[Vision2020] Public Service, Princesses, and Puffery

[Taro Tanaka]

First, let me apologize for the condescending and insulting tone of my last 
set of posts. I cannot deny I have some character flaws that I need to keep 
working on, and lack of humility and patience toward people with whom I have 
disagreements are among the most obvious.

But since I blasted folks here as "ignorami," although I gladly take back 
the blasting -- which was totally uncalled for and stupid on my part - there 
is still the reality that V2020 has some serious ignorance masquerading as 
understanding on the issue of the necessity of church membership. I shall 
attempt to rectify that, as presumably we all want to be corrected and 
instructed in areas where our understanding is weak.

Part of the problem is that modern American society is highly 
individualistic, with a pronounced tendency to reject the notion that others 
have authority over us. Although I have not studied every society and every 
age in history, I think it can be safely concluded that this is a 
distinctive feature of modern American society. Certainly I am far from the 
only person to have observed this. This modern American perspective is much 
different from the perspective of the Bible, where individuals are presented 
as being simultaneously under the authority of family government, 
ecclesiastical government, and civil government institutions, as well as 
directly answerable to God (thus a person cannot sin whether commanded to do 
so by civil, church, or family leaders).

Joan's comment is somewhat understandable given her Talmudic Jewish 
background, which is largely a family-oriented and in many ways "private" 
religion. (By the way, that "private" aspect largely post-dates the 
destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 and the subsequent diaspora of the 
Jews: until the destruction of the Temple, all adult male Israelites were 
required to gather in Jerusalem thrice yearly for congregational worship, 
and weekly congregational worship in the synagogues goes back to the time of 
David. Furthermore, the sacrificial system shows that originally the Jewish 
religion did not have any concept of individuals having direct access to 
God: the Mediator was always in view.) However, Joan's understanding of 
Jesus' teaching is in error. Jesus Himself worshipped in the Temple and the 
synagogues. The clear thrust of his teaching at this point is to avoid 
ostentatious displays of piety in public.

The biblical perspective on congregational worship is expressed well by 
David in his psalms:

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."

"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea, 
even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out 
for the living God . . . For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand."

In passing I need to address what Keely said: "most Protestant churches do 
not hold to the life-giving nature of the individual partaking of communion 
that he does, believing instead that trust in Christ, not mode of communion, 
brings salvation."

While there is a kernel of truth in what Keely says, it is nevertheless a 
misrepresentation of my views as well as the views of most Protestant 
churches, and it falsely posits a contradiction between inward faith and 
outward behavior. This is a manifestation of the sort of "gnostic" tendency 
to which I referred earlier.

So to set the record straight: I take note of the thief on the cross as an 
example proving that we are saved by trust in Christ rather than by mode of 
communion. Nevertheless, Jesus did say to his disciples -- at the time of 
the initiation of the Lord's Supper, by the way -- "If you love me, keep my 
commandments." That obviously includes the commandment to partake of the 
Lord's Supper (which can only be done in congregational worship) and His 
many commandments to submit to the authority of the church, for example, His 
words in Matthew 18:

"And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he 
neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a 
publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be 
bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in 
heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as 
touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my 
Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in 
my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Note that the church has a crucial role to play in settling disputes among 
fellow believers. This obviously presumes church membership, especially 
since part of the role that the church plays is the imposition of negative 
sanctions on incalcitrant members. Note that Jesus says that "where two or 
three are gathered together in my name" (i.e., in a formal ecclesiastical 
setting) "there am I in the midst of them." Note what He does NOT say: "When 
you are off alone, all by yourself, separate from the brethren and refusing 
to participate in congregational worship, and failing to partake of the 
Lord's Supper, there I am with you because I know you trust me." He does not 
say that at all. Rather, He says, "If you love me, keep my commandments." 
And the keeping of those commandments necessarily involves church membership 
and participation in congregational worship.

Keely should consider whether "most Protestant churches" have a concept of 
excommunication. I concede there are a few that, for all intents and 
purposes, do not. However, it is clear that the vast majority do, however 
imperfectly they might practice it. The important thing is that 
excommunication is the cutting off of access to holy communion -- the Lord's 
Supper. And it is potentially an eternal death sentence. Whether it becomes 
an eternal death sentence or not depends on the person under 
excommunication. (As an aside, it also needs to be noted that churches, 
being collections of sinners, are capable of committing miscarriages of 
justice, and I do not think we need to worry about Jesus, in the last 
judgment, imposing the eternal death sentence on someone who was unjustly 
excommunicated, even if the excommunication was carried out by a legitimate 
church.)

The Epistle to the Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey them that have the rule over 
you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must 
give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is 
unprofitable for you."

Again, this obviously assumes that Christians are going to be members of 
churches -- churches that have rulers to whom we must submit. I know this is 
a hard saying for the modern American mind, which tends toward 
rebelliousness against authority, and toward extreme individualism, but 
there it is. Anyone who claims to be a Christian has to deal with it.

The basic perspective of the church on ecclesiastical authority is carried 
over from the Hebrew scriptures, and never in the history of the church 
until the advent of modern America -- even among the major Protestant 
reformers -- has there been a notion that Christians can exist in isolation 
without being members of churches, subject to their authority and 
discipline. So if anyone reading this desires to submit to Christ and is not 
a member in good standing of a local church, submitting to its authority and 
partaking of the Eucharist in congregational worship, now you know what you 
need to do.

If anyone has further questions or disagreements on this, I recommend doing 
a Google search on phrases like, "Is church membership optional" etc. There 
is too much information available online to necessitate re-inventing the 
wheel here.

Again, please accept my apologies for the lack of an irenic spirit. I hope 
the above has been of some benefit.

-- Princess Sushitushi

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