The Four Marks of the Church

[Our readings were Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:22-27; and John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15.]

Of the three major holidays of the church year— Easter, Christmas, and Pentecost—Pentecost is the one that has no secular tradition. There is no Pentecost equivalent of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, and perhaps that’s a good thing. Because we don’t have the distractions of candy canes or egg hunts, we can focus on the meaning of Pentecost to the Church. For, on Pentecost, we recall how, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church is given an identity and authority grounded in the proclamation of the Gospel.

This Easter, we have been hearing the stories from Acts of how the Spirit acted in the earliest days of the Church. We heard about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch and how the Spirit wouldn’t even wait for Peter to finish preaching to alight on the members of Cornelius’ household. All this action back then can make us feel somewhat depressed today, when we compare what we read about with what we see today. We read about division and controversy and everything we do seems pale and weak compared to what we hear happened back on that first Pentecost. It’s no wonder that a French theologian, Alfred Loisy, said about 100 years ago, “Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom, and what came was the Church!” (Of course, he said it in French: “Jésus annonçait le Royaume et c’est l’Église qui est venue!”) How can reading an extract from John’s Gospel in several languages compete with the story of strangers from many languages speaking together with understanding on that first Pentecost?

Obviously, it can’t and it doesn’t need to. The story of Pentecost isn’t intended to show us what the church should look like every Sunday. Instead, the message of Pentecost is about the importance of the Church and how it is inseparable from Christ. Each year on Pentecost, we are reminded of who we are as a church, what message we proclaim, and the source of that proclamation.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church receives the power to proclaim the Gospel of the risen Christ. Even Peter, who publically denied Jesus, received the power to preach boldly.

The Church, whose “birthday” we celebrate on the Feast of Pentecost, has four major aspects which we sometimes refer to as the four “marks” of the Church and which we confess in the Nicene Creed when we say that we believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” We believe that the Church—the body of Christ—has these four distinctive characteristics.

The Spirit calls us to be one Church throughout the world. As we say in the Baptismal liturgy: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” On several occasions Jesus prayed that we may all be one as he and the Father are one.

The Church is holy because it is the Church of Christ. It has been set apart for a special purpose by and for God. Thankfully, this holiness doesn’t depend on the sanctity of individual members.

The Church is catholic—small “c”—because it is intended to be universal. “Catholic” comes from the Greek καθολικός (katholikos), or “universal”. The Church is intended to be open to everyone: all classes, all races and nationalities, both genders. It is for all times and places and isn’t limited to a particular time or place.

The church is apostolic in that it is connected to the faith of the apostles who were taught directly by Jesus. Some parts of the Church—such as the Roman Church, the Orthodox churches and the churches of the Anglican Communion—believe that we maintain apostolicity in the apostolic succession in which today’s bishops are connected by a chain of consecration back to the original Apostles. Other groups believe that they maintain the links through following the teachings of the Apostles.

Of course, it isn’t that simple. We say the Church is “one” and yet it clearly isn’t. Even in our small town we have a multitude of Christian churches—Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran, among others—all of whom maintain distinctions between each other. But, the impulse for unity is still there as the Spirit calls us to be “One”. The churches work together at all levels to find common ground, even when they aren’t together organically.

We say the church is “holy”, but we have to admit that the Church as an institution and individual Christians have done some clearly “non-holy” things. Again, the holiness of the Church isn’t necessarily expressed in the individual holiness of its members. But, the Church is drawn to act in a more “holy” way and it often responds. And, as individual members, we are called to greater holiness in our lives.

The claim of catholicity is based on our willingness to welcome everyone. If everyone, regardless of race or gender or wealth, isn’t completely welcome in the church, how do we claim that we are truly catholic? In most churches, even where we don’t have formal restrictions, do we have informal customs that discourage people from joining or attending?

Even where we have an apostolic succession, it isn’t perfect. But all Christians believe that it is important that the Church today is linked in some ways to the Church of the Apostles, whether by organizational structures or by common beliefs.

The four marks or aspects reinforce each other. Oneness supports holiness which supports catholicity which supports apostolicity. To truly be a Christian community and part of the Church, all four of them must be present to some degree, even if they are impaired.

On Pentecost particularly, but actually throughout the year, the Holy Spirit allows us to speak boldly to the Church and the world about how things are and how God calls them to be. The message of Pentecost is that Jesus Christ offers salvation to all and the Church exists to proclaim that salvation.