Permeable Borders: Lay Christians in a Changing World

Abstract

Christian laity have the capacity and the opportunity to lead in the movement toward Church unity as it may appropriately be defined in the twenty-first century. The foundations for rethinking the character and role of the lay Christian must be built from fresh thinking about the nature of the changing world where the whole Church of Jesus Christ lives and works. We start by placing our thoughts about the character and role of the laity in the context of the wider world and broad human experience. We begin with this world perspective because this is the setting in which the unity of the baptized must ultimately be realized and with which smaller communities of believers must find harmony. “Go, ye, into all the world. . . .” Then we proceed to examine today’s political communities and Christian churches where Christians first form the relationships through which they work in national and international settings. New insights emerge in each of these three arenas. These three will outline our consideration of “the lay Christian in a changing world” below. • First, profound changes in how states, governments, and peoples interact in our increasingly interdependent post-Cold War world challenge traditional thinking about the capacity of states and governing authorities acting outside partnership with their own citizens to envisage new relationships.