The Church – Righteous Body or Sinful People?

As we watch a variety of things come together in our society, the anxiety and tensions that are all around us also reveal much about what lies at the core. Crises are a place of maximum transparency as the pressures make it harder and harder to respond with the energy that filters require to stay functional. So as we live within this moment, what are we learning about the church and how can that help us become a better church as a result?

First, the idea of “the church” in our society is limited. Catholics and Protestants dominate the landscape, but Roman Catholics are diverse in their thinking and Protestants are so broad in their convictions that a collective Protestant theology is increasingly difficult to identify, often divisive, and at best looks like someone threw spaghetti at a wall and watched to see what sticks. Having said that, I will offer one thought that seems meaningful in the midst of this and hope you find it meaningful as well. It may be one key to renewing the church in divisive times.

Of course, the title question above is a false dichotomy in some ways. The church is both a collection of sinful people who come together to be the righteousness that is the body of Christ. This is by definition the only option because the only people that we can gather are sinful. Sin is the great equalizer – we all are included. We all need grace. Fortunately, we also have come to know a gracious God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

That brings us to the righteous body piece of that polarity. Righteousness is also ours, but it is not a characteristic that we claim for ourselves but a gift that is offered to us in Jesus. In other words, righteousness is something that makes us humble and grateful more than something that makes us feel how good we now are.

This then may be the key to how the church can best engage the world in which we now live. Rather than pounding judgment, asserting our “rights,” and lifting up all that we want the world to see as good about who we are, perhaps the most effective church will be the one that lifts up its own sense that righteousness is not something we accomplish – it is something God gifts us with. It humbles us and frees and invites us to admit our imperfection, open ourselves to the imperfections and stories of others, and be gracious and prayerful.

This kind of witness will not feel the need to justify things that are obviously problematic about our past. It will feel safe and even called to confess them. It will be open to reframing and expanding the telling of our story – even in ways that are less flattering but more authentic to the realities the stories tell. And it will encourage and model apologizing, forgiving and revitalizing our shared lives through the humble path of reality rather than through the proud path of half-truths.

The church is “simul justus et peccator” – saint and sinner. But the order matters and the Latin order may not help. We share our identity as sinners first and foremost. We are not “saints who sometimes mess up” but rather “hurting and broken people who share a need for grace.” We are all in need of grace. And we receive our identity as saints as a gift – it should make us humble and grateful. Through humility and gratitude that the church may find a path to help our world discover grace at a time when everyone is preoccupied with judgment.