What
a saying. Our theology is inseparable from the church. Our involvement with the
church expresses our understanding of the theology proper. Our theology proper
and our ecclesial practices go hand in hand. They are like a mirror, reflecting
one another. We must serve God through the church, for God’s mandate to bring
salvation to all nations is entrusted to the church. Israel as a nation was
called to be a light for the nations (Isa. 42:6; 49:6). The church, the new
Israel, is also given “the ministry of reconciliation” and entrusted with “the
message of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18-19). Paul says that the ministry and
message of reconciliation is given to “us” (Gk. h`mi/n: first person plural), not him, me, or you as an individual.
We must participate in a local church to do just that.
Unfortunately, if a local church that we are in is dying and there is no hope
in the future, find another one and start to serve. If we are fortunate enough
to be in a church where we like the pastor and have a few faithful companions,
stay there and continue to serve. We just have to have a church to carry out
the ministry of reconciliation. It is only biblical when we talk about me in us.
In
Psalm 111:1, it says, “Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people” (NLT). The verb “praise” is plural. “I will
thank the Lord….” (singular) occurs in a community. As John Goldingay notes, “Praise
is something the psalm challenges people to do together….Then straightaway that
individual worship is once more set in the context of the community…..The psalm
might suggest various insights. It might hint that we cannot evaluate the full significance
of our individual worship unless we can see how it feeds into corporate
worship.”[1]
The
“I” is greatly diminished apart from us.
[1] John Goldingay, Walk On: Life, Loss, Trust, and Other
Realities (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), p. 50.
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