The Church at the Center
“I have come to feel that the primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it. I am, of course, not denying the importance of the many activities by which we seek to challenge public life with the gospel—evangelistic campaigns, distribution of Bibles and Christian literature, conferences, and even books such as this one. But I am saying that these are all secondary, and that they have power to accomplish their purpose only as they are rooted in and lead back to a believing community.” —Lesslie Newbigin
Newbigin sees the local church as the embodiment and effective representation of the gospel. If this is the case, and it’s scripturally impossible to conclude otherwise, then what does it say about the state of our congregations if our impact on public life isn’t what it ought to be? Rather than focusing on lobbying, we should center on the life of the church—not a closed-door worship club, but an outward facing, living body, an ever growing covenantal family. Children, men and women living the gospel in community as they worship God, serve one another, and love their neighbors will inevitably touch all society. But without seeing and living the centrality of the church, nothing will be lastingly transformed.