HOW DOES THE CHURCH SAVE
In what way does Jesus’ body offer us salvation in a fractured, frightened, often despairing world? If Jesus is Lord and offers the church as the continuing expression of his saving presence, then even the inadequacy of a particular church cannot frustrate God’s plan of salvation. As was thoroughly debated during the period of the Reformation, the efficacy of the sacraments does not depend upon the perfection of those who administer them. The church is a continuing expression of God’s “power made perfect in our weakness.” This is double good news for a hurting world. If that saving experience is operating in our churches, then our ability to “name it” for those outside the church is a powerful invitation.
Loren Mead, in his book The Once And Future Church, states that “where a sense of mission has been clear and compelling, the church has been sacrificial and heroic in its support of that mission.” He describes two paradigms which he suggests shaped the church up to this point. Then he offers evidence that we are now shifting to a third paradigm, the boundaries of which are not quite clear. The frontier of the first paradigm was at the front door of the parish as they geared up their courage to carry their message of salvation into a hostile world. The frontier of the second paradigm, the Christendom Paradigm, was at the edge of the empire and was the task of specialists who were supported by the faithful. I would like to suggest the outline of the third paradigm which I see emerging in the American experience.
In all three paradigms, the focus of the mission is “salvation,” but the frontier where that mission is carried out shifts. Our task has always been to reveal God’s gracious offer of salvation to the lost. The point of revealing in the “Apostolic Paradigm” was where Christians were willing to venture forth into a hostile world at great risk to themselves in order “to care for the sick, the prisoner and the widow, the fatherless and the poor.” Because they believed that they were sent as evangelists by God, they went forth in the power of the spirit. The point of revealing in the “Christendom Paradigm” was where missionaries went forth into foreign lands to convert “pagans” to the faith. I believe that the point of revealing in the “third paradigm” is in the center of the congregation where people experience the continuing saving power of the gospel fleshed out in their lives together.
THE THIRD PARADIGM
I suggest that, the church of the third paradigm will be a church whose frontier is within the walls. These walls are indeed permeable because as members experience salvation within the walls, it flows out into service to those in need beyond those walls. The church invites any who wish to flow in to experience salvation for themselves. A problem for the church is that we have insisted on operating from the arrogant position of “the saved seeking the lost” rather than as a people in the process of being saved by the Body of Christ who are willing to invite others to join us in the process. In the third paradigm, there will be a renewed humility of those who are awe-struck by the unexpected experience of salvation which is offered them in graceful moments. The focus of mission is to provide the context for the ongoing experience of salvation.
A Biblical image for this third paradigm of the church is that of Paul as Apostle to the Gentiles. By both self-designation (Romans 11:13 and I Timothy 2:7) and tradition, Paul has been known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Many of the Gentiles in Paul’s time had been attracted to the ethical and spiritual aspects of Judaism but had not gone through the formal process of conversion. They were the first century counterpart of today’s believers but not belongers (B/NB). Paul believed he had been called to be an Apostle, one sent by God, to the Gentiles, those who were not part of Israel but whom God had stirred with a hunger for faith.
The central focus of mission for our time in America is the B/NB in our culture. Like the Apostle Paul, the church sends people out into the “Gentile” world with the message that there is salvation in the church. The people best equipped for this task, both by location and numbers, are the laity of our church. Because of their involvement in the political and economic structure of our society, they are in daily contact with the B/NB and share in the pressures that create the hunger for salvation. They are also the ones who in casual conversation are going to hear of the hunger of their colleagues and be able to most naturally share their own experience of what they are discovering in the church community. In effect, our lay people are the cutting edge of our missionary effort which makes them the Apostles to the Gentiles.
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