Todd Hiestand // Missional Living in Suburban America

The Church, an Escatological Community

I have been taking a class at Seminary for my degree (MA in Missional Theology) and have to reread the book “Missional Church,” edited by Darrell Guder. This book was very foundational to my thinking a number of years back so its been a nice “refresher” to read through.

I wanted to just share with you a great quote that I came across this evening as I was studying,

“The gospel, centered profoundly for Jesus in the announcement that the reign of God is at hand, is eschatological in character. It pulls back the veil on te coming reign of God, thereby revealing the horizon of the world’s future. The gospel portrays the coming of Jesus, and particularly his death and resurrection, as the decisive, truly eschatological event in the world’s history. Therefore a community with origins in the gospel is “an escatological community of salvation…the church is defined by its origins in a gospel that casts a vision of its destiny that always draws it forward.” (page 86)

I am also in the midst of studying John 14:1-14 for this Sunday. Do you see a relation between the idea of the community of Jesus Christ (the church) being a foretaste of the kingdom and this passage? How does this affect how you read, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” What is Jesus talking about houses and rooms for?

This has been a fun passage to study this week. I’m looking forward to sharing it together with my community on Sunday and seeing how it can continue to shape us as a faithful witness of the reign of God.