Where does the church belong?

Where does the church belong? The answer seems obvious, and most people will answer that the church belongs to Christ.But the answer will be different if we take Paul's undisputed letters (seven authentic letters) where the church is always God's. It is Deutero-Pauline letters (for example, Ephesians 4:1-17) that the church is Christ's.

As for Paul, the church belongs to God (God's), not to Christ. Christ serves God. Paul's theology is thoroughly theocentric (God-centered). Only in Deutero-Pauline or Pastorals, the church belongs to Christ, who is the head of the church. Christ is served (for example, read Colossians 1:18 or Eph 4:1-12).

Which view will you take? Or, how will you interpret these two different views of the church? Furthermore, in Paul's letters, "the body of Christ" (soma christou) does not refer to the church. The body of Christ is, first of all, Christ's own body -- his life and death. Derivatively, it is a metaphor for a way of living for those who follow Christ ("You are Christ's body -- Christ-like body," 1 Cor 12:27). If we understand the body of Christ as Christ's body crucified, the image of this body of Christ provokes all kinds of bodies broken due to injustices. The challenge is, What can I do in the face of injustices and broken cries for justice?

I feel like I am a lawyer for Paul.

I wrote two books for this reason.

• Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor (Fortress Press, 2008)

• A Theological Introduction to Paul's Letters: Exploring a Threefold Theology of Paul (Cascade Books, 2011)