be saved need not detain us here.
Christians are not called to condemn those who do not believe. They are called to lead the way in every generation. The passage deals with the past in its final verses. Christians have obtained an inheritance, they are destined, they are the first and live for the praise of Christ's glory.
To be destined is to be selected for a purpose. It does not necessarily imply anything about those who are not selected. They surely have a destination too and this might be facilitated in a positive way by those who have already been selected. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that we are called for our own benefit rather than the benefit of others.
The problem from an ecclesiological point of view is this reading of the passage sets aside the necessity for church. Institutional structures are not necessary for salvation. They support those who choose to live in the way of Jesus Christ but are not necessary as institutions. This will be a less than welcome idea for several traditions. There is more to be said about this.
Consultancy for Mission and Ministry This should take you to details of the Consultancy for Mission and Ministry course at the York Insititute. See my post about non-directive consuultancy around 9 September 2009.
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