The Holiness of the Church and taking her as "Hostage"

The site Etymology On line tells us that the word “hostage” comes from the late 13^th century, from Old French. A hostage is a "person given as security or hostage". It can come either from hoste "guest" via the notion of "a lodger held by a landlord as security," or from Late Latin obsidanus which is the "condition of being held as security." The Latin obsidanus is from obsess, that is, ob- "before" + base of sedere "to sit". So a hostage is someone who “sits before someone else”.

What happens when I take someone as “hostage”? It means that I hold you in, lock you in, make you sit in front of me so I can watch you...so I can secure myself. I hostage you for me and my security. I refuse your movement for my security. I hold you as my security.

Look at the consequence. The movement—the mobility—and the freedom of the other is stopped. It is not given its opportunity. Why? Because I am using you for my security. I secure through you.

This can happen in an inter-personal relationship. Mr. X hostages Mr. Y. Mr. X stops the growth, the movement of Mr. Y for the security of Mr. X. “Do not make new friends…I am your exclusive friend”. “Do not do anything different…do what I am doing”. Etc.

This can happen in a community or a group. A member, for example, hostages the community and keeps the community from moving and growing and maturing. “My plan and my project should be the project of everyone else”. “I refuse to share…”  

Yes, of course this can be seen in terrorism today…but we are not interested in this area here in this essay.

What does all this have to do with the Church? The Church can be held as hostage by an attitude and even by a particular way of behaving. Think about the “holiness” of the Church. She is “holy” by virtue of the fact that she is called by Christ—called to assemble with Christ. The Church has a vocation to be on mission with Christ; she is to continue the work of Christ in promoting the love of God in the world.

The Church is holy even if there are so many members of the Church who show crazy and “unholy” behavior. During mass this is confessed: “I believe in the holy…Church”. I believe that the Church is holy. Note that we do not say “I believe in the holy members of the Church”. We do not say “I believe in the Church of holy members”. No. Rather, we pray, “I believe in the holy…Church”.

“Un-holiness” can possibly put the holiness of the Church to hostage. The holiness of the Church is kept—it is made to “sit before” the “hostage taker”. The holiness of the Church is refused its visible manifestation. Through my behaving I can hostage the Church and make her look so unholy and so perverted. This way I refuse to recognize the place of the Holy Spirit in the Church. It becomes “the Church that I want” and not the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Of course the Church remains holy--even with many crazy things going on in her. She continues to be People of God, Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit. it is the task of members of this holy assembly to reveal the credibility of that holiness to "all the nations". So there is the major task of "witnessing" to the holiness of God. We can never place the Church on absolute hostage. The Holy Spirit will find the way to keep her dynamic, true and moving in the light of the gospel. Yet, this does not stop Church members from a certain vigilance in credible building.

During the recent RH-bill debates, could it be possible that the Church was kept hostage—by persons from both sides? Could it be possible that some held the Church on hostage for their own security, agenda and interests?