Now for the difficult part of this series, defining and describing the functions and purposes of the Church amid the complexity of the truth and the relative diversity of the human being. Let's deal with the process of relationship building for a minute.
In open theism, there are theologians who subscribe to the concept of God's being relative, or another angle on this is that because God is love, then God is interested in developing relationships with Him. On the surface, this may sound a tad heretical in that God is certainly omnipotent and unchanging; but on closer examination the concept deals more with God's reaction to man's constant change. The argument, which I believe is a good one, is that God responds to our prayers, our commitment, our actions, and the events which occur in life. Open theism emphasizes the beauty and multifaceted nature of God being love. I find myself leaning toward this theology due to its melding of Calvinism and Arminianism, both of which have influenced my life in a multitude of ways.
To oversimplify is both a dangerous and questionable practice, but for the purposes of this essay is necessary. In Calvinism, there is little to nothing that a human can do to influence or alter God's working in the world. All has been predetermined and all is dependent on God's sovereignty and God's Grace. Calvinism has a clear logic to it that is difficult to refute on academic terms. Whereas in Arminianism, humans make all the decisions and have the free will to choose their own destiny and to determine all the outcomes. It has been said that pastors often study and believe in Calvinism but preach Arminianism to their congregations.
In Open Theism, man's purposeful embracing of God's truth and God's love can and does affect, at least to an extent, how God responds to events on earth. Man is given the free will to develop his or her own relationship with God and God reacts to man's practices, conduct, and events on earth. Perhaps the greatest example of this is the power of prayer. In pure Calvinistic tradition, prayer is valued but does not affect outcomes or God's design. In Arminianism, prayer tends to place all control on the human spirit and the human choice. In Open Theism, prayer can influence or even change God by virtue of its building on a relationship, but only because of God's loving spirit working in the world.
The area of Open Theism that remains in question for me is God's knowledge of the future. Perhaps due to my upbringing, training, or academic logic, I am more comfortable thinking that God has determined all future events and I cannot really affect those results. But I think I will defer conclusion on this abstract concept until such a time as truth reveals itself.
Let us return to the church. A church that subscribes completely to Calvinism has no need for evangelism other than to fulfill God's obligation and scriptural mandate. The could mean that the church spends its energy in study of scripture and in worship with no other purpose than to worship. While there is nothing wrong with this practice necessarily, it does seem to lack in emotional application to God's truth in the world. On the other side of the coin, a church that practices Arminianism tends to rely on its own work ethic and the sheer ability of humans to guide, shape, and form the church in whatever manner it so chooses. While this places much of the responsibility on church members, it also could and rather suspiciously may avoid the central purpose of believers corporately worshiping God.
This means that the church, replete with a myriad amount of personalities, expectations, concepts, and ideas, must come together in prayer, study, and intentional worship of God by unifying its purpose. In doing so, the church exists to create a commonality of learning, applying truth, and worshiping God. This makes the many ministries, events, meetings, classes, services, and fellowships to have a sense of relationship building within a community of believers. In open theistic practice, believers develop their loving relationship with God, thus improving and developing their relationship with each other, for the same goals and purpose, and all done with excellence. But whether you subscribe to Calvinism, Arminianism, or Open Theism, there is no doubt that our honoring, our worshiping, our Christian conduct should be God-centered.
Ultimately, then, our community relationship with God should be a priority and that it be done prestigiously and comprehensively, bringing us back to the act of church and its worship of God the Almighty. Regardless of the diversity of personalities, concepts, interests, education, and, yes, value systems of the individuals, when we come together as one body in church, we do so as a collective dimension of our need and requirement to build our loving relationship with God. How to do so is where it all gets sticky!
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