The Cross and Gendercide by Gerhardt Elizabeth;

Author:Gerhardt, Elizabeth; [Gerhardt, Elizabeth ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2014-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

The Context for Mission: The Community

It is one of my arguments that the whole of the church must respond to the problem of gendercide as a social, political and human rights problem. It is the responsibility of the Christian church to address evil from the standpoint of a worshiping community. Violence against women and girls is primarily a theological issue because it perverts human relationships and devalues the dignity of the person. In defining the problem in this manner the church as a whole must denounce the violence, take steps to aid the victims, and have a clear plan to hold accountable secular and church institutions that collude with culpable governmental and criminal justice systems. A theology of the cross, in which the dialectic of faith and works is central, provides a foundation for challenging the church in this role. It is the proclamation of the gospel that the church receives the transforming power to change lives and social systems. Lindberg illustrates this perspective in his discussion of the application of Luther’s theology to social welfare. He argues that Luther maintains that the church is the instrument through which God works to address evil in the world. “Luther had the boldness to address structural sources of injustice and to advocate legislative redress of them because his social ethics was rooted in the worship and proclamation of the community. The congregation is the local source in which God ‘creates a new world.’” Luther’s concern for social welfare was a signifi­­cant shift from medieval piety to social ethics.27 Lindberg notes that, for Luther, Gottesdienst (translated typically as “worship”) means “God’s service.” Worship is the root and context in which we are able to serve. Therefore, love for the neighbor is rooted in the creative love of God that we encounter in worship.

Luther does not speak of social ethics per se, but that does not mean that in our sense of the phrase he did not develop it. What Luther does speak of is service to the neighbor, service that is inseparable from service to God—indeed, is service to God. . . . It is because God serves us that we serve others. As Vilmos Vajta has emphasized in his thorough study of Luther’s theology of worship, worship and service to others are inseparable. There is no doubt then that both worship and service are corporate and communal. . . . The reform of worship included the renewal of social life. . . . “Now there is no greater service of God [gottis dienst] than Christian love which helps and serves the needy” (LW 45:172 . . . ). Worship creates the community and the community serves others. The work of the people does not stop at worship but rather begins there as the work of the people for the benefit of others—in what has been called “the liturgy after the liturgy.”28

Luther considers the daily work of the Christian to be worship because it embodies obedience to God’s will. Worship within the community is at the heart of all Christian work.

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