Article 4: Marks of the Church

Some context: This is article four of a confession on the nature of the church drafted by pastors and laity in our local community. 
In this article it may seem strange to reject diversity, pluralism and inclusivity, considering that this is the latest wave of church language. But the article does not out right reject this language only the idea the the church "is best defined by diversity, pluralism, and/or inclusivity." To be sure the church is diverse and inclusive but not at the expense of God's ability to transform lives. This simple means that the church does its best work, not when it flings its doors wide open, but when it seeks the transformation of humanity into the children of God. Christianity is demanding and includes discipline. This demanding discipline transforms the church into the people of God called to be in the world but not of the world. The article is trying to start a conversation that includes both God's love and justice. 


IV. Marks of the Church
"We believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church." (The Nicene Creed)
We believe the essential marks of the Church are: unity (see John 17:20-23), holiness (set apart
for God's purposes), catholicity (universality in faith, practice, and outreach), and apostolicity (message and mission traceable to the apostles). These marks, given by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:1-3), evidence the Church's faithful, attentive response to the gracious Headship of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:4-7).
We reject the assumption that the church is best defined by diversity, pluralism, and/or inclusivity. The radical hospitality of the church is not to be promoted by limiting or eliminating the transformative power of the Gospel that unifies and enculturates the church, and blesses the world. 

Holy Spirit

In the third article the Holy Spirit is affirmed as the sustainer of the church. As the Father calls the church into existence through the Son, the Holy Spirit sustains the life of the church. We spent some time discussing the phrase, "organic growth." What is trying to be conveyed is a sense of constant movement within the church as a whole. The church grows in many ways. All of those changes are connected with one another just as an organism grows as one being. Also we believe it is faithful to the language of Ephesians. 
While the Son builds the church the Holy Spirit guides the congregation. This article speaks implicitly against a pragmatism that suggests the program and direction of the church is guided by "whatever works." This article hopefully challenges our understanding of what works in the church. The church is always seeking guidance through prayer and worship, not through whatever new program claims results.


III. Holy Spirit: Sustainer of the Church
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place...And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..." (Acts 2:1,4a)
"...so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love." (Ephesians 4:14-16).


We believe the Holy Spirit gives steadying power, increasing faithfulness in love, and organic growth to the church. Since the first Day of Pentecost, God's Spirit has given life, structure, purpose, and direction to the church.


We reject the assumption that the church can measure her own faithfulness, determine her own identity, and set her own course, according to conventional wisdom. 

Article Two

Following the ancient creeds, article two of the confession speaks of the Son in relation with the gathered church. It is God's eternal Word spoken in the Son that builds the church. What is being rejected is our attempt to establish the church with our own efforts. Often when a church sees itself in crisis, such as dwindling membership, we try and safe guard ourselves and blame each other for the crisis. In these moments we often lack patience and hastily determine that we need a specific program or more relevancy to deflect the crisis (assuming that crisis is not part of God's grace). But the church's main construction is not based on our relevancy, rather the church is called together by God and receives its existence from the Son.
The article starts with the eternal Word, which is Christ Jesus. The Word is eternal therefore anything that is not grounded in the Word can "erode over time." 




II. Son: Builder of the Church
"'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.'" (Matthew 16:18)
We believe the church receives life from God's eternal Word, and Jesus Christ builds the church by working through Spirit-driven, Word-and-Sacrament ministry transforming the Christian community and witnessing to the larger community.
We reject the assumption that the church builds herself by making herself appealing and attractive to the world -- in appearance, in program, and in preaching and teaching. When Jesus Christ is not the church's builder, what is put together in the name of the church is bound to erode over time.