The essence of the church can only be understood in relation to God and the world.
The church is persons in community in Christ, chosen and desired by God and set apart for him by him. She is a people in union with God, to whom God reveals himself so she might understand. While the church is at home in God, she is also located in the world, shaped by it, and has the responsibility to proclaim Jesus within it. So, having received God’s self-revelation, the church comes to understand herself in relation to God and in relation to the world. In the context of these two relationships, she is becoming the community of persons who carry the cares of others to God in prayer and the truth of God to those persons by proclaiming the good news.
Instigator: 1 Peter 2:9-10
