Christ; The Foundation of the Church
By: Rev. Fr. Vertanes Kalayjian
Back to: St. Mary Armenian Church
Teach Me
This title for our discussion has made me very uncomfortable from the moment it was suggested and has become more unnerving as the time got closer to this moment of facing all of you, my learned brothers. For one thing, I thought all along that Christ is the head of the church, as such; the vital guidance, the order and the harmony of things that came from above and the rest, the member of the body, the limbs and the parts did their task to fulfill that harmony and its mission.
Speaking of the body; I thought also that the church is the body of Christ, the visible functioning presence of Christ, continuing the salvation ministry of God incarnate. The church therefore is that enlisted group of believers, workers, nay any army of warriors who are to fight the good fights and make up the earthly militant church.
Then of course there is the
So, you see Christ as the foundation of the church makes me feel or think I should build something on it…for you can’t leave a foundation to stand alone, can you?
Now probably you will agree with me if I say as Augustine did when asked for a definition of time: “When I am not asked, I know it very well; but when I am asked, I do not know at all!”
The second set of difficulties I have is with the “church”. Kevin Giles in his book “What on Earth is the Church: An Exploration in New Testament Theology” enumerates impressive variations of understandings and interpretations, such as:
1. When we speak of “going to church” we are usually thinking of entering a building called a church
2. Then there is the denominational church; the Armenian Church, Anglican Church, RC Church, etc. (I never understood the difference between First and the Fourth Presbyterian Church.)
3. This one definitely means the clerical profession when someone says “So you are going into the church, are you? Stops short of mean church as a business!
4. Why doesn’t the church do something about this war? Any war. The idea seemed to be that the church was a united institution that could act decisively and speak with one voice on complex issues – social, moral, ethical and even current events affecting the lives of individual Christians.
You are familiar with the political connotation of the church being on the right or on the left of the political spectrum depending on mostly whether you are in a blue state or red. Adding insult to injury, some insist that God is a Republican, forgetting the fact that deep down He is Royalist. My favorite anecdote is when an important baseball game is about to begin the opponent of the great philosopher-baseball hero Yogi Berra comes and with his foot makes the sign of the cross on the pitcher’s mound. Yogi approaches the mound and erases it. “What did you do that for?” inquires the opponent. Yogi’s answer: “Leave God alone let him enjoy the game.”
The point is that the variations of who we think we are as “the church” and what is the essential relationship between the “Sovereign God” and the church and the interpretations thereof are almost endless.
Even the biblical use of the word has a range of meanings. The word EKKLESIA translated from the Greek is not much help either.
In Act 7:38 it is used to refer to the Jewish people gathered at mount Sinai.
In Acts 19:32, 39, 41 it is used in the secular sense of an unruly gentile mob actually assembled somewhere.
All the Christians in one city or location – I Cor 1:2
All those in Christ I Cor 10:32; Eph 1:22
We have a tendency to adopt one of these meanings depending on our formulated doctrine. Protestants mean to be an assembly – or those who regularly assemble; meaning, a gathering of believers.
Others mean to be (Ecclesia) The people of God
Catholics mean to be “The Body of Christ” as defined in Colossians and Ephesians.
The Armenian Church and the Orthodox are similar in their understanding.
An attempt is being made to integrate ecclesiological terms and metaphors that abound.
But the NT does not have any evidence that Christ called into being the church as hierarchically ordered and clearly structured institutional society. Except for their involvement in the appointment of the seven in Acts 6:1-6. Along with the Catholics, the Anglicans, and the Orthodox, the Armenians hold the threefold form of the ministry (bishop, priest, deacon) as constituting the church.
In interpreting
Is it (the church) also literally his bride (Eph. 5:25)
Is it a field? Workers? A temple? (I Cor 3:16) (I Cor 3:19)
If the church literally is the body of the risen Christ,
doesn’t that negate
3. The Church as the people of God
In the OT Israel is called by Yahweh but through faith in Christ the gentiles are included among the people of God. Gradually the title itself is applied to Christians irrespective of their national origin (Acts 15:15, 18:10)
But then again in Matthew Jesus speaks not of gathering the people of God, but of “building my church” (Matt 16:18) whatever that may be construed to be. The point here again is made about the limitations of these metaphors painting to the fact that “People of God” and “the body of Christ” are two very different images of the church, pointing to very different truths, and one cannot be subsumed under the other.
4. Liberation Theology puts the emphasis on the church being – Christians working in the world” Bonhoeffer articulated this quite eloquently “The Church, he said, is only the church when it exists for others.”
5. The church as congregation
The Congregationalist approach (Baptists, Pentacostalist, Brethren, etc.) hold the view that all the universal uses of the word ecclesia/church in the NT refer to believers generally, on earth and in heaven, but not what is commonly called a denomination. Accordingly, no earth-bound association other than the local congregation may be called “Church” It is better to speak, they sat, of the Anglican denomination” or the “Catholic denomination” etc.
Of course the conflict between a philosophy of individualism taken in isolation on one hand and the communal ideas in the NT that indicated clearly a community which is called into existence by God.
Indeed the church is primarily the world-wide community that confesses Jesus as Lord and is enlivened and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Let us go a bit further to understand or rather highlight these concepts of Communalism vs. individualism.
One obvious reason that the communal understanding or ecclesiology that is missing among the western churches is because the modern western culture is almost thoroughly individualistic and has been for over a hundred years. They imagine Jesus and Paul to be evangelists say like Billy Graham, calling on people to make a personal and individual response of faith and suggest that the church is where they will get help in living out their Christian life. This church is, for them, the local church as a voluntary association. There is a disconnect here between the wider church and the individual.
The ancient world, the cultural setting of both OT and NT, and in those parts less influences by Western individualism, the wider community is more important than the individual. In other words, individuals find their identity in relation to, and as part of an interconnected social world.
Within the communal context we have the following elements that play important, sometimes pivotal roles that determines how the individual sees and lives our his relationship with the sovereign God.
1. The extended family or clan, the lineage (house o David)
2. Place of origin (Jesus of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus, Kaghketzi Der Karekin, etc.
3. Nationality/Ethnicity (Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, etc.)
4. Religion or sect – modern secularized Westerners can hardly appreciate the social impact of such identification
To conclude my excursion into the question or the meaning of the church let me borrow more extensively from Kevin Giles, who writes:
“In contrast to our modern Western way of thinking, the Bible is predicated on the belief that human beings at every level are bound together in communities of various sorts. To suggest that the Bible is ultimately about individual salvation, or that the church is but a local assembly of individuals who are bound together only by their personal associations, or that each individual congregations is in no profound way linked with other congregations, introduces ides alien to biblical thinking. Those who suggest such things reflect their own cultural values, not the values of the biblical writers.
From what has been said it should be clear that in speaking of the church as the Christian community we are not suggesting that the church is but a sociological phenomenon, a community of people with like religious convictions who have created their own institution. The sociological is naturally present and important, but the Christian community, the church, is God’s creation in Christ. Christians are united in a common fellowship because they are united to Christ. The horizontal and the vertical both play their part in the church, but the vertical, our relationship with God in Christ, is always primary. This theological basis for our common life as Christians also calls into question right from the beginning individualism or radical congregationalism. Our unity cannot be reduced to anything less than a truly catholic understanding of Christianity. As important as the local church is in the experience of the believer and in the purposes of God, the common union with Christ shared by all must take priority, and be of ultimate importance. Another matter that the integrating church concept, the Christian community helps explain is the relationship between the theological reality and its manifestations(s)”
(What on Earth is the Church? An Exploration in New Testament Theology; Giles, K., Intervarsity Press pp. 20-22)
Now, let’s get back to the foundation. But before that I think we should also mention that Christ is also “the Good Shepherd” so said He (John 10:11). He also said “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). At the Last Supper he included wine to mean His Blood for our sins and for our salvation.
But rather talk about Jesus Christ as the Lord.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father’ (Phil 2:9-11)
What are the implications of His being exalted to a position of lordship?
The title Lord may sound strange to the contemporary ear. It may be associated or identifies with such words as King, emperor, dictator, even president or commander-in-chief. It carries with it the ideas of ownership, authority, sovereignty and power. The inspired Apostle is informing us that Jesus Christ indeed is invested with these authorities that the titles are naturally identified with. His divinity is being acknowledged and as such He is all these things and more.
He is the eternal Son who came and clothed himself in the garment of human flesh, lived on earth with the limitations of humanity and yet retained his sovereignty. He was put to the test in all points as we care and yet he did not yield to sin. He conquered sin. He showed the way of possibilities and the assurance of his promise of life, eternal life, and salvation. To accomplish that mission:
He became a servant of people
He endured the indignity of shame, suffering and horror of death as a substitute for us.
He convincingly showed the way beyond the grave, victory of death and the certainty of life eternal.
In and through his person he pushed the frontiers of human capacity of forgiveness and reconciliation vertically with our Father in heaven and with our fellow human beings on earth horizontally.
He, for what and who he is has absolute claim upon us and we owe him our allegiance, loyalty and obedience as the sovereign Lord.
Such a response from us is warranted because He loved us,
and He loved us unconditionally. And our
love and devotion to Him should be likewise.
As the beneficiaries of His love let us not forget that the dispensary
of His love is the church, the depository of all this blessings. “Christ,” says St. Paul, “loved the church
and gave himself for it” (Eph 5:25-27)
It is not a mere theological statement when we assert that outside of
“The Church” there is no salvation.
Christ is the Head of the Church. The church is the mystical body of
Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells in it and
is distributed to the faithful as they gather in His name. Finally, the church is given the divine
commission to carry on the mission of Christ and His Apostles to bring and establish
the