Love Christ, Hate Church
Is Church relevant or necessary in today’s modern and educated world?
A growing number of Christians think of Church as a man-invented organization that often emphasizes rigid rules and customs above the teachings of Jesus Christ. Many struggle in reconciling what they see and experience on Sundays with “their own values, theological reflection and intuition”.
To respond, one must first understand that early Christians never differentiated between Christ and the Church. One could never call themselves a follower of Christ without being a member of the Church. Even those who stubbornly refuse to look at ancient writings can find evidence of this unity of Christ and Church in Holy Scripture – to be a Christian meant to be part of a worshipping, liturgical community that shared a common Faith (e.g., Acts 2:42). From Ephesians 5:30 - “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones”, and earlier in Ephesians 2:19-22
Christ clearly identified Himself as One with this fellowship - in Acts 9:1-6, the resurrected Christ confronts Saul (who had been persecuting the early Church) on the road to Damascas with the words, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”. Later He emphasizes - “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”.
But, in order to understand the depth of this unity of Christ and Church, we need to appreciate that this relationship is not in the manner of master and slave, but rather an icon of the Holy Trinity. As H.G. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios explained, the basis of our Christian theology is in the Holy Trinity.
Arguably, it is the misunderstanding of the Trinity that has created the confusion and questions we see today in these modern times. A possible explanation is the difficulty in accepting that, as created beings, we simply can never understand or explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity i.e., Father, Son and Holy Spirit being individual persons and yet one God.
In the words of St. Gregory of Nyssa, "anyone who tries to describe the ineffable Light in language is truly a liar - not because he hates the truth, but because of the inadequacy of his description”. Although the Trinity is neither rational nor scientific, we know this is truth. As early as the Book of Genesis (verse 26) we see the Triune God i.e., “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness””. The prophet Moses was not having a senior moment , but rather had intentionally used the singular form ‘God’ in the same sentence as plural pronouns ‘us’ and ‘our’.
This is the beautiful and mysterious relationship of unity that permeates throughout the Church - Christ and the Church are One, we (man and woman) are One with Christ, and we are One with the Church. As we read in Ephesians 5:32 - “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church”. The word ‘Sacrament’ is another word for mystery, and it is the Sacramental life of the Church that transforms us to be like Him.
Therefore, instruction from the Church should not be understood in legal or ritualistic terms, but rather as guides from Christ to nurture and grow the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24) that is within us through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.
As an example, fasting should not be understood as punishment or dietary restrictions. Rather, just as Christ had fasted for spiritual strength (Matthew 4:2), as His One Body we should gladly fast together to gain spiritually strength. Through the fellowship and indwelling of the One Spirit in each of us, our individual sacrifice mysteriously strengthens the whole Church and this manifests as increased prayer and charity. It is not coincidence that major Feasts such as Easter and Christmas are preceded with Lent.
And, if we take a second look we once again see the icon of the unity of the Trinity in this – although it was the Father who instructed the Son and sent forth the Holy Spirit, in no way did this diminish the One True Triune God. When the Church takes on the role of an instructor, in no way does our obedient response diminish the Trinitarian understanding that we are One Body.
Our practice of praying for the departed also stems from this understanding of One Body – as we know Christ is eternal, we therefore better understand that our unity in Him does not stop when we die. As an aside, this is why in Orthodox weddings we do not hear the couple consenting that marriage is until “death do us part” since Holy Marriage is the Sacrament that brings together man and woman as One in Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33) and death is never a separation from the Divine. Again, when we look at praying for the departed using the icon of the Holy Trinity, we see the aspect of eternal unity and therefore continue praying as if they are alive.
To summarize – “To say we love Christ, who is the Head of the Church, and at the same time reject His body is to deny the New Testament teaching” (Orthodox Study Bible , pg. 1604) .
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Comments