Ecclesiological Gnosticism: The Importance of “Place” in Spiritual Formation
Few church leaders expected a health crisis would place technological demands on their ecclesiology. When the novel coronavirus began rapidly spreading in the United States around mid-March 2020, many churches started streaming their services online. Some pivoted well while others struggled through the changes. While our church livestreamed services before the pandemic began, all of a sudden everything we were doing was centered around it. By now, we’ve all experienced the strangeness of preaching, singing, and making announcements in an empty room while staring into a camera. In response, a new cottage industry was born with a whole host of organizations promising to help pastors do a better job at producing polished online services.
At first, all of the changes in churches due to COVID-19 were seen as temporary fixes until we got on the other side of the pandemic. In late spring 2020, however, many church growth gurus began boldly claiming a new way forward for the church, not merely pronouncing the necessary changes during the pandemic, but all the lasting changes that would occur to the church even after the pandemic was long over. Carey Nieuwhof, of Connexus Church, has been a leading voice in this conversation. He writes
Prior to COVID-19, most churches were still anchored in the past—gather here at a set time and we can be the church. Miss it, and well, you miss it. But as more and more churches move seriously into online and social, that will change. In the future, the church will meet anytime, anywhere, and sometimes meet in person.
This leader then went on to argue people nowadays view digital as “real” by the way they constantly slip in-and-out of digital environments throughout their day. The reasoning here is simple to follow: if people live most of their lives in digital environments, then the church should also be immersed in them. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say the post-quarantine church could be primarily a digital entity that happens to have a physical presence. I call this mindset “ecclesiological Gnosticism.”
Defining Terms
Okay, so let’s break it down. In systematic theology, ecclesiology refers to the study of the church. What does the whole Bible say about the church? How ought the church be structured? Seems simple enough, right? Gnosticism, on the other hand, was a sort of philosophical system and worldview that had its roots in the Greco-Roman world and which sought to embed itself within the Christian faith by the second-century. Gnostic views held that everything in the material world is evil and that physical matter is devoid of having any spiritual value. Gnosticism advocated detesting earthly things in order to seek higher, spiritual things. Accordingly, salvation was found in finally being able to escape the physical body and the embrace only the spiritual world.
I’m certainly not saying that modern church growth experts are equivalent to the heresy of the ancient Gnostics with regard to their view of salvation. Nevertheless, I think the phrase ecclesiological Gnosticism captures well the growing idea that the physical place where we worship and disciple one another is, at best, of no real importance and, at worst, morally deficient, especially when churches do not prioritize a strong digital presence.
Yet it is these digital technologies that tempt us to lose sight of the fact that God made us as embodied people who occupy actual space. Interacting with one another as avatars is only a shadow of the true substance of biblical community.
“Digital technologies that tempt us to lose sight of the fact that God made us as embodied people who occupy actual space”
So, how should we respond? Is it time to finally let go of those “anchors” that have held us down to the clunky, slow, non-efficient method of gathering together for worship in favor of online options? Should we just Zoom our meeting with a brother or sister for coffee at 6 a.m. instead of going in person? I don’t think so, and to show why, let me sketch out a biblical theology of place.
The Role of Place in the Old Testament
In Genesis 1, God declares his work of creation as being very good, including the first human pair whom he outfitted with physical bodies in time and space. Then, with rich tabernacle imagery—where the presence of God was mediated with people—to depict the scene, God dwells with his people in this physical place. He intentionally sets up creation with the goal of being in close spatial proximity to humanity.
Now, we know that in Genesis 3, Adam’s original sin spoiled everything, as darkness penetrated our hearts and the world around us. Paul says the entire created order has been groaning ever since, waiting for the time when God would create a new humanity in Christ (Rom. 8:19–23). The biblical storyline, however, doesn’t radically shift in terms of God’s purposes. His desire to share physical proximity with his people doesn’t suddenly disappear. Instead, he continues his redemptive program by creating a people for himself through Abraham.
We read in Genesis 12:1–3 that God would once again designate a place where he would enjoy this proximity with his people in the land of Canaan. According to verse 3, this was to be the arrangement until God would bring blessings to “all the families of the earth” through them.
The Role of “Place” in the New Testament
Today we understand that this global blessing has been fulfilled in Christ, as he came through this lineage and then offered himself as the sacrifice for his people’s sins. And who are his people? All the people from all over the world who hear his voice (John 10:16).
This is where it is crucial to understand how the theology of the New Testament has its roots firmly planted in the soil of the Old. The hope of the Christian faith is not to escape our physical world and our physical bodies. Certainly, believers are spiritually present with the Lord immediately upon their death (2 Cor. 5:8), but according to 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, Paul plainly lays out his case that bodily resurrection at the consummation of this present age is the center of Christian hope. Why do we have this hope in a future, bodily resurrection? Because of our once-crucified but now resurrected king. In Christ we inherit both spiritual and physical life (Rom. 5:12–21).
As we approach the glorious end of the Bible’s storyline, the new heavens and new earth are ushered in. There we find Christ’s universal Church, living in this space with resurrected bodies that are now forever freed from the curse of sin.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Rev. 21:4 ESV)
The approaching eschatological reality is clear: God will dwell with us. Tucked within this verse is a powerful theological claim: God will once again share actual, physical proximity with his embodied people. The Lord makes use of place. Place is very important to God because place is where true, embodied interaction happens.
Where Do We Go from Here?
We occupy this sometimes weird-feeling space in between. We are now citizens of heaven, but we are still awaiting the return of our king and the consummation of the age (Phil. 3:20). This is precisely where the local church comes in.
“Place is very important to God because place is where true, embodied interaction happens.”
Think through Paul’s Spirit-inspired methodology in the book of Acts. When he goes to a new location and preaches the gospel, what does he do after a portion of the people repent and believe? He forms them into a local church, together with elders and deacons (1 Tim. 3), and a membership of people who come together in real space and time each Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7). Together, they receive instruction in the Word (2 Tim. 2:42), observe the ordinances of baptism (Matt. 28:18–20), and the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17–34), practice biblical church discipline (Matt. 18:15–20; 1 Cor. 5), and care for one another (Gal. 6:2). And throughout the week they were to be in one another’s lives, exhorting and encouraging one another daily in face-to-face, embodied conversations (Heb. 3:12–13).
My point here isn’t that we should ditch all digital technologies and white-knuckle our way back to the supposed “good ol’ days.” Instead, what I am pushing back against here is ecclesiological Gnosticism. We are meant to worship as the church together physically.
Yes, these technologies may serve as a nice complement to our physical gatherings and shared lives together. They may even offer a way for us to keep a sense of continuity within our faith families as we make our way through the current crisis. But that’s just it! We should utilize these tools as an on-ramp to our real-embodied local churches.
As we begin to see the light at the end of this pandemic tunnel, let us keep pressing in on the importance of spatial, embodied Christian community. In a world overrun with digital environments, let us tell another, better story, the one where we meet people where they really, truly exist.
There is something to the local church gathering physically. Let us tell the story of where the warmth of a hug is felt, the sound of other voices gathered in worship is heard, and the moisture of tears shed together leave stains on our shirts. This is the local church. And it is worth every effort on our part to keep pursuing this counter-cultural life together in the real places God has us.
Drew Heurion serves as Pastor of Evangelism and Discipleship at Central Baptist Church in Warner Robins, Georgia. He is also an Instructor for Spurgeon College’s Contextualized Leadership Development program and co-host at Sword and Staff Podcast. He is married to Candace, and they have three children.