He is professor emeritus of systematic theology at the U. of Aberdeen, Scotland so it's a bit denser than the chainsaw catalogue on our coffee table shelf.
I was struck by his former prof's ideas about "society" and "community". He writes,
"Professor John Macmurray... used to draw a distinction between "society" and "community." He defined society as a collection of individuals indirectly related to one another by law, by employment, by contract, to meet needs (economic, financial, physical, etc.). Community, on the other hand, he defined as a group of persons in relation, directly related by love." (p. 40)
I wonder whether the Canadian church would be better characterized as a "society" or "community"?
My hunch?
"Society."
To me the church seems more bound up in rules than relationships. It feels institutionalized.
I don't it, institutional Christianity. The kind of religion that is more concerned with buildings, money and my denominational markings than it is with fostering genuine community. I long to see people nurturing community where the emphasis is on knowing one another rather than knowing about each other. I think it's time that my religious brand or social class isn't the primary factor that determines whether I'm accepted or not. I dream of a day when I'm part of a community where love, not a label, is the mark of belonging.
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