The Church - Created For What?

In his book A Community Called Atonement Scot McKnight writes that any theory of atonement should keep the end in mind - what was atonement meant to produce? In answering that question McKnight notes that the atonement was not just meant to produce forgiven people, but that “the work of God is to form a community in which the will of God is done and through which one finds both union with God and communion with others for the good of others and the world.” Thus, the atonement was meant to produce a certain kind of community.

I like his approach. I think it is very helpful in formulating a well-rounded and holistic view of the atonement. It avoids getting “stuck” in one particular place, overemphasizing one aspect of atonement to the neglect of others. In fact, he mentions the various views of atonement and likens them to a bag of golf clubs. A golfer might make it through a round with just one club (I think there are even friendly golf games that might involve just such a feat), but don’t expect to shoot par, or probably even close.

Perhaps McKnight’s approach would benefit our understanding of the church as well. Ecclesiology, or the study of the church, is becoming pretty popular these days. One age-old question about the church is, “What are the distinguishing marks of a true church?” Historically the answer to that has been 1) one, 2) holy, 3) catholic and 4) apostolic. To that the Reformers added that a true church is one in which the word is faithfully preached and the sacraments are faithfully practiced. Books on the church tend to proceed from there, describing what one, holy, catholic, apostolic, the word and the sacraments mean. In addition, there has been added to those things such as the fourfold ministry mentioned in Ephesians 4. Those are all valid questions and worthy of our attention and serious thought, but we might be helped in asking the question, “What does God intend to produce in this thing we call the church?” It is common belief that God instituted the church in Acts 2. Perhaps the larger question is, “Why?” or better yet, “What for?”

I think it would also help to ask the question, “Is the church temporal or does it extend beyond and will it outlast this present age?” Answering those questions might give us a greater appreciation for what the church both is and is meant to be.

So, how would you answer those questions? What is the church created for? What is the end result God has in mind for her? Is the church strictly an earthly institution or is it more than that? What does your answer mean for how you respond to the first question?

I’ll offer some of my own thoughts in a follow-up.