The Church exists, and does not depend for its existence
upon our definition of it: it exists wherever God in His
sovereign freedom calls it into being by calling his own into
the fellowship of His Son.
And the Church exists solely by His mercy. God shuts up and
will shut up every way except the way of faith which simply
accepts His mercy as mercy. To that end, He is free to break
off unbelieving branches, to graft in wild slips, and to call
"No people" His people. And if, at the end, those who have
preserved through all the centuries the visible "marks" of the
Church find themselves at the same board with some strange and
uncouth late-comers on the ecclesiastical scene, may we not
fancy that they will hear Him say--would it not be so like him
to say--"It is my will to give unto these last even as unto
thee?" Final judgment belongs to God, and we have to beware of
judging before the time. I think that if we refuse fellowship
in Christ to any body of men and women who accept Jesus as Lord
and show the fruits of His Spirit in their corporate life, we
do so at our peril. It behooves us, therefore, to receive one
another as Christ has received us.-Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), The Household of God, London, SCM Press, 1953, New York: Friendship Press,
1954, p. 150

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others.- Dietrich Bonhoeffer