UNLEARNING THE CHURCH
Matthew 16:17-19; Col 1:18,24-25;
Thesis: We have adapted so many unhealthy and unbiblical views and practices we call the church, that we have almost rendered the church irrelevant and ineffective. We need to recover what Jesus expects or dreams the church will be.
There’s a lot of disenchantment for the church these days. Someone I know identifies herself as “Tired of the church, hungry for God.” A few days ago I came across an article titled, “I quit the church.” That said article was an excerpt from a book written by this former pastor who quit his church for several years. He says it helped him a lot to quit the church. It helped him to understand life. I am not sure if I agree with such an observation. I am sure there’s a lot of disgruntled people who look at the church as irrelevant, a waste of time, and a useless endeavor.
Some people see the church as an institution – highly organized and political. For a lot of people the church is nothing but a business – out to make a profit at the expense of people in the name of religion. For others it’s for entertainment. The church is a place to go to enjoy good music and interesting sermons. For others the church is for learning. Some people think of the church as a source for sermons – preached word. It does not matter if the sermon comes from a TV; a radio; the computer. The church is a school. You get to learn some stuff you don’t get anywhere. Someone told me this week that in some parts of the world, the church has become a talk show. You get to this place, and you get into the program. You are told when to applaud. Say Amen. Or make some unique sounds. I remember serving in the Philippines where some people came to the meetings because of the aircon.
For a lot of people the church has nothing to offer to life. It is irrelevant. It does nothing for the good of society. I remembered today the Immigration Officer who asked me the question: “what good does your church do for Hong Kong?” “What contribution do you make to our city?”
Not only is the church irrelevant to some, it is a menace to others. They look back in history and point back to the “Crusades” to those church sponsored attacks on non-Christians.
A lot of Christians seem to have forgotten the value of the church. For some it is nothing – a place one could go to. Some have lost the meaning, the purpose, and the joy or church. We hope to recover some of those today.
This week after sensing what Jesus wants me to share, I looked up into the word “church” and discovered a few wonderful things. Jesus mentioned the church only 3X, but the rest of the NT writers mentoned it 111X more. Paul writes the most (62X); Dr. Luke’s Acts mentions it 23X; John in Revel. 20X, the rest mentions it 6X.
First, we note that the church is God’s called out people. The Greek term ekklesia, originally referred to the assembled group of people who have been called out from among the citizens. They met to make decisions, to be instructed. After the meeting, these called-out people went back to their homes and communities to inform the rest of the people. They serve both as messengers and at times implementers of the decisions of the assembly.
God has done the same. He came into the world and called out people out of their sins; from out of the kingdom of sin, and Satan; Jesus called them out of their miseries, to make them into a new society. He has come preaching and inaugurating His rule on earth, and He called people to become a part of this especial body called the church whose main purpose is to become a “VISIBLE DEMONSTRATION OF HIS KINGDOM.” The church demonstrates that Jesus is here. The church is aimed at showing that God’s kingdom is here; the calls of forgiveness, of repentance, of turning to God will be heard through Jesus’ voice the church.
Second, Jesus says the church belongs to Him. It is his church. Matthew 16:18 records the first instance the term is used in the New Testament that we have today.
“So I tell you, you are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not be able to defeat it.” (NCV)
This is an amazing statement. Jesus describes his church as an overcoming body. The power of hell could not stop the marching church. Then Jesus calls the church his church. The apostle Paul later would help explain why Jesus claims ownership of the church. In Acts 20:28, Paul states,
“And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his blood—over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.” Acts 20:28 (NLT)
Jesus claims the church as his and is committed to its building. (We’ll talk more about this next week).
Another truth about the church comes from the Apostle Paul. He states that Jesus is the head of the church. He is the leader. He has the right to direct the affairs, the direction of the church.
“Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.” Colossians 1:18 (NLT)
Headship means leadership. Jesus leads his church. Our duty is to listen to our head, so he may lead us. This is so different from the popular idea that church leaders are the head of the church. I know of some leaders who claim the church as theirs. They make decisions for the church as if they own it.
Finally, and related to Jesus being the head of the church, the church is called the body of Christ.
“I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ’s sufferings for his body, the church.” Colossians 1:24 (NLT)
Christians who think they can serve Christ without relating to his body walk on dangerous grounds because they advocate a view that stands completely opposed to Jesus’. The church is Jesus’ body. Any attempt to sever Christ from his body would be met with divine displeasure. (Share cutting worms for baits. You normally cut the tail, and move closer to the head. The head would protect its tail. It will bite you if it is strong enough to do that.
Jesus identifies himself so closely with the church that at times the NT writers identify Christ with his body as “Christ.”
“A person’s body is only one thing, but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all parts make only one body. Christ is like that also.” 1 Cor. 12:12 (NCV)
Did you notice that? Christ is a body with many parts. (see also Acts 9:4).
To exist as a body of Christ is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences this side of heaven. Just thinking about this truth gives me goose bumps. At the same time I want to cry because I see how far so many of us are in our understanding, in our relationship with the body of Christ. This truth is often disregarded. Christians gather together without this realization. They relate with the church without enthusiasm. The church is anemic of power, of influence, of life.
I want to explore more of this in the next few weeks, but right now I want to bring you to John 17 to discover the four things Jesus prayed about the church. What does Jesus want His church to do or be? What are His purposes for the church? We discover the answer in the prayer of Jesus before his sufferings and death. In John 17 we have a wonderful picture of the purpose of God’s church on earth. As we will discover, Jesus prayed that the church would be marked by four main things: the glory of God, the word of God, the joy of God, and united in the love of God.
To reveal the glory of Jesus
This is clearly the main burden of Christ’s prayer from the fact that the words “glory” and “glorify” come no less than 7X. We are all familiar with the statement; “The chief end of man is to know God and glorify God forever.” What is not clear to us is this statement pertains to the church as a whole, and not to a few individuals. The church is called to reveal the glory of Jesus.
Jesus came as the first revealer of God in the flesh. John 1:14 states “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beget his glory, the glory of the only begotten God.”
But now Jesus would designate that role to the church. The glory of God (the majesty, power, beauty) of God will now be demonstrated through the church.
God’s glory is to be seen in the church. It is the lives of God’s people together, their worship and work together. It is the testimony of the church drawing people to Jesus.
To Proclaim the Word of God
Jesus tells us some interesting things about the Word of God. In verses six to eight, Jesus states that His followers, those to whom He revealed the Father, have accepted and obeyed His Father’s word. He also points out that His followers know that the truths He has taught them are not His’ alone, but His Father’s. These are true and authoritative.
In Verse 14 Jesus said,
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world, anymore that I am in the world.”
Jesus anticipates His word being received, lived out and proclaimed by His church.
As a church we have been called to continually hear from God. Our message is the word God gives to us.
The church is to be prophetic in this sense. We’ve got to become a prophetic church declaring God’s agenda for our times.
To be filled with the joy of God
Christ longed that his joy might be “fulfilled” in his disciples. At one time he spoke of his purpose in teaching his disciples as “that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.” (Jn 15:11; 16:24).
The NT church was filled with this remarkable quality of joy even in the midst of the fiercest trials, and this in itself was a powerful witness of the life of God’s Spirit within the church. Acts 16 describes how Paul and Silas, two followers of Christ who were beaten and thrown in jail had a church meeting. Around midnight, these two started to pray and sing praises to the Lord, with the other prisoners listening. They were filled with joy while in prison.
One author whose book had a powerful impact in my life is Richard Wurmbrand. One of the first books I read as a new follower of Christ in 1974 was “Tortured for Christ.” This book shares his experience of persecution for his faith in Christ. He lost all of his material possessions. His family suffered. The Romanian government threw him in prison for 14 years. The communist leaders did all they can to force him to renounce Jesus. They would beat him, punish him, starved him. In another book, he described how he felt after “the special treatment”: “alone in my cell, cold and in rags, I danced for joy every night. . . Sometimes I was so filled with joy that I felt I would burst if I did not give it expression.” (In God’s Underground, p. 54).
In Isaiah 60 we have a beautiful picture of the restoration of God’s people. It would come in a time of great darkness for other people. (60:2ff – “Behold darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you…)
Jesus wants the church to be bathed in sacred, holy, pure joy. When this happens the church will become a magnet for the lonely and distressed, the hungry and confused, the strong and the weak. They will certainly want to move away from their gloomy world, to become a part of the joyful people of God.
To live united in God’s love
In John 17, Jesus prayed 4X that his disciples might be perfectly united in love, “that they might be one, even as we are one.”
Someone wrote, “The proclamation of the gospel apart from the unity of the church is a theological absurdity. The heart of the gospel is that, through the death of Jesus Christ, all the barriers are down. We have access into God’s presence; and we are all one in Christ Jesus. There are no more walls of hostility – except those of our own making.
This love, uniting, accepting, reconciling, forgiving love is to become the distinguishing mark of all true disciples of Jesus.
The church needs a baptism of love. They worshipped together, studied together, prayed together, loved together, shared together, and sure enough God continued to add more people into that church.
God bless you church. Let Jesus send us today into the world to reveal His love and glory. Let him empower us to receive the word so we can proclaim this to others. Let us be equipped with His unbelievable joy, so that every where we go we will leave this joy to others. And let us celebrate the unity – our being one in Jesus.
