The Church's Great Malfunctions
Posted by tom | Apr 10, 2007There is a remarkable image in the closing pages of Scripture that has become a touchstone for the way my colleagues and I think about faith and culture. Amid its descriptions of the New Jerusalem, Revelation includes "the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" (Rev. 22:2). The tree holds out hope that whole cultures will be healed and mended, becoming places where people can flourish. And it sets an agenda for faith as a way of life that contributes to that flourishing, in anticipation, here and now.
Too often, however, Christian faith neither mends the world nor helps human beings thrive. To the contrary, it seems to shatter things into pieces, to choke what's new and beautiful before it has chance to take root, to trample underfoot what's good and true . . . (The Church's Great Malfunctions)
Miroslav Volf, a native of Croatia who by the grace of God lived by faith through the crisis of the former Yugoslavia and currently serves as a theologian at Yale Divinity School, has much to share about resurrection living with a vision toward the completion of the coming age when the city of God comes down from heaven to earth. A few months ago, his compelling work on forgiveness became a focus of conversation at our small group:
-Miroslav Volf: Religious commitment that promotes peace, not violence (A Calvin's Institute of Worship resource page with a great introduction to Volf and a number of practical examples and next steps in reconciliation/forgiveness/peace)
-The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World (2006)
-Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace (2006), Archbishop of Canterbury Lenten book for 2006
-Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996)
So for those of us with regular conversations regarding The Church's Great Malfunctions, let's take some time to meditate and reflect upon this piece written for the Christian Vision Project . . .
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband (Rev 21:1-2). Amen. Come quickly Lord Jesus.
