I wrote a post last week on the Collection as initiated by the apostle Paul which served as a symbol of unity in the early Christian church. My post was mostly a summary of something I heard in a lecture given by Anglican Bishop N T Wright at Regent University. You can review that post here.
The challenge that I was left with last week, and that I have been bound to consider for several days, is this: How can we apply the principles of the Collection as a way to encourage unity in the church? Or, what symbols or rituals do we have today that may serve in place of the Collection? (I should affirm before I get too far that ‘unity’ in the church is not the same as ‘consensus’. Commitment to the relationship and continual fellowship can occur in spite of disagreements. ‘Concensus’ attempts to resolve disagreements into new agreements. ‘Unity’ attempts to preserve fellowship among family members and accepts disagreement as a natural part of community life.)
Here are some ideas for contemporary “Collections”:
- Angela and I are involved in a Sunday School class at our church. Demographically we have some affinity with the people that attend this class (i.e., several kids in our household, late twenty- or early thiry-somethings, mostly raised or spiritually nurtured in the evangelical tradition, etc.). It is clear, however, that there are some large differences in our perspective on the Christian life and what it means to “follow Jesus” among the folks in this class. One of the symbols of unity in this class is like the Collection. We bring meals to couples who have recently had children. We ritually pass around a sign-up sheet and publish the list on the group list online. Participation in this activity symbolizes solidarity with the class. It affirms that you are committed to the relationship in spite of significant disagreements.
- Every Monday night during the warmer months our neighbors meet together to share a meal. There are all kinds of people at these cookouts, but their regular attendance affirms their commitment to one another. Bringing a dish to pass acts as a symbol. Eating what someone else brought is more than substenance, it is symbolic of the unity of this fellowship of neighbors.
- Communion and baptism are traditional symbols of solidarity in the church. Primarily I would probably consider them as symbols of identification with the death and ressurection of Jesus the King, but then (because we ALL participate and recognize the invitation for people with different theological perspectives to participate) they are secondarily symbols of unity in the body of God’s kingdom people. This point would be too weighty theolgically to pursue further on a blog post because of the history-and-tradition and denominational baggage that goes along with baptism and communion, BUT I think we could at least say that a “shared meal” of some sort would act as a symbol a unity (no matter if that meal is technically considered a eucharist).
- We had some neighbors come over to help us rake our leaves at the beginning of spring. This act of service was also an expression of commitment to a neighbor and a neighborhood. The most powerful feelings of unity occur, in my experience, when you work alongside someone. Throw a shared meal in there, too, and POW… missional and communal big bang!
- Attending a family or neighborhood event is another “Collection” type of symbol. The best examples are weddings and funerals. These often incorporate some of the symbols listed above, but they are unique in that they are often once-in-a-lifetime events. Even so, they are opportunities for people who have experienced the ritual to reaffirm their commitments to life and living.
These are a few… There are several possible practices that we could point to as symbols of commitment to our communities. The point is not to identify the symbols… the point is to appropriate the symbols. Live in peace. Live together.