Hans Kung and the church.

When I did my Bachelors degree in Theology, we had to study Hans Kung's monumental work "The Church". Looking at the book, it seems very intimidating, but it is one of those books that I enjoyed thoroughly and will not part with.

I read through some sections again this morning and was reminded of the distinction he draws between the church and the Kingdom of God. He speaks so strongly about this difference that I am sure that he would have been excommunicated for this alone. If you don't know Kung's history, go check it out.

He says that there are two temptations in the Christian faith. The first is to equate the church to the Kingdom of God. If this path is chosen, it will lead to disillusionment, anger and resentment, for the church is not complete and should rather be seen as a mode of spiritual travel than a divine institution.

The second is to dissociate the church from the Kingdom of God completely. This path leads to relativism and a total disregard for mystery and revelation. The church is tied to the Kingdom by being a herald.

I keep this in mind as I listen to those whom the church has put in positions of leadership, who sometimes express themselves in ways that make people believe that they are the sole voice of God.

ps. Dion, I'll post a photo of Bertie soon!

Conquerers of what?

See this story on congregation members robbed of their money by a scam in the church. Ironically the denomination(?) concerned is "Conquerers through Christ ministries".

The church's lies

I preached a sermon based on Isaiah 6:1-13, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 and Luke 5:1-11 at a retirement centre on Sunday with the above as a theme. I thought it well to publish some of the thoughts here and not on the sermon-blog. The crux of the sermon is based on the church's evangelical approach being incongruent with what we celebrate during Epiphany. So, here goes:

1. The church is lying when it sells Jesus like a neatly packaged deal.
Our faith is a faith of revelation. All that we can do is to respond in faith to God's gracious act of revelation. The kind of evangelism that knows what God looks like and what people should look like is prone to fall to its own assumptions. Christian evangelism is therefore not concerned with selling a certain brand of Jesus or Christianity, but its sole purpose is to testify to the revealed God. We believe that Jesus is the full revelation of God and therefore the mystery of Christ plays as important part of the church's proclamation as our inherited understanding of Him.

2. The church is lying when it creates a minimum requirement for membership.
Much of Christian proclamation concerns making people aware of their unworthiness. It is easy to proclaim a message of judgment, hoping that the recipient would turn in their faith. As if God needs an ego-boost!!! What about, if the church stops telling people how bad they are, and focus more on how much God loves them. People feel bad already. People need a Saviour, not a God who rubs it in. Perhaps it is easier for the church to proclaim a salvation based on condemnation, for somehow, we can't stand the thought that God would love someone else as much as what God loves me. Look at Isaiah. He stood gob smacked in God's presence. He admitted his guilt, but instead of God saying "Yes, I know and you will stay like this", he is healed and sent.

3. The church is lying when it claims that Christianity is something extra to our daily existence.
Guess what. Jesus climbed in the boat, made a difference where it mattered and spoke in images that people could understand. True Christian evangelism makes a difference where it matters, it doesn't force people to stop being them and become like "us". Were the disciples even really listening to what Jesus was saying on the shore? What turned their minds? Jesus was relevant right there!

Something for the church to think about in our witnessing. God reveals (Deus dixit for the Barthians), we respond, God loves (Incarnational), God works.