Page 219 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

M I S S I O N : T H E C H U R C H I N T H E W O R L D
This becomes clearer when we consider the images of the
Church found in Scripture. The Church is the people of God,
dispersed throughout the world—a missionary reality. But she
is also the Body of Christ, gathered together. In the Eucharist,
the dispersed are brought together as they will be in the last
days. The early Christians understood the Church eucharisti-
cally: as the convocation of the people of God, an image and
foretaste of the eschata.
For this reason, unity in the Eucharist is inseparable from
witness. Service and preaching can only be truly common if
we share the one Christ. To witness is not simply to act or to
speak, but to be present where Christ is—to be His Body in
the world. Such witness cannot exist without the unity of the
Eucharist.
The Orthodox understanding of the Church begins from
the Eucharist and from the lived experience of Christian life.
The Church is identified by her participation in worship. The
divine liturgy does not attempt to explain the faith. At its cen-
ter stands the Eucharist, and within it the faith is confessed in
the creed.
From this perspective, the Church is not constituted by
mission or evangelization. Mission does not define her being.
The Church transcends secular institutions and does not com-
pete with them. Her action is personal, not institutional. Love
cannot be organized or administered. The more deeply the
Church lives her eschatological identity, the more she will love
and serve those in need.
Thus, although the Church is sent into the world, mission
does not determine her essence. In the fulfillment of time,
there will be no evangelists, for the need for evangelization
will have passed. What will remain is Christ with His apostles
and all the children of God gathered around Him.
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