In material I read and in conversations I have I hear people express a desire for 'Christian community'. Such a desire is sometimes linked to theological themes e.g. the doctrine of the Trinity (as a communion of Love) or Christian anthropology (where we were created to live in relationship) or to biblical passages such as Acts 2 42ff. and language the notion of 'koinonia' (fellowship).
This desire is often a desire for 'authentic' Christian community over and against their present or past experience of Church and concern to embody more fully a theological and biblical expression.
It is interesting that in such conversations 'Christian community' as desired is frequently not described in the language of 'church' but rather as 'Christian community' as though this is something other than or different from church.
Now to be sure I accept absolutely that not every form or expression of church embodies Christian community. I am actually prepared to say that some particular expressions of church can be principalities of evil rather than an expression of the body of Christ.
The above said, I am not sure that it is possible to seperate theologically and biblically the notion of Christian comuunity derived from the Scriptures from the idea or the concept of 'church' as the 'christian community' that the Scriptures bear witness to as the body of Christ as the 'koinonia' as the new humanity that Jesus Christ came to create.
As a consequence of this when people write or talk about Christian community I respond by asking - okay but are you meaning by this what the bible calls 'church'.
The reason I ask the question is because if the answer is 'no' I want to know more clearly what they mean by calling it a Christian community because I am not sure that the New Testament anticipates a generic idea of Christian community apart from the notion of Church. On the other hand if the answer is 'yes'it poses for me questions about where baptism and the Lord's Supper fits into the idea because they seem somehow pretty central to this idea of the thing called 'church' which is th type of Christian community that the Scriptures seem to bear witness to.
Here I am not arguing for a traditional understanding of 'church' but more am asking that when we talk about Christian community we bring a degree more rigour to our talk and thinking that then allows us more thoroughly to wrestlr through what it is that we are desiring and aspiring in the light of the Scriptural witness. In turn such I hink will offer a gretaer critique of that which goes under the name of church and does not display that which we call community rather than allowing Christian community to become the thing we do elsewhere and 'church' the thing we put up with.
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