The Church as Public

As part of one of my classes (named in the title), I had to write a 500 word essay on my understanding of the public nature of the church. This class has been my favorite class by far this semester, and though it has been very challenging, it has helped me grow both in stretching me intellectually and spiritually. So I thought I'd share that essay. It's by no means comprehensive or definitive; there is still quite a bit to be thought about and worked out. However, I think this paper present an adequate summary and appropriate spring board for further thought. So I present to you my final, exactly 500-word (which I am very proud of) essay on the public nature of the church:

The public nature of the Church can be characterized by the twofold nature of witness. The Church is the community of believers who are witness to and are witnesses of the actions of God in the world. These believers witness because they recognize and accept that they are recipients of God’s grace, intended for the whole world, accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In its first meaning, the Church is a witness to God’s action in the world. She functions as one who actively observes and recognizes God’s action in the world and in her community. This is characterized both by what is witnessed in the Church (e.g. worship, preaching, baptism, Eucharist, etc.) as well as outside the Church. Thus the community of believers is never content to remain within the walls of a building as this denies the truth that God is active in the world. Rather, affirming the truth that the veil of the Temple has been split, the Church engages in the task of witnessing God’s action in the world. Through witnessing God’s action, the community of believers is uplifted, refined, and humbled by the grace of God available to the world.

This first task is only fully completed when the second task of witness is fulfilled: being a witness of God’s action. In this sense, the Church gives its testimony of God’s reconciling action to and for the world. By being a witness to God’s action, the Church adequately testifies about God’s involvement in human history to the world. Actively engaging in this mission, the Church joins God in the reconciliation of the world, being privileged to share in the divine task by witnessing to God’s reconciling work.

The Church is moved to this witnessing task because she is a recipient of grace and becomes a witness of grace. Regardless of whether a Christians believes they are actively engaged in witness, by affirming and accepting the gift of grace they bear the responsibility of the witnessing task to the eyes of the world. If the Church is to testify that God is offering grace to the world yet she does not testify about those actions or witness them herself, serious doubt is cast upon those who claim to follow the God who is for the world and also placing doubt in those seeking this God. Thus the Church engages in witness both to affirm God’s action for the world and to remain true to its claims.

The Church is not the true Church if it fails to engage in either aspect of witness. If the community fails to be a witness of God’s action, it is reduced to a human community that preaches about human action. The community that fails to testify about God’s action does not affirm that it has truly received grace or that God gives grace to the world. Only when this community is a witness to and of God’s grace and action is it the true public Church.