This Sunday we will look at the church – what are
some of the Biblical pictures of the church?
In Matthew 16:13-18 we read, “13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.”
The New Testament gives us a number of pictures of
the church and each one tells us something different about the church, the
values we should maintain, the things we should do and what we should expect of
leaders.
Think of the church as a …
FELLOWSHIP
FAMILY
BODY
BUILDING
FIELD
.
What do these images, these metaphors say to us
about the church?
Images are so important. We are creating the imagination (and its limits) for YHWH in the heart's of believers and the world. I think an important part of this image creating is making sure it gives a metaphor of openness. That in our picturing of Jesus Christ, we demonstrate that "its safe to come home now" (D4J). Something to certainly reflect on concerning the pictures we give to the Church. Thank you Peter.
ReplyDelete