Practicing Christian Doctrine: An Introduction to Thinking and Living Theologically

by Beth Felker Jones

The path forward, though, is not to deny the church’s brokenness. Some narrations of ecclesiology would tell the story of a pristine church. Once upon a time, the story goes, the church was what it is supposed to be; sadly, this pure church was lost, and the only way forward is to return to that purity (whether that of the biblical church, the early church, the Roman Catholic Church, or the separatist church). This is a powerful story because it provides a neat solution to our ecclesiological difficulty: join up with the right church. Many Christians are convinced this is the only ecclesiology that can account for the importance of the visible church. I disagree for three reasons. First, purity-ecclesiology discounts the brokenness of the church, glossing over ways that brokenness is apparent throughout church history. Second, God is powerful enough to create visible unity in the church even in the midst of brokenness. Finally, the brokenness of the church is crucial to the beauty of its witness. Without honesty about that brokenness, our witness to grace is impossible.