The purpose of this booklet

In his book Fit Bodies, Fat Minds, Os Guinness describes the postmodern thinking that is more and more infecting our western world, as follows:

There is no grand reason, only reasons. There is no privileged civilization, only a multiple of cultures, beliefs, periods, and styles. There is no grand narrative of human progress, only countless stories of where people and their cultures are now. There is no simple reality or any grand objectivity of universal, detached knowledge, only a ceaseless representation of everything in terms of everything else. "What is a Christian? ... from God's perspective, is someone to whom he has given his Holy Spirit"

We live in a pluralistic world where, amongst the smorgasbord of lifestyles and opinions, it seems that everything goes, and the greatest sin is that of intolerance of someone else's belief or behaviour.

In the midst of all this diversity, there are people who call themselves Christians, who, to the outsider, appear to be just as divided as the rest of society. They organise themselves into groups that are as different as chalk from cheese. Some prefer to meet in traditional buildings, some in halls and some in homes. Some have hierarchical structures, organised from the top down. Some are organised from the bottom up. Some are totally independent. Some like traditional organised worship, knowing just what to expect. Some prefer exuberant, more expressive styles. Even in the matter of either doctrinal or moral beliefs it must appear to many today that the church is just as divided as the rest of society.

So the question arises: What is the Church meant to be? The purpose of this booklet is to seek to answer this question. When a stranger walks into a church gathering, whether in a home, a cathedral or a grass hut, in Auckland or in Timbuktu, are there any things they might find that are common to all? Are there any things that should be common to all?

I will be seeking to answer it from the perspective of the New Testament. After all, Christian Churches everywhere claim the New Testament as their foundational document. It contains the teaching of Jesus, the founder of the Christian Church, and the teaching of those he personally taught. Church denominations, at least in their official documents, have consistently given greater authority to the Bible than they have to church traditions. The old Tridentine doctrine in the Roman Catholic church tended to give the Bible and tradition equal weight, but this was rejected at Vatican II. It is to the New Testament we must first look to see what the Church should be, and our differing traditions are only legitimate if they don't conflict with the emphasis that is found there.