Skip to main content

Radical Ecclesiology

Through various people and means, God is seemingly changing my perceptions about what a church should be as well as what it would mean for me to be part of a body of Christ.

"Now the numbers of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common." (Acts 4:32)


While it may seem extremely difficult to apply something like that in the modern city we live in, I am beginning to think that maybe it need not be so. A few rethinks is necessary.


  1. Radical Ecclesiology means everyone being aware and united under Christ with Him as the head, acknowledging what He has done for each and everyone of us. 
  2. Radical Ecclesiology recognizes that it is He who has brought us together under His word.
  3. Radical Ecclesiology means fighting sin together. We should NOT be devoid of care and concern when someone sins. It is our sin, and not the individual's alone. We bear the sins together.
  4. Radical Ecclesiology means being sanctified together. Thus, we should not be proud if we have a deeper understanding, or a deeper love for Christ than our brothers and sisters. No, we are meant to walk together and thus play an active role in each another's sanctification.
  5. Radical Ecclesiology means nothing belongs to me, myself and I. Nothing. All my possessions are meant to be shared with the body of Christ. It means being prudent about the way I use what God has given me especially when it comes to buying stuff. A radical rethink of how does my spending of the money God has given me benefits the body of Christ and not myself should predominantly occupy my mind.
  6. It follows from point (3) that we are not meant to bear debt alone. Debt incurred by my brothers and sisters in Christ is also my debt as it is the body's debt. Thus we should be walking with brothers and sisters who are suffering in this area. It is our problem as well.
So much has been revealed so far. As God continues to speak I will try to jot them down. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The use of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8

  For Paul in Ephesians 4:8, clearly there are some changes from the text that Paul is supposedly citing which is Psalm 68:18. Comparing Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8, it is obvious there are differences. I believe Paul was actually using the LXX but has changed its words for the occasion in Ephesians 4. The LXX version of Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8 differs by a few words: Psalm 68:18 (it is actually Psalm 67:19 in the LXX): ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος  ᾐχμαλώτευσας  αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔλαβες  δόματα  ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ , Ephesians 4:8 ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος  ᾐχμαλώτευσεν  αἰχμαλωσίαν,* ⸆  ἔδωκεν  δόματα ⸀ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Structurally you can see the LXX and Eph 4 is similar but for a few words changes.   The first change is from 2nd person (LXX) to 3rd person (Eph 4) with regards to who is doing the ascending in the first line.  So the English Bible rightly translates the phrase to "When  he  ascended on high" versus Psalm 68, " you  ascended" ...
Post a Comment
Read more

An Exposition of Genesis 2:24

An Exposition of Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Lots can be said about this wonderful verse. In it, we see the actions of God who created the wonderful gift of marriage. Thanks to God, we humans are capable of creating many things but to conceive of something as powerful as marriage is probably beyond us. Through His creative works, God has demonstrated his goodness and awesomeness. But if we stop there then we will never perceive God’s full goodness and awesomeness.  God’s goodness and awesomeness is not restricted only to His creative works. This verse is ultimately a command, and like all commands we find in the Bible, the one who never fails at obeying them is Christ alone. In the first part of this verse we see that it is decreed that a man shall leave his father and mother . Of this Christ Jesus did perfectly and in doing so, he demonstrated his condescension to us thoug...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Heinous Crime at the Temple

A recent reading of the accounts of "Jesus cleansing of the temple" brought some new insights with details that I have never observed before.  In fact, looking at the picture above, I have come to realize the artist (Carl Bloch) who drew the above had noticed the aforementioned details and had been very careful in producing his painting. I will attempt to illumine with what has been shown to me. The accounts given to us in Matthew and Mark ( emphases mine ): And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons . He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21: 12-13) "And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats o...
Post a Comment
Read more