I was reading an online article about the church last week and there was a comment from another reader saying that they were fed up hearing about the “real world” in church. As far as they were concerned, church was a place that you came to in order to get away from all the problems in the world. I suppose he wanted some sort of boundary between what happens in the world and what happens in church, as though the church is somehow insulated and separated from the world. I have a difficulty with this way of thinking though, and it comes at an appropriate time as this week as we are looking at the Ascension of Jesus.
According to Luke, Jesus is talking to the disciples when He is lifted up into the air and enters into a cloud where He disappears from sight. It’s a famous scene and one replicated often in classic paintings. Given what happens, a common view about the ascension is that Jesus has ascended into heaven and will wait there for us to join Him there. If we are good, then we get to go to heaven when we die. But that’s not what Jesus tells the disciples. Instead, He gives them a mission, to go out into the world and to witness to this new reality, that God has acted in the person of Jesus Christ and the kingdom has come to earth. They are to tell the world what Jesus has done and what Jesus is going to do in the future.
Scripture is clear that in the future God will remake heaven and earth into one new creation. Those who are resurrected will live in this new creation with God forever. Clearly, God intends that there will be no division between heaven and earth. And until that time, God wants the church to go into the world to tell others this. The church is a pretty unique organisation in that it exists for the benefit of those who are not members. Jesus instructs the disciples to go and witness to what God has done, not to insulate themselves from the world. The church should be talking about, engaging with, and addressing the problems of the world. That is why the church exists, that is the mission God has given us. How many churches have become social clubs? How many churches exist to provide a weekly dose of entertainment or to make people feel good about their lives? We are told by Jesus to go out and witness to Christ. If we are not doing this, then how can we call ourselves the church?