Is it possible to sustain a Christian confession or walk with the Lord outside the church? You are and I are not the first to ask this question, nor are we the first to answer it. The Nones come at this question from a variety of angles, not all of them unjustified.
It is difficult to think of the church "biblically", i.e., as the "body of Christ" in the context of a reality of denominations bent on their survival, etc. But it strikes me that (however else we describe the church) its description as "the body of Christ" centers the church as being somewhat literally the BODY of the HEAD (Christ), carrying out the will of the Head. Whatever else the "church" is, it seems to me that it must constantly align all of its parts with the will and purpose of Jesus. Any embracing of other purposes (however "nice") will move the church away from what it should be. Okay, that sounds like just religious talk, but behind it lies the reality that all of the structures for efficiency and effectiveness as institutions in the world that sidestep that primordial reality for the church will miss the point. Kasemann is onto something important....
I think this is why we often can find greater solidarity and union with folks outside of our particular congregations... We experience something of that radical nature of church that doesn't feel as inhabited in our local contexts where the lines of crowd and disciple seem necessarily blurred. Keeping the doors always open and yet maintaining a calling that is indeed radical.
It is difficult to think of the church "biblically", i.e., as the "body of Christ" in the context of a reality of denominations bent on their survival, etc. But it strikes me that (however else we describe the church) its description as "the body of Christ" centers the church as being somewhat literally the BODY of the HEAD (Christ), carrying out the will of the Head. Whatever else the "church" is, it seems to me that it must constantly align all of its parts with the will and purpose of Jesus. Any embracing of other purposes (however "nice") will move the church away from what it should be. Okay, that sounds like just religious talk, but behind it lies the reality that all of the structures for efficiency and effectiveness as institutions in the world that sidestep that primordial reality for the church will miss the point. Kasemann is onto something important....
So good. So important.
I think this is why we often can find greater solidarity and union with folks outside of our particular congregations... We experience something of that radical nature of church that doesn't feel as inhabited in our local contexts where the lines of crowd and disciple seem necessarily blurred. Keeping the doors always open and yet maintaining a calling that is indeed radical.