Joint Post: What does it mean to be living in the age of the Church?

So it is time for our first "joint post" as authors of this blog.  When I originally posed the idea of this blog to Brett, I stressed that not only should we have individual posts whenever we had opportunity, but once in awhile we should put our heads together on a single question.  So we have decided to answer the following question: 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE LIVING IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH?  HOW OUGHT THIS SHAPE AND COLOR OUR MINISTRY?

Our three individual answers are as follows (and we did not collaborate on any of these responses, they are each our own).  The wealth of perspective on this question is stimulating and very interesting.  Thank you for putting your heads together on this with me, guys.  And please comment so we can keep the discussion going (especially if you read the blog!).

Brett's response:

Without the need to qualify basic truths my answer begins as follows:

To be living in the age of the Church means that our whole lives should be centered and directed upon serving her. She is the bride of Christ, instituted by Christ Himself, sustained by the Holy Ghost to be a living witness to God upon the Earth. Israel was a sign of God's presence in the world, but with the Advent of Jesus and his rejection by Israel, the Church becomes the sign of God in the world. Her role is to contionously point to God. Her role is to allow people through herself to see the light of Christ. She exists to serve God and to serve the world.

She preserves the teaching entrusted to her by the Christ, the Holy Scriptures and the Tradition handed down by the Apostles and maintained by Orthodox writers throughout the centuries. This may seem irrelevant but it is not so, for the maintaining of true doctrine is imperative for the Church to stay within the will of God. She also offers the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion which give visual evidence to the change that has happened upon the inside. By the Holy Spirit in Baptism we are washed and made clean beginning our new lives in Christ and by Holy Communion we are united to the Holy Trinity, united as the mystical body of Church to all Christians at all times and places who have participated in the Paschal Feast.

The Church forms and guides us, prepares us and sustains us for the doing of God's work. While she may not be perfect, she is the true and right way for an individual to express and live out their faith. Christ established the Church and we cannot claim to be Christians without at least seeking to become part of the Church Catholic in a particular location. The Church is our mother. the Church is Christ's bride. Nothing brings us closer to God and to each other, than the Church. Therefore service in and for the Church is our ministry. All that we do is pointed to Christ for the sake of Christ and done within and for His Church. Not so she may be glorified but that the God she serves may be glorified. She prepares us for the life to come, the life spent with Christ, eagerly anticipating His Second Coming.


Stephen's response:  

In a way this question asks us to consider the vocation of the Church.  Who are we, what are we doing here, and how are we supposed to do it?  No discussion of ecclesial identity would be complete without at least a nod to the broken relationship between God and Man.  It was to reconcile us to Father that the Son became Man, lived, suffered, died, rose from the dead, and bodily ascended into heaven.  On the day of Pentecost the Most Holy and Blessed Theotokos, Mary the Virgin, together with the holy Apostles, and many other disciples received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  The Apostles would go on to teach us in the Epistles that we who have been baptized by water and the spirit into the death and resurrection of Christ are made members of the Body of Christ.  Thus, our identity is fundamentally tied to the Incarnation as the means of our redemption and theosis.

What is our purpose?  The Great Commission is our statement of purpose.  As we are going into all the nations we are to proclaim to them the Gospel of the Lord, teach them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us, and to baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  In short, our mission is to bring Christ to the nations so that the nation might partake of Christ and be saved.  How is this commission to be fulfilled?  We proclaim the message by our words and our deeds so that the nations might be stirred by the Holy Spirit to repentance.  We are to teach Christ so that the nations will learn and follow Christ.  And never to be neglected are the sacraments as conduits of grace.  Confession and repentance are needful, as are proper catechetical instruction.  Baptism is just as necessary, not only because of our Lord's command, but also because of the spiritual benefits that we receive.  Proclamation, teaching, and sacrament are all equally necessary to make a Christian.

How then does this affect our ministries?  The clergy (bishops, priests, and deacons) are to be the servants of the servants of God.  Their job is to model Christ to the Faithful, to teach, equip, and coordinate the Faithful as we collectively execute the Great Commission, and to administer the sacraments.  To put it simply, clergy are in the business of discipleship and coordination.  The Faithful are the 'boots on the ground'.  It is the job of every baptized Christian to exercise the 'priesthood of all believers.'  Quite simply this troublesome phrase means mediating Christ to the world around you.  As Christians (little Christs) we need to be about the business of proclaiming and revealing Christ to the world through our lives in our relationships with other people.  That can't be done unless we are growing in Christ.

I will conclude my remarks here before another paragraph of that skims through ascetical theology consumes more space.  In summary, the Church continues the work of Christ reconciling the world to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells her.


Chris' Response:


As the self-proclaimed mystic in the group, my answer may prove a bit absurd.  I want to go a bit beyond the basic understanding of fulfilling The Great Commission and the like and pick up on a more nuanced understanding of what it means to be living in the "Church Age."  So, up front, I believe first and foremost in the supremacy of the Church in fulfilling the Great Commission, following the leading of the Spirit, discipling believers, upholding orthodoxy, and loving.  Putting all of that aside, allow me to digress:  The Church is the Bride of Christ.  This is a metaphor I have never taken lightly and I believe it has radical implications for the Church should we truly adopt it as a guiding principle.  Why?  Because by "Bride of Christ," I truly mean bride.  Yes, with all the sexual trappings of the word as well (I am one who does see Song of Solomon as an allegory of God's love for his bride, the Church--a sensual, romantic, passionate love).  In essence, then, the same speech given the bride at any Christian wedding you'd hear today is the same speech we all need to hear as Christians forming the corporate body of Christ's bride.  If we are to be Christ's bride then I think it is worth looking at the Biblical ideals for a bride to allegorically understand our role in the world in this, the age of the church.


So what does the Bible tell us about being a good bride?  Quite a bit actually.  However, us authors all agreed to make these answers fairly short so I cannot be exhaustive in my answers.  If you read the passages I outline as an allegory for the Church, God's bride, as well as instructions for human brides you will see several important qualities of living in the Church age.  Allow me to go through a few (again, remember that I am reading these as an allegory for the Church as a bride/wife and God as husband):

1. Proverbs 31--This famous passage describes the "ideal" woman/bride.  As such, I think it contains many truths about being Christ's ideal bride, the Church.  Verse 10 says that the Church, if she acts nobly, is more valuable to God than rubies.  Verse 11 states that God has full confidence in us.  In verse 12 the Church Bride "brings good" to God, not harm.  Verses 13-16 tell of the Church bride being industrious, hardworking, ceaselessly faithful to her family, and wise with funds.  She works vigorously (17), does not rest (18), "opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy" (20), cares for those in the household (21), is strong and dignified (25), speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction (26), she is not idle and cares about the affairs of the house (28).  Above all, she fears the Lord and honors God with the work of her hands (30-31).  If read allegorically, the power of those statements for the Church is unmistakable.
2. Song of Solomon--The whole book is arguably an allegory for Christ's bedding with the Church, his bride.  It is full of sensual, erotic imagery and captures the passion of an all-encompassing love for God (I will blog more about this later).  It tells us, the Church, that we are to bed Christ, become intimately attached with Him, know every contour of his body, and touch of his presence.  We should know him intimately and passionately and unashamedly declare the pleasure we get from such a relationship (it sounds odd, but I think it true none-the-less).
3. 1 Peter 3:1--Tells wives to be subject to their husband so that others are won over to him by the conduct of the wife alone
4. 1 Peter 3:2-6--Tells wives not to adorn themselves externally, but to adorn their heart.  It's not about the appearances, but the spirit behind them
5. Ephesians 5:22-6:9--This passage makes the allegorical interpretation I am using explicit

I promised Stephen and Brett I would keep my answer short.  I feel as if I did not answer it in full, however.  I think it is simple enough, however, to state that the meaning of living in the Church Age (in my estimation) is to be the bride of Christ and to act in accordance with all the Biblical ideals of a Bride.  This should be our goal.  I hope I am helping the Church to be the best bride possible.


So there you have it!  What do y'all think?  The goal of this post was too give a breadth of opinion and insight on one specific issue.  I hope it is illuminating.


In Christ,


Chris, Stephen, and Brett