Community as a theological motif for evangelical theology ’

A crucial task for Western theologians in our day is to discover an integrative motif that can assist in constructing a systematic theology that takes seriously both our particular context and the phenomenon o f globalization. Since Schleiermacher, the most influential integrative motif in theology has been the kingdom o f God. Although this concept is helpful, it cannot serve as the needed integrative motif because it has been taken captive by Western individualism. The new communitarian thinkers offer a helpful alternative, the concept o f community. The establishment o f community is central to the entire biblical drama, and it summarizes the final goal o f the triune God in salvation history. Although community arrives in its Jullness only at the consummation, it is already present among us in a partial manner The primary focus o f community is the fellowship o f Christ’s followers the church as it fulfils its mandate o f worship, edification, and outreach. The church is community likewise as it transmits the redemptive story through biblical proclamation and in the sacraments. Because it provides the concept o f the kingdom o f God with its proper content, community offers promise as an integrative motif for a renewed evangelical theology.


Introduction
At the end of the twentieth century the church o f Jesus Christ is confronted with the task o f articulating the gospel in what appears to be a radically altered situation.At the heart of the context in which we seek to be the people o f God is a new reality often refeired to as globalization.O f course, globalization is an illusive term; it can carry various meanings virtually at the whim o f the speaker.But whatever else it signifies, globalization refers to the planetary consciousness characteristic of our age.
The planetary consciousness sensed by an increasing number of persons is warranted, for to some extent it is an accurate reflection o f an important con temporary reality.All the peoples o f the world are connected to each other and to the earth that sustains them in a manner not sensed as keenly in the past.Although we can never shed our particular location, no longer can we view ourselves merely as citizens of a region or a nation that exists only to, and for itself Rather, we must come to grips with the fact that we are citizens both of a localized place as well as o f the planet -the one earth that sustains us and the one world in which we participate.
Globalization, understood as the new planetary consciousness and the connected ness o f all people everywhere on the one earth, raises an acute challenge for Wes tern evangelical theology.What theological outlook can best serve the church in the West?What theology can facilitate a genuine realization that we participate in one church, while pointing the way as we seek to respond to the pressing needs associated with our own particularity within the context of the new global reality?Central to the theological enterprise is the task o f assisting the people o f God in articulating the gospel message in the cultural context in which they are living.Theology seeks to facilitate the church in reflecting on the meaning o f the gospel and in encoding that gospel in categories that can speak to the contemporary situation.To this end a systematic theology uses what may be called an 'inte grative m otif -a concept which serves as its central organizational structure in terms of which the various theological doctrines are developed.This motif pro vides the integrative thematic perspective in the light of which all other theolo gical concepts are understood and given their relative meaning or value (Sauter & Syock, 1976:18-19).
Theological history has witnessed the devising o f many integrative motifs.Martin Luther focused on justification by faith.John Calvin elevated the theme of the glory of God.John Wesley was captivated by the idea of responsible grace (see Maddox, 1984:12-18).Friedrich Schleiermacher worked fi'om human religious experience, and Karl Barth centered on the self-disclosure o f the triune God to the human person.
Which o f these, if any, can serve the needs of a theology that takes seriously both the immediate context and the phenomenon o f globalization?

T he kingdom o f G od as a th eological m otif
O f the various themes cited above, none has been as widely disseminated in the twentieth century, whether in mainline theology or within evangelicalism, as the concept of the kingdom o f God.2It has been directly influential as the integrative motif for several theological proposals and indirectly important as the underiying theme behind several theological movements including the theology o f hope and liberation theology.In fact, to some extent the story o f twentieth century theo logy has been the tale of the development of theologies o f the kingdom o f God.Walter Rauschenbusch and other proponents declared that for Jesus the kingdom o f God is an earthly society in which humans live together in cooperation, love and justice.The task of the social gospellers was to cooperate with God in the construction o f this ideal society (for a short summary o f the social gospel movement, see Hordern, 1968:85-86).
But even while Rauschenbusch was delineating the implications o f the liberal un derstanding of the kingdom of God, its theoretical foundations were being eroded by the rediscovery o f the apocalyptic element in the Bible.In his monumental book, Jesu s' Proclamation o f the Kinf^dom o f G od (1892), Johannes Weiss asserted that Jesus' concept of the kingdom was that of an eschatological in- As an example of the widespread influence of this conccpt, sec the doctnnal dissertation of the general sccrctar>' of the World Council of Churches (sec Castro, 1985) In die Skrtflig 28(3) 1994:395-411 breaking of God into history.Consequently, because Jesus stood in the tradition of the ancient apocalypticists, he did not resemble the liberal ethical moralists of nineteenth century Europe.
By the middle of the century, the debate spawned by Weiss and his critics was resolved.New Testament scholars came to agree that in Jesus' mind the king dom o f God was both present and future -already and not yet -and it was both an event and a sphere o f existence.Systematicians employed the findings of their New Testament colleagues to develop kingdom theologies.Through his procla mation o f the rulership of God, his decisive battle against the forces o f evil, and his provision of reconciliation and life for human beings, they taught, Jesus himself had inaugurated the kingdom.Yet the consummation o f the reign o f God remains future.The power of the 'age to come' has broken into history and is therefore present, but we will not experience its fullness until the end o f the age.
These developments in the wider theological world found their parallels within evangelicalism.The twentieth century witnessed the increased influence o f dispensationalism, with its orientation to a future, millennial kingdom.After mid century, however, the already/not yet consensus was introduced into conservative circles by the Fuller Seminary New Testament scholar, George Eldon Ladd.
In recent years, the older consensus has begun to give way to a newer understanding that has deepened the insights of the already/not yet view (Berg, 1987:378-380).Certain thinkers now argue that the phrase the kingdom o f God points to the self-disclosure o f God, 'God in strength' (Chilton, 1987:287-288), or the sovereign activity of God (Chilton, 1984:25).It is the ultimate intervention of God in human affairs.The coming o f the kingdom, consequently, creates a new way o f life in the present.
What can we conclude from the debates o f the twentieth century concerning the kingdom of God? On the one hand, the divine reign is related to Christ's first advent.In a sense it is a reality that people can enter (Mark 9:47,.It is the kingly power of God (Marcus, 1988:663-675).Hence, the kingdom is a 'sphere of existence' in which people are called to live.It is an incorporation into God's powerful invasion o f our world; as such it consists in doing the will of God (Matt.6:10; 7:21-23) and demands a radical decision .To enter the kingdom means to participate in "the already inaugurated explosion of God's power into the world", to cite the words of Joel Marcus (Marcus, 1988: 674).On the other hand, the consummation of the divine reign awaits the glory surrounding Christ's second advent.One day all creation will be brought into conformity with the divine intent.Only then will the kingdoms of this world truly become the kingdom of God and God's will tn Jy be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The concept o f the eschatological kingdom as the future of the world and its presence in the here-and-now stands as an important theological motif, an illu minative and integrative theme for theological reflection^ and action in the world.
Despite the appropriateness o f the motif of the kingdom o f God, this concept alone is insufficient to provide the unifying centre for a Western evangelical theology in a global context.Kingdom theology suffers from at least one debili tating flaw: it employs as its integrative motif a concept which remains unde fined, a 'shell-word'.Hence, the focus on the kingdom raises foundational ques tions which beg to be answered: What is the kingdom o f God that is coming and is already present among us?What does it mean to speak o f the reign o f God?What is the experience o f the rulership o f God?What is the significance o f Jesus' prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done?"In short: What is the world like when it is transformed by the in-breaking of the kingdom?
Moreover, kingdom theology is all-to-readily coopted by the Western mindset.In so far as the concept is lefï devoid o f content, the kingdom idea readily leads to a theology taken captive by one of the destructive characteristics o f the Western 'spirit o f the age', the emphasis on a radical, unbiblical individualism.Hence, a theology o f the kingdom can easily degenerate into an individualistic theology -a theology that exalts and undergirds the radical individualism o f the modem era.
Western society, especially in North America, is indeed imbued with indi vidualism.The ethos o f modem living elevates and celebrates the unencumbered self, not always realizing that this concept is derived fi-om modem philosophy, especially the legacy o f Descartes, Locke and Hume.The elevation o f the self is noticeable, for example, in our tendency to define ourselves fimdamentally in terms o f the choices we make, revealing thereby our proclivity to see ourselves as individual, autonomous, self-determining subjects.The autonomous self o f the Westem myth supposedly exists independently and entirely outside o f any tra dition or community, although the self may choose voluntarily to join some community.According to Robert Bellah and his associates, writing in their seminal study Habits o f the Heart, for most North Americans the meaning o f life is "to become one's own person, almost to give birth to oneself' (Bellah et a i, 1985:82).Hence, our society encourages us to "cut fi-ee from the past, to define our own selves, to choose the groups with which we wish to identify" (Bellah et a i , 1985:154).
____________________________________________________ Stanley J. Grera ^ In the 1960s J Molunann and W Pannenberg were influential m focusing attention on the unporlancc of the concept of the kingdom of God See Moltmann, 1967, Pannenberg, 1969 In die Skriflig 28(3) 1994:395-411  W Community as a theological m otif for evangelical theology The unencumbered, autonomous self also forms the foundation for the social orders, all of which we tend to view from the vantage point o f social atomism.
The modem conception of the political order, for example, is based on the idea of the 'social contract'.According to this theory, autonomous selves come together to form the state, contracting with each other to give up a certain amount o f their personal prerogatives to the whole for the sake o f personal advantage.
Nineteenth century liberalism fell prey to the danger o f becoming an individua listic theology o f the kingdom.By defining the kingdom in terms o f tlie ethical society of persons o f good will founded by Jesus, liberal theologians were able to focus their gaze on the social dimension of the kingdom.Nevertheless, liberalism was unable to overcome the legacy o f Schleiermacher, whose theology began with the God-consciousness o f the individual, so that its 'society o f persons of good will' was in the final analysis little more than an aggregate of individuals.
The situation did not improve greatly with the advent of the twentieth century.
On the contrary, the theological outworking of the rediscovery o f apocalyptic only exacerbated the problem.Wlien read within the context of Western indivi dualism, the eschatological new order anticipated by the ancient apocalypticists could make no convincing claim for the necessity of a social dimension.

T he con tem p orary appeal o f com m u n ity
There are signs, however, that in the West the fascination with individualism is beginning to wane.The human sciences, for example, reveal a groundswell of interest in the concept of community, as a variety of thinkers are realizing tiiat our understanding of the human phenomenon must reflect a more adequate balance between the individual and social dimensions (Helminiak, 1988:37).The current discussion has led to a new proposal for the relationship between the individual and society, called communalism or culturalismý The precursors of the newer model include some of the most prominent thinkers of the early twentieth century (for a summary of the phenomenological analyses of human solidarity, see Helminiak, 1988:37-44).
Among the seminal voices calling for an emphasis on community were the tumof-the-century philosophers Charles Peirce   and hope, o f faitli and redeeming grace (for a short overview, see Reese, 1980:498-499).
But perhaps more influential has been the work of the social scientists.The French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) set forth the idea that the group functions as the origin o f the ideals of individuals.He argued that rather than preceding collective life, tlie division o f labour can arise only in the midst o f a society.Social cohesion, he theorized, is facilitated by 'collective represen tations', the group-based symbols with which individuals identify.Hence, a pre requisite to social diversification is a 'conscious collective', a pre-given solidarity o f shared meanings and values (Durkheim, 1964:227).The fijnction of religion, in turn, is related to the symbols by which a people articulate their shared mean ing and value.By providing such symbols, religion creates and maintains social solidarity.
Tiie work of George Herbert Mead (1863Mead ( -1931) ) held much in common with tiiat of Durkheim.He asserted that meaning is no individual matter but rather is interpersonal or relational.Hence, the mind is not a mere individual, but also a social phenomenon (Mead, 1934:123).And the self, the maturing personality, or one's personal identity, is socially produced (Mead, 1934:138-58).These con siderations led Mead to conclude that the individual is not sui generis.Instead, human development is a product of the process of social interaction, for the mind, critical thinking, and a sense of self are facilitated by participation in the social group.
Building on the work of these pioneers, late twentieth century communalists argue that the fundamental short-coming of the radical individualism o f the West is its disregard for the social dimension o f life and for the importance o f that dimension in the shaping of the self (see, for example, Bellah el al., 1985:84).In contrast to radical individualism, the communalists emphasize the importance of the social unit -the community -for certain crucial aspects o f human living.
The community is integral to epistemology (the process o f knowing).Communa lists argue that we can no longer hold to the modem epistemological paradigm which focuses on the self-reflective, autonomous subject.Rather, central to the knowing process is a cognitive framework mediated to the individual by the com munity.In keeping with this critique, contemporary social theorists are seeking to replace the individualistic foundational rationalism o f modem Western thinking with an understanding of knowledge and belief that views them as socially and linguistically constituted (see Lindbeck, 1990:495).
Similarly, the community is crucial to identity fomiation, communalists assert.Critics of individualism argue that a sense of personal identity develops through the telling of a personal narrative.Hence, finding ourselves means, among other things, finding the story in terms of which our lives make sense (Bellah el al..Although epistemology and identity formation form primary examples, contempo rary communalists argue that community is also crucial to the sustaining of cha racter, virtue and values.Consequently, it provides the necessary foundation for involvement in public discourse concerning matters of world view.Thus, beyond its role in the formation o f individual identity, community is also crucial to the well-being o f the broader society. In short, communalists argue that a society is not merely an aggregate of indivi duals.Instead, foundational to society are the communities which transmit tradi tions from one generation to another (Bellah et al., 1985:282).etal., 1985:72).
Nor is community to be confused with the older strand o f North American thought that sees social life as merely an arrangement for the fulfilment o f the needs o f individuals.This view is found in the contemporary "therapeutic" conception of "communities o f interest", groups o f self-interested individuals who join together to maximize individual good (Bellah et al., 1985:134).
In steering us away from these mistaken notions, Bellah and his associates offer a helpful starting point.A community, they write, "is a group o f people who are socially interdependent, who participate together in discussion and decision ma king, and who share certain practices ... that both define the community and are nurtured by it" (Bellah et al., 1985:333).
A genuine community is oriented toward the past, the fiiture, and the present.
Through this threefold orientation it constitutes the 'se lf o f its members.
The past orientation of a community allows us to speak o f a 'community of me mory', to build from the thought of Josiah Royce.A community has a history -in fact, it is in an important sense constituted by its past.Consequently a commu nity does not forget the past.Rather, to keep the past alive a community retells its story -its constitutive narrative -and thereby offers examples o f those per sons who have embodied and exemplified the meaning o f the community.In addition a community tells stories of shared suffering and even o f past evils (Bellah etai, 1985:152-155).
A community does not only turn its members toward history, however.Its gaze is also fixed on the fiiture, and thereby it becomes a community o f hope.It anti cipates the continuation of, and even further development o f the community that awaits it in the future.The community senses that it is moving forward toward an ideal which lies yet before it.
By looking at the past and the future, a community provides a transcendent van tage point for life in the present.It supplies a context o f meaning that can allow its members to connect their personal aspirations with those o f a larger whole.It facilitates them in seeing their efforts as being contributions to that whole.
Through its interest in the grand sweep of history, a community gives a qualitative meaning to life, to time and space, and to persons and groups.It is especially fitted for this task, in so far as it does not view time merely as a continuous flow o f qualitatively meaningless sensations.By punctuating the day, the week, the season, the year with a sense of the sacred, a community presents time as a meaningful whole (Bellah et a!., 1985:282).A community also perpetuates "practices o f commitment".These define the community way o f life and the pat terns o f loyalty and obligation that keep the community alive (Bellah el a i, 1985:152-154).

C om m un ity as an integrative th eological m otif
The human sciences are moving beyond the radical individualism o f the modem era to an understanding which seeks to strike a balance between the individual and social dimensions of the human phenomenon.This development suggests that theology must make a corresponding move.We must journey beyond the focus on the kingdom, which typified the past orientation o f theology, while not leaving the insights of kingdom theology behind.Into the reigning kingdom theology, I would argue, we must incoiporate the motif o f community as defining the nature o f God's reign.In so doing we can fill the concept o f the kingdom of God with its proper content.
Community is important as an integrative motif for theology not only because it fits with contemporary thinking about the worid and the human phenomenon in But can we say more about the nature of the community God is seeking to bring to pass?Taken as a whole the Bible asserts that God's program is directed to the bringing about o f community in the highest sense o f the word -a reconciled people from all nations, living withui a renewed creation, and enjoying the presence o f their Redeemer God.In other words, God's program leads to nothing short o f a global community.
The vision of community as spelled out in the biblical drama begins in the past.God's intent is articulated already in the Genesis 2 narrative, as God notes, "It is not good for the man to be alone" .The divine activity throughout history is directed toward the bringing into being the community envisioned by the Creator who was cognizant o f the solitariness of the first human in the Garden of Eden.
Central to the divine purpose of establishing community is the presence o f God among his people.God's presence is a constant theme of the Bible.At the beginning, the Lord communed with Adam and Eve in the Garden.Then at various times and in various locations the patriarchs experienced the presence of God.To commemorate their encounters with him they built landmarks, altars, and memorials (e.g., Gen. 28:13-17).With a view toward the establishment of community -God dwelling with his people -Yahweh elected and entered into covenant with Israel.His intent was evident in the Exodus experience.The immediate goal of God's deliverance of Israel from the bondage o f Egypt was the assembly of the people at Sinai.There Yahweh brought the Israelites into his presence, in order that they might be constituted as his people (Ex.20;2-3), in whose presence he himself would come to dwell.During the wilderness sojourn, God intended to make his abode among them in the tabernacle; like theirs, his house would be a tent.So important was the divine presence among Israel that when Yahweh proposed that the tabernacle not be built because of Israel's sin, Moses responded, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here" (Ex.33:15) (Clowney, 1987:25-26).Later when Israel established fixed dwellings in the promised land, God also put his glory within a house, the temple in Jerusalem.
The Old Testament experience forms the context for the significance of Jesus Christ as Immanuel -God with us (Matt.1:22-23).In Jesus, the divine Word became flesh and "tabernacled" among us (John 1:14) -that is, in him God is present with humankind.Jesus promised that both he and the Father would take up their dwelling with his disciples (John 14:23), in this context he spoke of another Comforter who would be present among his disciples (John 14:23).
Jesus' promise, understood within the context o f the Old Testament hope, forms the foundation for the work o f the Spirit.Since his outpouring at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit facilitates the fulfilment of Jesus' promise o f his continual presence with his followers.The Holy Spirit comprises them as the temple of God.Be cause of the finished work of Christ and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit, therefore, God himself is indeed among his people.
Yet, even our experience o f God's presence with us is only partial.Indeed, the grand fulfilment of God's program lies yet in the future.The biblical story does not end with Pentecost and hence not with the true, yet partial experience o f the presence o f God currently enjoyed by Christ's disciples.The drama o f the Bible stretches from the past into the future, reaching its climax with the grand vision of the new heaven and new earth.
The future renewed creation was anticipated by certain Old Testament prophets.This theme, however, is developed more fully by the closing chapters of the book of Revelation.The inspired seer looked to an era beyond the present which will mark the completion of the divine program in human history.He pictured the new order as the new Jerusalem (Rev.21:9-21).In that city, the peoples o f the new earth will live together in peace.Nature will again fulfil its purpose o f pro viding nourishment for all earthly inhabitants (Rev.22:1-4).Most glorious of all, however, God will dwell with humans, thereby bringing to completion the ulti mate divine design for creation: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "N ow the dwelling o f God is with men, and he will live with them.They will be his people, and God him self will be with them and be their God ..." .The throne o f God and o f the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.They will see his face, and his name will be on their forehead (Rev.21:3; 22:3-5Ĥ ence, the future new order will be characterized by community in the fullest sense.The participants in the eschatological reality, comprising people from every comer of the globe, will live in fellowship with each other, with creation, and most importantly with God. John's vision of a future aeon characterized by a new community o f recon ciliation, fellowship and harmony confirms the assertion that the establishment of community lies at the heart of the concern o f the Bible.God's ultimate intention is not directed to a transpositioning of the individual believer to an isolated, in dividual realm of unending 'eternal life' beyond the world.Rather, God's pro gram focuses on the corporate human story and therefore on humans as potential participants in a new society in the coming aeon.In fact, scripture consistently presents our eternal home in social, rather than in individual terms.It is a great city, it encompasses many dwelling places, it is composed o f a multitude of in habitants, etc.Hence, it is a social reality.As Paul Hanson (1986:510) notes from his study of the theme o f community in the Bible, God's fuUire reign was not construed in terms of a blissful union of the elect with God that removed them from the world of humanity, but as a reign of justice and peace that repaired all wounds and restored righteousness as the standard among humans.
The vision o f the scriptures is clear: the final goal o f the work o f the triune God in salvation history is the establishment o f the eschatological community -the one redeemed people of all the nations of the world dwelling in a renewed eartha renewed globe -enjoying reconciliation with their God, fellowship with each other, and harmony with all creation.This goal of a global community lies at the heart of God's actions in history.
The social nature of God's intent is displayed likewise in the focal point of salva tion history, the Christ event.Jesus came as the exemplar human being, the revelation of who we are to be.And the divine design revealed by Jesus focuses on our living in relationship with God and with others.Jesus also came as the Messiah -a social figure, the fulfilment o f the hopes and aspirations o f the He brew people, and by extension o f all humankind.In the same way, his intent was not to accomplish an individual vocation for his own sake, but to be obedient to the will of the Father for the sake of humankind.Tlius, in his death he took upon himself the sins of all.And he rose from the grave in order to mediate to us eternal life through our union with him.
The work o f the Holy Spirit likewise has the establishment of community in view.His outpouring at Pentecost was directed toward the establishing o f the corporate body of Christ to be the one new people composed of Jews and gentiles re conciled to each other (Eph,.During the present age the Holy Spirit is bringing together a people that transcends every human division -a people from every nation and every socio-economic status, and consisting of male and female.

T he p resent reality o f the eschatological com m unity
The completed work o f Christ and the present work of the Spirit indicate that the eschatological community which arrives in its frillness only at the consummation o f human history is already present among us in a partial, yet genuine manner.This present reality is to be experienced in many ways, but its focal point is the community of the followers of Christ -the church.The Christian church is a distinctive body formed by the Holy Spirit through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (see for example McClendon, 1986:209-39).It is a community o f faith which transcends spatial and temporal boundaries.
Tlie New Testament writers, such as Paul, declare that to be a Christian means fundamentally to be united with Christ.This union entails not only mental assent to a set o f doctrines, but also the embodying in one's beliefs, attitudes and actions the meanings and values that characterized Jesus' own life.In this process of embodiment the Christian faith-community is crucial.The believing community transmits from generation to generation and region to region the redemptive story, which it recounts in word and deed.In so doing, it mediates to the believer the framework for the formation o f personal identity, values and worid view.
Through their loyalty to Christ and within the context o f the faith community', Christians enjoy a common life marked by their unity with Jesus.In this common life they seek to be a true community o f faith, which tliey manifest in corporate worship, mutual edification and outreach to the wodd.The worship dimension focuses the attention of the believing community on the One who constitutes them as his people.Through the corporate worship life, the community also gathers to commemorate the foundational events of their spiritual existence, at the centre of which is the action of God in Christ delivering humankind from the bondage of sin in its many forms.
The dimension o f edification means that the corporate people take seriously their existence as a fellowship of mutuality.Community therefore means that we sense our oneness with each other.We enter into a relationship of sympathy, compas sion and empathy.We interceed for each other, care for each other and minister to the needs of each other.The demands o f the life of discipleship in a fundamen tally inhospitable environment heighten the importance o f mutuality.We despe rately need the support of others who share the same vision of God's actions in the world and who are also dedicated to participation in the divine activity.
No true community of faith, however, can fail to direct its siglits outward toward the world in which it is called to live.Foundational to its existence is a vision of the whole human family reconciled to God, to one another and to creation.Consequently, it directs its energies toward those who lie beyond its membership, seeking to proclaim and embody the gospel and to minister to the hurts o f needy people.A community o f faith also holds up before the worid the sovereign God as the only hope and the only sure and worthy alternative to the myriad of competing loyalties which despite their lure fall short o f ultimacy.
At the centre of the transmission of the redemptive story as it has worked itself out in the life o f the believing community is the Bible, the book o f the church.The Bible remains central to the faith and life o f the contemporary believing community exactly because we see ourselves as an extension of the biblical com munity o f faith.This book is in effect our spiritual autobiography (Hanson, 1986: 537), tracing the birth, pilgrimage and vision o f the ancient faith community in which we participate and of which we are heirs.Consequently, we study the Related to the biblical proclamation are the rites of the community, specifically baptism and the Lord's supper.These two sacraments reenact the story o f re demption -both as they memorialize the events o f Jesus' passion and resurrec tion and as they bear testimony to the experience of union with Clirist shared by the entire community.
Baptism marks the initiation o f the individual into the narrative of the Christian community.This practice inducts the new believer into the shared practices of the commimity which is defined and ruled by the story of Christ's life, death and resurrection (Jones, 1990:137-139).The church, therefore, rightly sees in bap tism the symbol of the new birth and the new identity tiiat the church has re ceived, for baptism represents the change of context tiiat has brought the new believer into the family of God.Because we enjoy a new identity, we no longer define our lives in accordance with the categories of the old life.Rather, we see ourselves as tliose who have passed from the rulership of sin and its con demnation into the people of God, who are reconciled with their Lord and Saviour, and therefore who seek to live in reconciliation with each other.The new identity symbolized by our baptism, therefore, carries ethical demands.We are called now to live out ii> our conduct the new identity God has freely be stowed on us, i.e., that we be the one community of God in and for the world, which we are.
Wliat is initially declared in baptism is repeatedly articulated by the other rite of the church, the Lord's supper.By our participation in this sacrament, we are re minded of our identity in Christ, our covenant with God and one another, and the resultant ethical demand that we live 'unto the Lord'.As we sit together at the Table , we are repeatedly reminded of our calling to be the one church of Christ living for the glory of God in the midst of the one earth -which is God's earthand the one world -which God in Christ has claimed for his own.

C onclusion: T he kingdom is 'com m u n ity'
A theology in the context of the reality of globalization orients its discussion of the Christian faith around the twin motifs of the reign of God and the community of God.The Bible presents history as meaningful, in that it is directed toward a goal -namely, the kingdom of God or the permeation by the will of God of the whole earth and of all human affairs.This goal fonns the central petition of the Lord's Prayer: "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in hea ven" (Matt.6:10).
Rather than a rejection of this lofty concept of the kingdom of God, the incor poration o f the idea of community as an integrative motif for theology fills the concept with its proper content.When God's rule is present, i.e., when God's will is done, community emerges.Or viewed from the opposite direction, in the emergence of community, God's rule is present and God's will is accomplished.
As it is called by God to exist in the world, the community o f faith is, in fact, a laboratory o f the kingdom.It seeks to embody the vision o f God's new order, it seeks to reflect those qualities that it infers from God's activities on behalf of creation.As a people who have experienced God's gracious deliverance from bondage and God's gracious reconciliation to himself, we are free to show forth the nature of the liberating God and thereby give witness to the state of affairs that characterizes the in-breaking o f God's reign.
The kingdom of God, therefore, is the vision of God's ruling presence that redeems, reconciles, and transfomis creation into G od's intended ideal and constitutes the world as God's realm.It both transcends history and works within history as both the paradigm of the new order and the power effecting that order.It is, in the words of Peter Hodgson, "the way God acts redemptively, effica ciously in the world" (Hodgson, 1987:226).This biblical vision, however, is communal or social in scope.In its communal nature it is also global in scope, directed toward the world as a whole.The kingdom o f God is characterized by community.It is present wherever the new society of reconciliation is createdtiiat people who have entered into covenant with the God of history and con sequently live out their covenantal life through worship of the God revealed in Christ, mutual care and mission in and for the entire world.
Western evangelical theology must catch this vision of the new community God is seeking to create among us.Only by so doing it can overcome the individualism that has plagued evangelicalism in this century.But in catching this vision.Wes tern evangelical theology will also discover that it is being linked to insights that lie at the centre o f theological expressions o f the gospel found in other regions of the one world we share in common.In die Skrijlig 2H(3) l99-t:395-4I I ~

W ork s cited
1985:28).Communalists declare that the narrative o f a person's life is always embedded in the story o f the communities in which the person participates(MacIntyre, 1984:221), for traditions mediated by communities, and not indivi duals, are the carriers o f rationality.The transcending story is mediated to the individual by the community, which transmits from generation to generation and from group to individual its traditions of virtue, common good and ultimate mea ning (Bellah e /a /., 1985:495).

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Community as a theological m otif for evangelical theology the world, but more importantly because it is central to the message o f the Bible.From the narratives o f the primordial garden, which open the curtain on the biblical story, to the vision o f white-robed multitudes inhabiting the new earth, with which it concludes, the drama of the scriptures speaks o f community.
In die Skriflig 28(i) 199-i: 395-411 m Community as a theological m otif fo r evangelical theology scriptures in order to discern what it means to be the community o f faith, and hence what it means to be the community of faith today.
BELLAH, Robert N., MADSEN.Richard, SULLIVAN, William M , SWIDLER, Ann & TIPTON, Steven M 1985 Habits o f the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life Berkeley : University of California Press BERG, Marcus J 1987 Jesus and the Kingdom o f God.Christian Century, April 22 BLAISING, Craig A & BOCK, Darrell L 1992 Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church Grand Rapids, Ml : Zondervan CASTRO, Emilio 1985 Freedom in Mission : The Perspective o f the Kingdom of God -An Ecumenical Inquiry Geneva : Worid Council o f Churches Publications CHAFER, Lewis Sperry 1947-48 Systematic Theology 8 volumes Dallas : Dallas Semina ry Press CHILTON, Bruce D 1984 Introduction in "The Kingdom o f God in the Teachings of Jesus" Issues in Religion and Iheology 5. Philadelphia Fortress.