Ephesians 4:1-6
We have begun to look at what theologians and church fathers across the centuries have called the "marks" or the "notes" of the church. Coming without apology from an evangelical and scriptural perspective, still we are seeking to avoid the unproductive tension between fundamental-liberal extremists, and perhaps get a fresh look at God's words about the church.
One of the four characteristics that belong to the church universal is the mark or note of UNITY. The Church of Jesus Christ is ONE.
Any study of the church begins with the scriptural concept of faith as corporate, or that which is held in common among all the spiritual fellowship of God's people.
THE IDEA OF CORPORATE FAITH
We are so attuned to think of faith as a purely subjective, individual matter that it is almost startling to find, when we are looking for it, just how "corporate" the concept of faith as expressed in the New Testament really is. Actually, the "corporate nature of faith" shines in both divisions of the Bible:
In the OLD TESTAMENT "salvation" was equivalent to being or becoming a member of the people of God; "damnation" was the equivalent of being cast out or excommunicated from the rest of this group.
The NEW TESTAMENT carries this group identity idea forward; with emphasis on "belonging" to the ekklesia: Jesus called the disciples one by one, and they joined a group (which was the church anticipated during Jesus' ministry;)
The church-in-the-making waited in one accord for the initial Baptism of the Spirit. They carried this UNITY forward throughout the pages of Acts and the New Testament (Galatians 2, etc.) The word "saint" is used in the singular only twice in the New Testament, both times in relationship to the church; all other appearances of the word is in the plural, "saints!"
Speaking of the use of the word "church" to mean the common faith, in his sermon "Of the Church" (vi:392) John Wesley made the statement, "A more ambiguous word than this, the Church, is scarce to be found in the English language. It is sometimes taken for a building, set apart for public worship; sometimes for a congregation, or body of people, united together in the service of God. Wesley goes on to say that when he speaks of the church he means the latter, the "body of people UNITED together in the service of God."
H. Ray Dunning says: The place to begin a study of the church is in the corporate character of biblical faith.
This corporate nature of faith has been an essential part of the church from the beginning. The faith has not been something to "JOIN" like a club or an army or a work force; it has been something to be BAPTIZED INTO, to be BORN AGAIN INTO, to become part of as we change direction, and begin a new way of living.
This corporate nature of faith is still valid; it is still something we need to recapture and re-emphasize. Our individual walk with God is to follow this pattern. The church in other days and other cultures understood this better than we do, perhaps.
It is easy for us to make church a matter of convenience in our weddings and burials and christenings, as well as in our worship. But especially these sacrament-like occasions are set in the context of the strength of the corporate faith.
As Christians we are members of each other! We exist to lift one another up and bless each other. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers!
Our burials should be as often as possible from the church, by the church, in the church; our marriages should be solemnized as sacred services of worship, and reflect the corporate faith, and the fact that the church is the greater family. Our christenings are powerful statements to three worlds that our children belong to Christ's Body, and all others may keep "hands off!"
It is this CORPORATE faith that underlies all we say about the church. The marks of the church have their reality and existence in this shared LIFE.
THE CHURCH IS ONE
We have already recognized that all Christendom has agreed that the Church of Jesus is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. The church is:
ONE (and yet it is diverse;)
HOLY (and yet it is very human and imperfect!) The true church is holy because it belongs to a holy God; yet it is imperfect because it has ME (and you) in it! But we are washed in the blood, and are being made in the image of Christ!)
CATHOLIC (world-wide, and yet very local and provincial) The Gospel fits the whole world; and yet there are cultural adaptations; differences, applications.
APOSTOLIC (true to the ancient Word; yet up-to-date and experiential, what we term "confessional!") The true church lives by every word that proceeds from the Father; it abides in the True Vine, the Son.
Just now particularly look at the statement: THE CHURCH IS ONE .
The unity of the church in the love of God was the heart of Jesus' great prayer (in John 17.) All who own allegiance to the One Great Lord of the church are part of a unity for which Jesus prayed.
Painful as it is, we have to live with some unanswered questions about why it is so difficult for all God's children to get together; and why genuine allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ does not more quickly break down barriers of misunderstanding within the family of God. But at the same time, we need to be available to God as His instruments of healing and love within the Body.
There are three outstanding scriptural figures of this unity: these figures are filial and conjugal and organic. The
FILIAL figure is seen in such passages as John 1:12 "As many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become the children of God." Or Romans 8:15 "We have received the Spirit of adoption as children whereby we cry, "Abba! Father!" and Romans 8:29 says the church is "conformed to the image of (God's) Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren."
The church is God's FAMILY. But there is another striking figure of the unity of the church with Jesus Christ, the figure of
CONJUGAL unity, or the marriage of Christ and the Church. In that passage we usually are thinking of earthly family relationships. But if we turn the passage over on its other base like an hourglass, we see the UNITY of the church in relationship to Christ: (Ephesians 5:25)
Husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
As husband and wife become one, so the church is ONE with her Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is an even closer figure of the unity of the church; that of:
ORGANIC unity. In Ephesians 4:15 we are charged to "Grow up in all aspects into Christ, who is the HEAD (of the Body)." And in Ephesians 5:30 is the startling translation, at least in the KJV,
"We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones!"
The church is to be/to become the very BODY of Jesus Christ here on earth. This is an INCARNATIONAL concept— that as the life of Jesus is breathed into each member of the Body, together we become ONE, and become CHRIST INCARNATE TO THIS WORLD! ["So what?"]
BRINGING THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH HOME WHERE WE ARE
Any sincere study of the church is a useful thing in order to get the inclusive picture; the ideal of what God intends we shall be world-wide; but theology should/must find application in every day living. The great concepts and ideas of theology finally are not simply to inform and educate us, but to become food to eat and sustain and grow us, and make us healthy.
So these "marks of the church" - ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC -must be reflected in each local congregation: HOW CAN "THE CHURCH IS ONE" TOUCH YOUR LIFE AND MINE?
I would suggest four ways: (The first is NEGATIVE) DON'T BE SUPERFICIAL; this UNITY is always in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 12: No (one) can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit. So-called ecumenical services may or may not be helpful; all too often they have an agenda of legitimizing non- Christian "churches."
The second: DO AFFIRM YOUR PERSONAL UNITY with Jesus; as God's children; as being TRUE to God in a personal sense; as being part of the Body of Christ.
Third: DO PRAY FOR AND LOVE CHRISTIANS everywhere. Look for Jesus in people other than our own Wesleyan family. One of the greatest evils in God's sight is being unwilling to maintain the UNITY of the true church. In New Testament vision, there is no greater sin than schism. Listen to John Wesley again:
"I dare not exclude from the Church catholic all those congregations in which any unscriptural doctrines, which cannot be affirmed by "the pure word of God," are sometimes, yea, frequently preached; neither all those congregations, in which the sacraments are not "duly administered." . (and here Wesley specifically mentions the Church of Rome with which he disagreed in many ways). . . "Whoever they are that have 'one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one God and Father of all,' I can easily bear with their holding wrong opinions, yea, and superstitious modes of worship: Nor would I, on these accounts, scruple still to include them within the pale of the catholic Church [small "c"]; neither would I have any objection to receive them, if they desired it, as members of the Church of England." (op cit next page) Fourth and finally: DO IDENTIFY WITH THE CHURCH RIGHT WHERE YOU WORSHIP EVERY SUNDAY ! In your heart, with your mouth think and say "WE" and never "THEY!"
There is no doubt that it is easier to love the "perfect church" of theory, or to think of some greater, more "together" fellowship in some far city. But here and now, where you and I worship together, imperfect as we are, we are Christ's Body— we are part of His ONE GREAT CHURCH!
Am I saying that we ought to quit being denominational Nazarenes? Not at all! I am saying that we already belong to one great Church which we had better love and appreciate and work and pray toward its health and success in showing a needy world the love of its Lord. We have the opportunity where we are of reflecting God's will that the Church be one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Amen.
-------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene.
