We first explore the definition of church. It is prevalent to be asked about one’s
church. We are typically asking where the
building is that you go to on Sunday mornings. Expanding our definition to include basilica,
for the building, the ekklesia, for the clergy, and koinonia, for the community,
opens up opportunities for being part of the “church.” Given a church is ideas, marketplace,
heritage, people, we begin to realize the enormity of ministry. Focusing on the
church as people, we can build the marketplace of ideas. What comes with the people is ideas to be
exchanged, much like the format the Fillmores began with. The people bring their own heritage of which
we can explore within the Christian community. Rather than simply being in opposition to
whatever tradition we came from, we would have a committed and beloved group to
explore. Asking the questions such as “Does
this still work?” within a safe environment with a dedicated minister who has
explored these areas and is equipped to serve. Here we break out of the shadow of our attack
or defend which creates a further dependence on what we are not, to grow into a
current theology and relationship with the divine.
We do not have to throw Jesus out. We can excavate the deeper meaning of our life
with the model of Jesus. We can explore
how the Bible can reveal a heritage and further our understanding of ourselves
in our world. We stand on our rich heritage of Christian traditions to include ourselves
in the community of faith. That faith is
of the Divinity of Jesus. This term has an evolutionary history to be
acknowledged. We have an opportunity and a challenge to step into our grown up
understanding of our relationship with Jesus.
While the basilica provides the natural human want for a
place, the world seems to be evolving beyond these limited spaces. We are finding new terms to avoid being
slotted into a church that may cause one to link it to a negative
experience. What about the lovely beloved
community, the agape, being strengthened to be in the world as ekklesia? How about using basilica as a “harbor” for ekklesia?
When we use oppositional statements like “we are not
(fill in the blank) we set up a dependence upon the continuance of it and Unity
then lives in the shadow. Now is the
time for Unity to step up and say what we are…at least for today. Can you say
evolving?
I can say evolving! Amen, Sister. Just as the term Christian is currently being narrowly defined to refer only to evangelicals and fundamentalists, we ourselves are allowing Unity to be narrowly defined when we step away from our Christian heritage, and when we attempt to characterize ourselves in terms of what we are not. In Charles Fillmore’s words, "Unity is a link in the great educational movement inaugurated by Jesus Christ; our objective is to discern the truth in Christianity and prove it. The truth that we teach is not new, neither do we claim special revelations or discovery of new religious principles. Our purpose is to help and teach mankind to use and prove the eternal Truth taught by the Master."
ReplyDeleteI too, can say evolving and I love the idea but some people would like to just "know the rules." I like your ideas I just trust that someday we will all be those dedicated ministers who can provide a balance of sense of safety and exploration that will allow our congregation to be comfortable sitting on the edge.
ReplyDeleteYes! Nicely said Judy. So many great points. One that really stood out for me was, "We do not have to throw Jesus out. We can excavate the deeper meaning of our life with the model of Jesus." Absolutely true. We don't have to be "not" about Jesus to also be inclusive of others.
ReplyDeleteI'd say you've got Theologian of the Week potential on this one :)
You make some good points, Judy. I think Michael's, Fillmore quote is a perfect fit here, in that it clearly states what Fillmore believed to be Unity's purpose and I think that purpose continues. I personally don't think there very many in Unity who are trying to "throw Jesus out." There would be no Unity without Jesus, or more specifically, Jesus Christ. What I believe is that there are many trying to broaden the theological base of Unity. We honor all religious paths and so there are those who think we should explore them in more depth and try to attract others from other spiritual traditions. I believe the movement to use the term "Center" instead of "Church" reflects this. What I have experienced with the more traditional Fillmorians is their resistance to this.
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