Another view of incarnational mission understands the Incarnation to continue through the method of the institutional church. It rests on a literal reading of the metaphor of the body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27). This view has become an important justification for the crucial role that local and denominational churches play in mission and was a particularly strong theme in Catholic theology before Vatican II, where Jesus was often seen as exclusively continuing his Incarnation through the church. It is still a strong theme in many slum versions of Catholicism. For example, Johann Adam Mohler wrote:
The visible church... is the Son of God himself, everlastingly manifesting himself among men (and women) in a human form, perpetually renovated, and eternally young—the permanent incarnation of the same, as in Holy Writ, even the faithful as called the body of Christ.389
Despite the real changes in Catholic ecclesial theology since Vatican II, some would still hold to a variant of this position. Even the Catholic catechism still states that, ‗Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ‘s Body, become intimately united with him‘ and this happens through ‗Baptism‘ and ‗Eucharist‘.390
In general, Protestants and Post-Vatican II Catholics have been keen to differentiate between any institutional church, the broader ‗people of God‘ and the even broader Kingdom of God. Narrowing and blurring these demarcations in an effort to justify the paramount importance of the institutional local church as the primary manifestation of the continuing Incarnation is not uncommon. For example, in China, church leaders have had to justify the importance of the local church in the face of severe persecution at times. Witness Lee, for example, who was a co-worker of Watchman Nee before helping to establish a church movement of over 20,000 people in Taiwan, argued that ‗The universal
389
Johann Adam Mohler, Symbolism; or, Exposition of the Doctrinal Differences Between Catholics and Protestants as Evidenced by Their Symbolic Writings (New York: E Dunigan, 1844), 333.
390 Vatican, ‗The Catechism of the Catholic Church‘, Part 1, Chapter 2, Section 3, #9.2.1, para. 790,
church is simply the sum total of the local churches, and the local churches are simply the local manifestations of the universal church‘.391 What Lee affirms here is what many local church ministers feel all over the world in different ways: one aspect of their lives, the belonging to and leading of the local institution of their church, is actually being Christ incarnate. They may not be persecuted, but in Western countries churches may still feel under siege and under-resourced as Lee does. Given that a growing number of Westerners identify themselves as Christians but are not involved in any local church community, coupled with the fact that more aggressive Christian NGOs, media ministries and conferences now compete for Christian participation using more sophisticated means, the rhetoric of the local church as Christ incarnate is understandable. Warren, for example, writes that:
The Bible calls the church ‗the bride of Christ‘ and the ‗body of Christ‘. I can‘t imagine saying to Jesus, ‗I accept you, but reject your body‘. But we do this whenever we dismiss or demean or complain about the church.392
To identify the institutional local church as the sole, even ultimate, expression of the ‗body of Christ‘ is a common, but potentially problematic, use of the enfleshing metaphor in relationship to the Incarnation. Not least is the potential problem of institutional abuse of power and organizational self-centredness. Because few Christians feel comfortable saying ‗no‘ to Jesus, if Jesus is identified with an institution then its survival can come above all else, whether it is right or wrong. This can especially be the case in slums where local churches amongst vulnerable people can often be run on authoritarian lines.
Any institution that claims to be Jesus Incarnate can also be in danger of idolatry, making itself Lord. At best, a high value on the local church institution can draw on Langmead‘s incarnational use of ‗following Jesus as a pattern in mission‘ in that Jesus of Nazareth lived and served in a committed community. Local pastors and missions are rightly concerned that in an increasingly individualized and consumer-driven society the call for more committed fellowship with other Christians is important. Langmead‘s notion of ‗participating with the risen Christ‘s continuing incarnation in the world‘ can be especially helpful in reinforcing this point, but note that this idea of Langmead‘s is a more modest calling than that of the church as the continuing Incarnation. It is dangerous for any institution to claim to be the
391 Witness Lee, ‗The History of the Local Churches‘, http://www.local-church-history.org/local-church-2-aspects-
b.htm (accessed June 16, 2010).
literal Body of Christ simply because institutions are run by people who are at least partly flawed. The abuse of power that could be unleashed by adopting such a dangerous position could undermine the fidelity, credibility and work of Jesus through a local group of believers. This is especially so in the vulnerable context of urban slum and squatter neighbourhoods.