While I believe it is important that we reexamine the divine nature of the church, this is not to suggest that the human, physical, horizontal aspects of the church should be neglected or are unimportant. Because we believe that God is the author and affirmer of creation, there is no duality which suggests that the spiritual needs to be divorced from the physical. The Word of God finds expression in the physical world according to Genesis. Genesis 1:1-1:4a emphasizes that creation emerges from the word of God or is an expression of God.
In the Gospel of John we are told that that same Word finds expression in the person of Jesus. John 1:1-5 ties the incarnation and creation together and sees the incarnation as the physical expression of God. In both cases the Word needs to find expression in the physical aspects of our world in order to be appropriated by humanity.
We also understand the importance of community because God declared that it is not good for a human to be alone. Genesis 2:18. That the divine finds its expression in community also finds its foundation in the concept of the Trinity. We live in and discover who we are in relationships including our relationship with God. The church becomes God’s gift of community where we encounter not only each other but also each other in the presence of the Divine.
We have all had the experience of being in a group and experiencing the impact of a newcomer on the group. We all become different because of the presence of this new person and we have to become acquainted with each person all over again. The presence of God reveals us in a different light as well as revealing others in our community in a different light. When the church is most fully itself, we come to know who we truly are.
As a friend who has been alienated from the church reminded me, when the church is at its demonic worst, it can also prevent us from knowing who we are. One of the realities which we must face is that the physical church is not always the faithful church but the faithful church can never be separate from the physical church.
