Your Church Isn’t Liberal or Conservative. It’s the Body of Christ

Reclaiming the Church’s True Identity Beyond Labels and Ideologies

In a polarized world, it’s easy—even tempting—to label our churches as liberal or conservative. After all, such descriptors provide a kind of shorthand for who we think we are, what we stand for, and what kind of people might find a spiritual home among us. These descriptors are an easy way to describe a local congregation without unpacking the ministries of the church or telling the story of those who call that congregation home. But to begin defining a congregation with political ideology, whether liberal or conservative, is to misunderstand what the Church is and whose we are. It is to forsake the rich and distinctive identity of the Church as the Body of Christ.

The lack of ecclesiological identity is not limited to the political terms we throw around. Identifiers like “Bible-believing” or “evangelical” fail to fully capture the Church’s ecclesiological identity. And let’s face it, “conservative” and “liberal” congregations are “Bible-believing” or “evangelical.” Such labels may describe theological emphases or cultural affiliations (most likely political leanings), but they, too, miss the deeper truth of what the Church is. In today's world, many of us define ourselves by our connection to a donkey or an elephant. But as followers of Christ, the most important animal in our lives is the Lamb—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The Church is not defined by the adjectives we attach to it. The Church is the Body of Christ—formed by the Spirit, gathered around Word and sacrament, and sent into the world as a living sign of Christ’s presence.

For those of us who labor as pastors and theologians, this is a pressing challenge. The temptation to view the Church through political or cultural lenses isn’t just “out there” in the culture—it’s alive within our congregations and often within ourselves. Too often, I have caught myself describing one of the congregations I have served as this or that to describe the members of the body. Yet the gospel calls us to resist this reduction of the Church to categories that make sense to the world. Instead, we are invited to reclaim the Church’s identity as the living, breathing Body of Jesus Christ, who is not owned by any political party, theological camp, or cultural affiliation.

When meeting with prospective church members, the question of “liberal” or “conservative” is the second most frequent question after questions about ministries for children. At one time in my ministry, I would skirt this question, but now I will gently explain that while labels like "liberal" or "conservative" might help categorize political ideologies, they miss the heart of what the church is called to be. "Our focus isn’t on fitting into political molds," I’ll them, "but on being the Body of Christ—worshipping, serving, and growing together in love." Usually, this will soften their expressions and create space for the Holy Spirit to go to work with a flicker of curiosity about what it might mean to belong to a community where Jesus, not labels, defines our identity.

A Theological Identity

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds a divided congregation of their true nature: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). For Paul, the Church is not a voluntary association of like-minded individuals. If you want a voluntary echo-chamber organization, there are plenty out there. The Church is not a political action committee, a Bible study club, or a civic organization. The Church is the Body of Christ, formed by the Spirit, gathered by the Word, and fed by the sacrament of Christ’s broken body and poured-out blood.

But what does Paul mean when he calls the Church Christ’s body? As theologian Robert Jenson writes:

“Neither the bread and cup nor the gathering of the church look like a human body or react as one. The obvious first suggestion, which turns out to work perfectly on the texts, is that [Paul] speaks of the ‘body of Christ’ as he speaks of ‘bodies’ generally. In Paul’s language, someone’s ‘body’ is simply the person him or herself insofar as this person is available to other persons and to him or herself, insofar as the person is an object for other persons and him or herself.”

Jenson explains that the Church is the risen body of Christ because it is the way Christ makes himself available to the world:

“The church, according to Paul, is the risen body of Christ. She is this because the bread and cup in the congregation’s midst is the very same body of Christ.”

For Paul, and for us, this means that the bread and cup we share at the table and the gathered community of the Church are both truly the Body of Christ. Jenson observes:

“We must learn to say: the entity rightly called the body of Christ is whatever object it is that is Christ’s availability to us as subjects; by the promise of Christ, this object is the bread and cup and the gathering of the church around him.”

The Church and the sacraments are not mere metaphors but realities through which Christ is present. To call the Church the Body of Christ is not a symbolic or poetic gesture. It is the truth of how Christ has chosen to be embodied in the world.

The Danger of Ideological Labels

When we label a church as liberal or conservative—or even as “liberal leaning,” “Bible-believing,” or “fairly conservative”—we are doing more than naming a preference or theological tendency. We are trading in our birthright as the Body of Christ for the pottage of worldly power and tribal belonging. Such labels make it easier for us to dismiss one another. “Oh, that’s a conservative church,” we say, as if its convictions render it irrelevant to us. Or, “They’re just a liberal congregation,” as if their witness were any less faithful.

Poster by Hatch Print Shop that hangs in my office

That said, I must also acknowledge that in some contexts, labels like “liberal” or “progressive” can function as signposts for those who have been excluded or hurt by other expressions of the Church. For individuals and families seeking a community where they know they will be welcomed and affirmed, such language can offer a sense of safety and belonging. Churches often use these terms as shorthand to convey an openness to marginalized groups, signaling that Christ’s love is for all people. Transformation cannot occur if the community is not a safe space for all of God’s children.

However, even when these labels serve a practical purpose, they remain incomplete. The Church is called to be more than a safe space—it is to be a transformative space. To fully live into its calling as the Body of Christ, the Church must offer not only inclusion but also the radical, unifying power of the gospel. The bread and cup we share bind us together as one body, not because we agree or even like each other, not because the church hosting the worship service advertises with a particular label, but because Christ has made us so.

The sacraments hold us accountable to one another and to Christ. The bread and cup we share remind us that we are one body—not because we agree or because we like each other but because Christ has made it so. To eat and drink together without regard for one another, as Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 11:29, is to fail to discern the Body of Christ.

With the Church’s primary focus on our identity as the Body of Christ, we can move beyond labels and their limitations while extending Christ's welcome and grace to all seeking him.

Retired United Methodist Bishop and professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity Will Willimon often challenges congregations to ask whether they are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ or merely spiritualizing their political preferences. Will points out that Jesus was an equal-opportunity offender: he scandalized the religious conservatives by breaking Sabbath laws and dining with sinners, and he upset the progressives by insisting on the fulfillment of the Law and the exclusivity of his claims. If your congregation’s gospel never surprises, challenges, or even offends you, it’s worth asking whether you are truly preaching Christ.

“All Things New” - James Janknegt

The Church’s mission is not to affirm our biases or prop up our ideologies. It exists to proclaim Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. In proclaiming Christ rather than our political ideology, we should expect to be comforted and confronted, affirmed and challenged, no matter where we fall on the political spectrum.

Reclaiming Our Ecclesiology

Reclaiming the Church’s identity as the Body of Christ requires a return to robust ecclesiology. An understanding of the Church not primarily as a collection of individuals but as a community reality shaped by the triune God. It means understanding that our unity comes not from shared political commitments but from our shared baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection.

Jenson puts it beautifully:

“There is and needs to be no other place than the church for [Christ] to be embodied, nor in that other place any other entity to be the ‘real’ body of Christ. Heaven is where God takes space in his creation to be present to the whole of it; he does that in the church.”

To call the Church “liberal,” “conservative,” “evangelical,” or “Bible-believing” diminishes its true identity as the Body of Christ. The Church is where heaven meets earth, where Christ is truly present in word, sacrament, and community.

An Invitation to the Body

Instead of settling for reductive labels, the Church is invited to embody the fullness of Christ’s presence in the world. This may involve asking difficult questions: How do the sacraments shape our lives together? How does our life together make Christ available to the world? Are we more shaped by the Word and sacraments than by politicians' platforms? These questions invite us to set aside our loyalties to the donkey or the elephant and turn toward the Lamb of God.

The Church is a peculiar people, called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light. It is not liberal, conservative, evangelical, or Bible-believing. It is the Body of Christ—the risen Jesus’ availability to the world in bread, cup, and gathered community.

This is the Church’s gift and calling. How will we respond, knowing this reality? Thanks be to God.

Quotes from Robert Jenson are from Systematic Theology, I.205-06.