Community of
the church, unity
of faith and love;
sacramental sign.
People experience change:
they communicate, express
themselves in the liturgy, serve
in ministries.
Community is not in
obedience, but in love. Biblical
interest circles.
3) Alienation: The
church, its rites
and sacraments;
the alliance of
the rich and the
disembodied.
.
Quest for the poor;
embodied church
reveals injustice,
defends the exploited,
gains awareness of
human rights.
Prophetic church,
liberating church,
Abrahamic
community;
sacrament - an
agency of liberation.
Social engagement, interest
circles of awareness and
reflection on human rights;
establishment of basic
ecclesial communities and
associations of the defense
of human rights and national
interests.
Medellin/Puebla
A Christian’s decision to choose the church - God's people refers to the development
of the living Church as recorded in the Bible:
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies
as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve
what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:1-2).
The Christian church, in the broadest sense, is a “society of all the true living be 234
KAIROS - Evangelical Journal of Theology / Vol. IV. No. 2 (2010), pp. 223-236
lievers. The church is a universal society of all believers that God, from all eternity,
predestined for eternal life.” If we define the church as a “community” (Greek
eklesia - community, assembly), it represents a group of people from the same
location, region or country which are close to each other, unified in the recognition
of Jesus Christ, and with a call to confess his name (Hammond, 1993:180).
In the context of the role of Christianity and the Christian church in the modern
world, especially considering the relationship of what is Christian and what
is a part of systems such as socialism and capitalism, the area where the church
can and must raise its voice is certainly in ethics, especially business ethics and
the role of Christians in the world that founded its existence on the process of
gaining profit.
A starting point of Christian ethics, as Bonhoeffer emphasizes, is the body
of Jesus Christ and Christ’s image in the picture of the church. In this way, the
church does not represent some sort of religious community of followers of Jesus
Christ, but it represents Christ that is co-formed among men (2009, 126). The
church is part of the humanity in which Jesus Christ is embodied, and, like the
character of Christ, is the same for all time, so the church is one through the
course of human civilization.
According to Bonheoffer, the only possible topic of Christian ethics is the
commandment of God (2009, p. 295) which represents a comprehensive and
substantial application of God in Jesus Christ, addressed to people through the
church, in the family, at work and in positions of authority. An important feature
of the commandments of God is that they come from below, from the created
world, and not from above, yet are proclaimed in Jesus Christ, and represent actual
speech addressed to an actual person. As Bonhoeffer concludes, God’s commandment
allows humanity to (p. 298) “live before God as people.”
Before the church stands a two-fold divine mandate waiting to be fulfilled:
first, the proclamation of Jesus Christ throughout the world, second, a focus on
ourselves as a dwelling place for the presence of Jesus Christ. 11
Reflecting on the role and the future of the church in the general public, two
issues are especially revealed. The first is the question of eschatology, i.e., talking
about the “last days”. The fact is that in contemporary speech, the subject has almost
disappeared, or it is identified as a mythical or human projection. The other
question is in regards to the status of Christianity as a religion given that contemporary
society is interwoven with the functional systems that are detached
Sedang diterjemahkan, harap tunggu..
