Dr. Jack Kilcrease
When talking with various Christians about how they define the church, one is often surprised by the wide variety of answers. For example, Roman Catholics believe that the church is primarily an institution headed by the Pope. As an institution, is has a vast set of rules and regulations compiled in a book called the Code of Canon Law. Similarly, Reformed and Baptist Christians often speak of the church as a community of people who have agreed to join themselves together in order to hold one another accountable to the law of God.
On the surface these answers may seem very different. Nevertheless, what these views of the church all have in common is that they understand it to be a community held together by certain regulations. By contrast, when Luther and subsequent Lutheran Christians talk about the church, they primarily speak of the church as the holy people of God who have faith in Christ. The holiness which the church possesses is not based on human works, but on the holiness that Christ shares with the church through Word and Sacrament.
Because the holiness of the Church is not its own but comes from Christ through faith, the church is primarily invisible. To be clear, the church is not invisible sense that we cannot see the people of God. Rather, the church is hidden in the sense that we cannot directly observe its holiness. Since the holiness the church possesses is received by faith and not by works, it cannot be seen. We cannot look into each other’s hearts and minds and see our faith. If the church’s holiness were based on its works of holiness, then it would be visible, since one can see works. This is why the alternative views of the church referred to earlier see church as at least partially visible as an institution or a community of accountability.
Although the holiness of believers is invisible because it is received by faith, Lutheran Christians still believe that there is a way to discover where the church is. In one of Luther’s later writings, “On the Councils and the Church” (1539), the Reformer claimed that there were essentially seven marks by which one could discern the church. The first four marks of the church (the Word of God, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Office of the Keys) are all instruments through which Christ gives His holiness to the church. Luther shows that God is faithful to His Word, and if He has promised to give people His holiness through these means, the presence of the Word and the sacraments are an absolutely clear sign that Christian people are gathered together as the church.
The last three marks of the church are the effects of the presence of Christ’s holiness in the church. The fifth mark of the church is the ordination of ministers. Ministers are necessary in order preach the Word and administer the sacraments. Through the first four marks of the Church, God works on the hearts and minds of His people so that they empowered to call true ministers of the Word. In the same ways, the last two marks of the Church are the fruits of becoming a holy person by faith. People who have faith call upon God in prayer and praise because of the gratitude they feel at having received holiness (sixth mark). People who have faith suffer rejection from the world, and therefore, like Jesus, bear the cross (seventh mark).
From this description of the church and its marks, it should be clear that the church is very different from any other human community. All other communities are based on rules that people agree to obey and which are enforced. This is the glue that holds the community together. The church is not like this though. Although Christians seek to be obedient to God and His law, their obedience is not the glue that holds the church together. Rather, the church is held together by the presence of the risen Jesus, who, through Word and Sacrament, binds the people of God into a fellowship of holiness and grace.
Dr. Jack Kilcrease is Adjunct Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Institute of Lutheran Theology, Fellow at Wittenberg Institute, and Adjunct Philosophy Professor at Aquinas College.
Everyone loves a good story. James, a 20-year-old college student, has been fed stories all his life, but there has been one narrative that’s been vexing him for quite a while. He’s worked hard to achieve the glory of this narrative that promised him so much. It promised him a normal life, friends, family, and above all, love and acceptance.
I have a cross that was given to me on my ordination day. The cross was a gift from my father. It is something that I greatly treasure. One of the reasons I treasure it so much is that it was first a gift given to my father by my grandfather on his ordination day. Maybe one day I’ll have the honor of giving it to my son. What makes that cross valuable to me is not because of the gold it’s made of or its intricacies—it’s that it is something that has been passed down from generation to generation.
The goal of the church is not to see how many people we can write into hell.
I only remember one sermon from my youth. Not that my pastors were bad preachers—they were pretty good, actually—but there’s only one I really remember. It was based on Psalm 25:7. “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!” Remember not the sins of my youth.
Okay, let’s be real here. We’ve heard it all before: “Follow your heart.” It’s the typical cliché kind of answer that gives us a spark of hope that only lasts for a little while until reality hits us hard again. Life changes like the wind blowing in many directions. We call ourselves “hopeless wanderers” because of the ever-searching quest for meaning and truth within the barren wasteland in which we live. This world is a mess, and we live in the thick of brokenness within families and friendships, lies and deceptions, fear and anger, murder, abuse, death, arrogance…the list goes on and on. Our hearts ask, “Where can we find a sense of belonging, a place of true happiness, a place of life and contentment?”
I can offer you no words of wisdom without first offering a confession. I believed a certain lie for a very long time. I believed the church was my possession. I believed it belonged to me. I believed it was there for me to take advantage of—that it owed me. Worse, I believed I could justify myself because I went to a church. I believed I could justify myself even more by contributing to a church, by staking my claim in it, by showing my merit badges as people I brought to it, by performing roles for it in worship and fellowship. But I was wrong.
Recently, a young high school-aged man (considering the ministry himself) asked me “Why did you study theology?” I was quick to answer his question, but then I began realize that my answer is vastly different today as compared to 2009 when I began my studies. After some personal reflection, I was baffled when I thought about what younger René had believed about theology…something like: “I study theology to satisfy the intellectual craving of my human mind.” To be completely honest, I have recently wondered if this was my sentiment even up until the point I stepped on the seminary campus! According to younger René, theology was no more than a body of knowledge to be consumed—no more than any other subject like biology, chemistry, physics, or even worse, just another philosophy. If that were the case, theology would become no more than static to the “theological-scientist” who sits in high towers, receiving the waves of cryptic nonsense. Boring. Uninspiring.
In another five years, my daughter is going to receive a gift from her mother and me. This gift is going to be a red four-door 2010 Jeep Wrangler. It will be her very first car. It won’t be considered a classic car, but it will be over a decade old. This Jeep has been a source of great memories for our family as we drove around town with the top down. We shared many laughs and crazy hair moments. This Jeep has been loved, cared for, and serviced—knowing it would be handed to someone we love deeply. This Jeep is not without its blemishes, dings, and imperfections but even those have meaning behind them. Bottom line, this Jeep will be given to her with grace (she didn’t work for it) and love and will get her where she wants to go.
