June 14, the relationship – Question 6 (continued)
Which perspective do you live by most: going to church or being the church?
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Body, the church.
Colossians 1:18
The church represents a living organism more than an established organization. The culture of the church has announced this for many years, but I personally never tire of revisiting this truth. The church is indeed alive and comprised of what the Scriptures reference as living stones:
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 2:25)
“Spiritual house” represents the temple of God where the Holy Spirit dwells. And in this Biblical description, the church stands defined as a dwelling that is not of brick and mortar, but a dwelling of stones that are spiritually alive (each true member of the Kingdom of Christ representing those stones). Thus, the church has locations and identities formed by a physical structure, but the actual identity of the church resides in the spiritual form and not the architectural edifice. The identity of “living stones” emphasizes each member as vital to the spiritual identity of the church. I have been with churches from within a third-world culture where the church building was impossible. Nonetheless, dwelling with believers in such circumstances has allowed me to see the supernatural identification of the church, which is just as real and perhaps more so than any church identified by a building.
The church is the foundation of God’s Truth in this world. I do not know of many churches without a rich heritage and history. In the churches I have served as pastor, each church history represents a sacred and unique story. Nonetheless, as meaningful as personal histories are to the holders of such heritage, the only true message of any church is not the history of man, but the Truth of God’s Word. Paul used the phrase when instructing Timothy, “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth” (I Timothy 3:15). William Hendriksen (1900-1982, one of my favorite authors on Pauline writings) commented on the importance of the Truth of God’s Word in his observation of I Timothy 3:15:
“The omission of the article (“the”) with foundation and pillar emphasizes that the church is nothing less than the truth’s pillar and foundation.”[1]
The church, your church and mine – every church, in God’s plan and purposes represents such a strong presence of God’s Truth that, using Hendriksen’s emphasis, we are pillar-like and foundation-like to the Scriptures. We do not write God’s Truths nor control them, but rather hold them up as the Truth of God for man, and the truth which delivers the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The church is the fullness of Christ. In Ephesians 4:13, the stated goal of the church becomes expressed in “the fulness of Christ.” And, this goal becomes a reality as the church people mature in their unity and in their experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ. In short, as the people of God genuinely grow together in their faith in Christ, the fullness of Christ becomes very apparent in the church. There exists no greater goal and no greater pursuit. This “fullness” represents the spiritual growth of the believers inward and the forward thrust of the mission of Christ outward. The church is not necessarily mature when numbers look acceptable. The true measure of health builds upon these two magnificent and intended characteristics of the church: are church members maturing in their faith journey, and are they advancing the mission of God proclaimed through Christ our Lord?
These five conclusions on the church (referenced in the devotions for June 13th and 14th) are certainly not exhaustive, but rather serve to give us a continued understanding of God’s design for His people commissioned in the world for His purposes. The Church belongs to Jesus, and the church serves Him alone as our “exalted Head.” The church exists in a love relationship with Christ our Lord (for that is the true expression of covenant) and exists as a living organism more than simply an institution. The church upholds the truth of God’s Word, not for purposes of doctrinal correctness, but for the maturity of believers and the mission of Christ. In this way the fullness of Christ becomes the true identity of the church.
I pray that these descriptive truths of the church help you to rightly resolve the question, “which perspective do you live by most: going to church or being the church?”
We praise God for the church. May the church always live for the glory of Jesus Christ until our Savior returns.
Blessings.
[1] William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Exposition of First Timothy (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1955), 136.