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Representing God

This page discusses the issue of representing God in more detail than was appropriate when outlining 'The Five Rs' of this new view. In particular, it collects together a variety of excerpts that illustrate this, in order to show the inescapable diversity that we must embrace. Remember: representing God involves both showing what he is like and acting in his world: both being and doing together, neither one nor the other. Good news! he is the one who will do this within us.

Excerpts

Do Life, not just Do Right

Nee To Sheng (Watchman Nee) gives the following story: Two men, who had become disciples of Jesus Christ, owned a rice paddy. The neighbour below them broke down the wall and syphoned off their water to water his own paddy. The two men, following Christ's injunction to "turn the other cheek", rebuilt their wall. This happened seven times. The two men sought advice from their pastor, who suggested that they should get up earlier in the morning and first irrigate their neighbour's paddy, and then irrigate their own. More than turning the other cheek: going the extra mile. The men did this, and while doing so experienced great joy. After three days of their doing this, the neighbour came to them, astounded by their attitude. "Please tell me about this God you worship," he asked them. Nee To Sheng summed it up by saying these men did not just do right; they did life.

The All-Sufficient Christ

Too often, however, we are not willing to take such an attitude or action. We might struggle to do this out of a sense of 'ought' (especially having heard the above story), and exert huge self-control, but then get no joy out of it, nor any results. Hannah Whitall Smith had struggled for years to curb her inner anger, impatience, rebellion, etc. and be a 'good Christian', then one day she made the discovery that Christ's salvation is for the here and new as well as for the future, is for saving to sanctification now not only justification in the future. When she needed patience, she discovered, she no longer needed to store it up by lots of prayer, but rather she could let Christ be patience within her.

This is a great secret for those who represent God. We cannot represent God by our own strength or righteousness - we are always weak and tend to sin - but he himself can represent himself in and through us if we let him. Representing God then becomes a double joy: not only the joy of being and doing something of ultimate Meaning, but also the joy that comes from God himself achieving this within us. He not only gives us the strength to represent him, but he also gives the will to do so, not just a general grand wish to represent him but a nitty-gritty change in our wills here and now so that we genuinely want what he wants. Are we angry because someone took advantage of us, and want to be angry? Well, he can remove our will to anger, as well as the anger itself, and replace it with love. This is supernatural! This is phenomenal!

I have myself discovered something of this, via that wonder little verse Philippians 2:13, "For God is at work in you to will and to work his good pleasure." See that part of my spiritual journey.

The Church

'The Church' has many meanings: the worldwide people of God, a denomination (e.g. the Methodist Church, or New Frontiers International), an organisation (e.g. the Church of Scotland), a congregation (e.g. Edinburgh City Fellowship), a building (e.g. the church in the main street), and so on. In all senses it represents something of God to the rest of the world, to a greater or lesser extent.

For each type, New View offers a means of evaluation (list only just begun 31 May 2009).

Church as Worldwide People of God

Church as Denomination

Church as Organisation

Church as Congregation

A congregation is a social institution or distinct group in a local community. It will (soon) have a structure (at least leaders and flock) and a either goal or a tacit purpose (reason why it is functioning as a distinct group). We may critique both structure and purpose.

In the UK, "Does the structure adequately represent God?" was much discussed (and fought over) several hundred years (e.g. congregationalism v. presbyterianism v. episcopacy in the UK). Purpose is being debated now (for the true rather than official purpose of a congregation, look at what it is trying to distance itself from and what the leaders put a lot of their effort into urging people about): "To grow", "To preach the gospel", "To win souls for Christ", "To defend the doctrine", "To gather for worship", "To win the locality for Christ", "Mission", "To be the church in this locality" and so on.

From the New View, some of these are valid. 'To grow' is not valid, even though many leaderships focus on it, because it is self-absorbing and is a characteristic rather than a purpose - and it says nothing about representing the Living God. The following are more valid because they may be seen as part of representing God: gospel-preaching, doctrine-defence, locality-winning, mission. But "To be the church in this locality" is possibly the best expression, though it is frequently used almost as an excuse to maintain status quo and comfortable lives of members.

But none of them express the whole potential to represent God by a distinct group in a community. We need a new view on why distinct groups (congregations) should form in local communities.

Church as Building

These pages present 'New View' theology. Comments, queries welcome.

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Copyright (c) Andrew Basden 2008-4, but you may copy this page as long as every copy includes this full copyright notice, and the copying is not for financial gain.

Created: 31 October 2008. Last updated: 31 May 2009 church congregations. 22 June 2009 phil 2:13 'all.suff'.