Page 395 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

T O WA R D A L I V I N G C AT E C H E S I S : C O N C LU S I O N
Often, particularly in our time, the burdens of history and
human expectations are projected onto the Church as if they
were her ultimate goal. Many are troubled by the anxiety of
“saving the Church,” as if she depended on human defense. Yet
the Church does not save by what she does or says, but by what
she is.
The great problem facing the Church today is precisely the
question of her identity. What is the Church? What distin-
guishes her from every other community or social structure?
The confusion surrounding this question is immense and lies
at the root of many misunderstandings and tensions in the
Church’s relationship with modern society. Too often, the
Church is perceived—and sometimes perceives herself—as a
regulator of moral or national life, a role that contemporary
society increasingly refuses. If this were her true identity, then
the rejection of the Church by many would be understand-
able.
Indeed, there have been periods in history when the Church
assumed such roles, often out of necessity and in service to her
people. This in itself is not to be dismissed. Yet her identity
cannot be reduced to functions conditioned by historical cir-
cumstances. If it were so, the Church would have ceased to
exist in the early centuries, under oppressive regimes, or in
missionary contexts where such roles were impossible.
If, then, her identity does not lie in these functions, where
is it to be found?
It is found in her very way of existence—in her Eucharistic
being. In the Divine Eucharist, the Church manifests and of-
fers a mode of existence in which the human being is trans-
formed from an individual into a person: a unique identity
born from relationship with the other, an existence realized as
freedom in love. Here, historical life itself becomes an ascetic
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