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Bosch (377-8)

Speaking of the Church…

1. “The Church cannot be viewed as the ground of mission, it cannot be considered the goal of mission either-certainly not the only goal.”
2. “The Church is not the kingdom of God. The church ‘is, on earth, the seed and beginning of the kingdom,’ ‘the sign and instrument of the reign of God that is to come.’ The church can be a credible sacrament [or sign] of salvation for the world only when it displays to humanity a glimmer of God’s imminent reign—a kingdom of reconciliation, peace, and new life.”
3. “The Church’s missionary involvement suggests more than calling individuals into the church as a waiting room for the hereafter.”
4. “The Church is to be viewed pneumatologically, as ‘a dwelling place of God in the Spirit,’ as movement of the Spirit toward the world en route to the future.”
5. “If the Church attempts to sever itself from involvement in the world and if its structures are such that they thwart any possibility of rendering a relevant service to the world, such structures have to be recognized as heretical.”
6. “Because of its integral relatedness to the world, the church may never function as a fearful border guard, but always as one who brings good tidings.”

A (re)read of Bosch is never wasted time!

A Boschian Reminder

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