In times of crisis, when old routines are eliminated and changes, even those foreseen in our abstractions, frighten us, certain doctrines are called upon to give their explanations and at the same time are challenged to improve, as did the postwar generation that taught Israel’s return to the promised land needed to review its scatological models to find answers and debug its eschatology , the post-confessional generation, which saw the emergence of a “theology of the displaced”, what pandemic and?Online services? And endless lives, you need to review your ecclesiology manuals. New realities require revision and a lot of meditation in order to give solid biblical answers. If postwar theologians needed to rething Israel’s role in its theological structures, we must now review the importance of public meetings; physical contact, exchanges of looks and palpable relationships without “digital filters”.
Before proceeding with me, it is necessary to understand that the above words are rooted in an understanding of the doctrine (nature, limitations, and benefits) to be explained [1]. Here are some synthetic statements: (1) Doctrines, such as theories, are attempts to represent realities larger than themselves. They demonstrate the human need to understand and, at the same time, to expand understanding. Recognition of your creative limit and sound expansion potential?is of paramount importance for proper evaluation. (2) Doctrines should be seen as gateways, never as the primary objective or the endpoint. Traditionalism or dogmatism is an example of rejection of this reality. (3) Doctrines have no independent life. Ignoring this reality can lead to isolation and mere speculation. (4) Doctrines reveal a social need to communicate identities.
- In short.
- Ecclesiology must help us and.
- At the same time.
- It must be helped (enhanced).
- To put it bluntly: if something is at stake at this time it is the value and essentiality of the physical presence in the exercise of communion among the saints.
- The question that remains is: are meetings really essential.
- If we really need them.
- What do we do in times of social isolation?.
I do not intend to develop the issue of the essentiality of physical presence in the exercise of communion in a argumentative, textual or exegical approach, on the contrary, I will remember, through theological statements, what every good Christian not only agrees with, but is aware of its textual basis, then I will extract the possible implications of those same statements.
(1) The gathering (gathering) of God’s people is the image of eternity. Eternal reality is conceived by the prophets as a gathering of all peoples around the banner raised by the Messiah. The essence of salvation is that God is the God of the people, that we are his people, and that he dwells among his people. (2) Is the Church the anticipated eschatological community? it is the JA of the apocalyptic temple-city. (3) Eternity has the population density of a city and in the church we feel the warmth of family closeness. (4) It is in the meeting where many of the gifts operate and where the Holy Spirit is manifested. (5) The Lord’s Supper requires discernment of the body and is a common meal. (6) Communication by letter or in writing was not intended to replace personal meetings. They add up and get richer. Taken alone, they reveal limits. Writing did not come to replace relationships, but to guide and enrich them. (7) Meetings are not simply abandoned, are they exchanged for other forms of reunion? The man is a social being. (8) Meetings around and directed by the Word of God are the proof of the Servant’s hands. In short, our identity and our life go through the public encounter. If it’s not clear to you, honestly, feel free to stop here. You will waste your time. There is a live waiting for you.
What can I do? As a reaction What practical implications can be drawn from the above statements?First, we must respond to this absence with regret. At that point N. T. Did Wright say it right, living these days? away from ‘Jerusalem’. The reality of lack must be emphasized. We have to remember what we don’t have, God has separated us. Despite the presence of the family, plants, food, art, aromas, the moon, rain, we cannot deny what has been taken from us, and in the face of deprivation of the essentials, we must be sad, God wants to give us. true sadness; wants to polish us with moans.
Second, consider virtual relationships as a “parenting mechanism. ” ? A temporary replacement? a cheap knockoff of what we really want. In our hierarchy of values, we must remember that nothing replaces presence. Without it, everything is shadow. There is a filter in the screens, cables and waves of the great network that prevents something from happening that those who have already lived the life of relationships in its mature expression, even if they do not know how to articulate, instinctively perceive. for the protest of the soul. I hope that the enormous doses of virtual relationships to which we are exposed will make us wish for what we have lost. May the Lord save us from being satisfied with the crumbs of “infinite lives. ” Future generations (if any) will need to hear about this “period of exile. ” We must warn you that the abstractions of long-term virtual life are suffocating and languid like any bad diet of essentials. Virtual relationship can only be considered a blessing when presence is not possible. Internet gratitude only makes sense if it’s not the end. It must, like the letter of the beloved and the photo of the distant son, awaken our soul to the encounter and feed the desire.
Third, we must be active. Imitate Paul’s practical and effective effort to live a face-to-face relationship. There are other solutions. We cannot trust the binary options that the myopic of eternity offers us. What is presented as essential in the public discourse of a scientist or a politician is not essential for the people of God. Complete and airtight insulation is illusory. We expose ourselves to real dangers when we go to the supermarket, to a bank, to refuel our cars and to queue at the pharmacy. Are we practical and efficient when it comes to our food, our car, our money? We create protection and care mechanisms. When it comes to companionship exercised in the presence of a brother, are we like someone who declares that he always wanted to play the guitar and never took it up? We fall into the passive desire of the lazy person. Let’s get creative and don’t rest on living in the binary beginning of public discourse. Is it really impossible to be together? I’m not sure about that. There may be other options. Thought. When all possibilities are exhausted, cry like the hungry man at the landfill. I guarantee it will be a restorative sadness.
In short, may our sadness improve by the absence of collective worship; that our pains of absence are alleviated by the stimulus of relationships?in the shadows?the virtual world; and that the desire to live the essentials is not weakened by a bad binary vision, but is creative, hardworking, practical and effective. In this way, our ecclesiology will take a new step in the long maturation process.
[1] All of the following is inspired by Alister McGrath’s The Science of God.