Shadows, Part Deux

When is the church not the people? In once sense, if the people we're talking about are Christians, they are always the church. It's just that, sometimes we aren't the church in the sense we think we are.

What, then, is the church, and what is it not? Luke tells us in Acts that the church is what God adds his people to. It's a God thing, that's important.

I'm going to make some bold statements now—at least they're bold for me—without any of the softening comments that I am tempted to add.

- The church is not a human institution; it is a divine one.

- The church cannot be reformed or restored by humans. In other words, if restoration is needed, it is the humans that need restoring.

- Humans do not determine who is and who is not one of God's children; God does, and while he is just, he is also more gracious and merciful than we tend to be.

- In battle, turning on and attacking members of one's own army is treason.

C.S. Lewis said that we live in a land of shadows; this is not the ultimate reality. We shouldn't fight each other over shadows, but should urge each other on to the light. The church is people who belong to God, and who are leaving the shadows and walking toward the Light.

Shadows

I've been listening to _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ by Robert Pirisg in audio form in my car. Yea, I know I'm about three decades behind on this one, but I still haven't read _War and Peace_ yet, either. I have read Aeschylus, Aristotle, Chesterton, Conrad, Khayyam, Thoreau, and Wilde, though, so I have at least a little literary edumacation. Oh, and Twain, lots of Twain.

Anyway, about a third of the way in, the author has an interesting analysis of what a university really is, in the context of a state legislature's attempt to both control what is being taught and "dumb down" academic standards to allow anyone to have a college degree. He distinguishes between the university as an institution rooted in the Western history as opposed to the university as a state-funded institution that owns buildings and pays professors.

He starts with an illustration of a former Catholic church building that is now used as a bar, complete with neon beer sign over the doorway. Locals are outraged because of the perceived desecration, but the Catholic official on the spot tells them they've completely misunderstood what the church is. It is not the building, and that particular building is no longer used by the church. There is no desecration involved—at least not in the sense people think.

Are you pondering what I'm pondering? ("I think so, Brain, but if we give peas a chance, won't the lima beans feel left out?")

I grew up hearing that "the church is not the building, the church is the people." Of course, this doesn't really stand up to linguistic analysis, as English is not Greek, "church" is not really a one-for-one translation of "ekklesia", and language evolves anyway. But the point is a valid one, I think, even if we don't take it far enough.

The fact is, sometimes the people aren't the church, either. Now, I have to figure out what I mean by that. More later.

P.S. I love the title "Shadows", it sounds so deep.