idolatry (worship) and economics (community)

Other resources: anglobaptist and scandal of particularity's recent sermons (thanks to anglo for the link) and theopraxis' continuing thoughts are all very helpful and challenging for this discussion-they're keeping it practical.

now, just a this blog is called "for the time being", hold all these ideas and formulations provisionally, always ready to learn and grow. But for now I'm going to defend my pairing of community/worship for a little bit longer to see where it goes.

both anglobaptist and jen mention the "Body" in their sermons referring to the Body of Christ, the Chirst. Anglobaptist asked in the comments below if Community/Body would be a better option. Now, of course the Body metaphor is exceedingly important to Paul in his letter and should be given due consideration, esp. because many times its used in conjunctio with "peace" (eph.4; col 3:15). But, the metaphor of the body is genernerally used in conjunction with spiritual gifts, and used in such a way to perpetuate individualism. "We are all specially given a particular gift to use in the church" sounds more like a group of indepentent contractors or consultants coming into work on a project. Also, Paul deploys the use of the Body metaphor in the context of community worship in 1 Cor. 12-14.

Now other support: There is quite a naturally linking of worship and community in the most pivotal chapter in Romans 12. Also, when we look at the monarchy in the OT there is a connention b/w idolary (worship) and economics (community). Solomon looses the kingdom b/c of idolatry and then his son sinks into economic oppression, see 1 kings 11-12. and concerning "allegience" (which Jen skillfully discusses in her sermon), when we think about the imperial cult of Rome (which linked worship of Caesar with social/community control) and how Paul stands agains against this putting Christ at the center of our allegiances calling us new citizens. And lastly, it seems natural and helpful to look at the Torah through the lens of community and worship and the interplay of both.

So that's my brief defense...but i do realize that throughout this discussion it has all been rather abstract/ephemeral, and that while I define what I meant by "individual" I haven't really done that with community or worship, so I'll do that soon. Also, how do we keep community from being oppressive is a question that still needs answering...