The Limits of the Spirituality of the Church Doctrine

I affirm the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, within limits. I will explain what I mean after I briefly define the doctrine in question. What is the doctrine of the spirituality of the church? Simply put, it is the view that Jesus Christ has called the church to be concerned about one thing and one thing only, the ministry of Word and Sacrament. That is, the church exists to proclaim the gospel, indeed the whole counsel of God. There is more to it than that. But that is the idea in a nutshell. I happen to think that this doctrine is basically biblical and basically sound. The church should not get caught up in making pronouncements about things which it has no business talking about. Think about it like this. What is it that the church can communicate or that the church can do that no other organization or community can do? There are many good things that the church can get caught up in that are not its raison d’tre. For instance, the church could get involved in a great many humanitarian efforts. But is that its calling? It is certainly true that the church should not try to dictate specific policy to the magistrate or tie itself to the wagon of any particular political party. This is all well and good.

Recently we have been reminded that the temptation to pontificate on subjects not within the purview of the church is a besetting sin of both the left and the right. There is a tendency to want to equate one’s political philosophy, for instance, with the teaching of the Bible. We have been told that the Christian faith transcends the political divisions of the left and the right. I agree that we should not equate a particular political party with the teaching of God’s Word. However, I must humbly demur when someone talks like the Bible has no bearing on life outside the four walls of the church building or that the Christian life is limited to public worship on Sunday. I agree that the corporate public worship of the church is and ought to be central. It ought to be the main thing. But it is not the only thing. My faith has a bearing on my political views. Does that make me infallible? By no means. Could I be wrong on a particular issue? You bet I can.

While I happen to agree that the Christian faith ought not to be confused with a particular political (or economic or social or…) philosophy, I do believe my faith constrains or informs my political philosophy. So when I hear that the Christian faith transcends the left/right dichotomy, I am a bit skeptical. What does that really mean, after all? Why does it always seem to be the case that calls to transcend the conservative/liberal standoff in politics or theology or whatever always seem to come from one end of the spectrum? How come? I actually believe that my Christianity necessitates that I align with a given political perspective (note I did not say a particular party).

As a Christian I should be guided by God’s Word. And God’s Word has implications for how I live in this world politically, economically, socially, etc. And what if fellow Christians disagree with me? What of it? Does the mere presence of someone disagreeing with me make me wrong? Sometimes I get the impression in this postmodern age that the mere presence of an opposing viewpoint makes me wrong. Well, I beg to differ. Consider this, Pharaoh probably disagreed with Moses about whether he should let the Israelites leave Egypt. Paul disagreed with the Judaizers about whether Gentiles had to be circumcized to be good Christians. So mere disagreement does not make one wrong. It merely creates a context for the need for persuasion. So pardon me if I think that my Bible provides me with principles that suggest that I take a particular stand on a given political, social or economic matter.

Having said all this I still agree with the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, within limits. The limits are these: the gospel impinges upon my life in areas beyond corporate worship. However, the spirituality of the church doctrine has it right that the central thing for the church as an institution to do is to stick to what our Lord has commanded us to do. And that is to proclaim the whole counsel of God through the ministry of Word and Sacrament.