The tradition to which the church appeals, and which it proclaims whenever it calls itself Christ’s church and speaks in Christ’s name, is the tradition of the messianic liberation and eschatological renewal of the world.
Jürgen Moltmann The Church in the Power of the Spirit
The current state of disunity and polarization in our communities is a source of anxiety for many. As we approach yet another presidential election, Christians on both sides of the political spectrum are getting ready for a difficult time of divisive rhetoric. Many church leaders are still healing from the last election. In early 2021 I reached out to a pastor recommended as someone willing and interested in talking about immigration reform. Before I could ask he cut me off: “My church is tearing itself apart over masks—I don’t have the energy nor the capacity to even think about immigration.”
Recently, churches have left denominational affiliation over issues related to human sexuality. Mirroring the broader political climate, factions within churches have employed a scorched earth approach, minimizing and shaming those calling for dialogue in a winner take all sweepstakes of ecclesiastical power. Some have given in to resignation, refusing to step into the crossfire, while others pride themselves on individualistic piety that doesn’t get involved.
On one side there are those who raise the flag of tradition. They look backward to some static deposit of truth that never changes, and needs no interpretation—providing the foundation for fortified walls that keep out every external enemy. Here, social and cultural change are looked upon with suspicion, as they work to maintain a divide between the church and the world. On the other side are those who jettison tradition for movements of culture with cultural ideology replacing doctrinal certainty, though often just as oppressive and rigid. Here, there is no ground to stand on, no revelation to proclaim. In the end, both have nothing to say to the world, neither have good news to share.
For German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, the church is always a dialectic between tradition and reform. It is a community, created in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, within a particular time and place. The church is constituted by the revelation of God’s saving action in Jesus Christ, the apostolic tradition handed down through the preaching and presence that constitutes the witness of the community in and for the world. Far from some static, reified, deposit, the tradition is a living and active revelation of the gospel that engages the world, not in condemnation, but hope. To be the church, for Moltmann, is to be the new people of God, the body of Christ, that serves as a sign to Christ’s lordship and to the eschatological transformation of all creation. To be the church is to be political as we testify to the liberation of individuals and communities from the dehumanizing effects of sin in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, pointing to the possibility of a new future.
The current spirit of hopelessness and resignation comes from a misunderstanding of the relationship of the church to the kingdom of God. The church is not the kingdom of God. The church is not ultimate… it’s not the point. The church is a sign pointing to the kingdom of God breaking into this world. We know, however, that this kingdom does not come in power and strength, but in weakness and humility. It comes in the poor being lifted up, the sick being made healthy, and the captives being set free. In our myopic attention to political candidates and sexual positions we miss God’s presence, we are unable to hear the word God speaks to us in our neighbor.
Moltmann reminds us that our job is not to protect the church or purify it, our task is to be the church—to live as the new humanity of Jesus Christ in the world, and in doing so, bear witness to the new thing God is doing. Out of this very difficult time of polarization and division, God is making something new. We must have the courage to declare this new reality—the eschatological blessing of a life reconciled to God, to our neighbor, and to all creation.
Thanks, Jason. A reason to be hopeful and faithful in the current polarization.