I find it fitting on two levels, in the same way that the church brings me mixed feelings of sadness and hope.
First of all, I have made the point that the Church in Europe seems to be dying. It is showing the first symptoms of death: immobility, empty eyes, and more generally rigor mortis. But it's not dead. Oh no, it's not. It is not resting in peace. Like a dead coming straight out of one of Romero's movies something about it is just not right. Whether it be its aimless gait, its uncertain gesticulations, its inarticulate groaning, its awkward lack of coherence with the scenery, or the mere fact that it tries to eat people's brains rather than to become their friends.
Could the church be a zombie?
The second, and more positive, explanation is that the prefix "un" brings the concept of retrieving, of taking something away, of coming back to an original state. A boat tied to a rope can be untied. A blocked road can be unblocked, a clogged sink unclogged. A frozen piece of bread can unfreeze.
Can a dead church be undead?
I do not want to dwell on the church's shortcomings and failings, but they say we learn from our mistakes to move on to a better place. This title tries encompass both ideas: what is wrong? How do we go beyond?
Only by dying with Christ can we be resurrected with Him. So it is individually, so it is corporately.
ReplyDeleteThe church must die to its own desires, its own struggles and hopes, and be made "undead" by rebirth in Christ.
The bride is shaking the cobwebs out. ;-)