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Class I: Introduction IntroductionUnity, Gods Goal for the Church Welcome to the first of thirteen classes on our life together as a church. In this introductory class, my hope is to give you some idea of why we as Christians need a class like this in the first place. To put it simply, we need this class because two things are true:
The million dollar question is, how do these two statements work together? God calls us to glorify him by living together in local churches? How can a still sinful people reflect God? Unity is Hard One day, all of Gods people will bow before him, perfectly righteous because of Christ and perfectly unified in humble worship and praise. But God still calls us todaythe very imperfect people who compose his Churchto the task of displaying the glory of his perfect character. The question of how that can happen in the church is the focus of this class. In particular, our goal is to understand the opportunities and responsibilities we all have as church members. How can we, as sinful and selfish people, gather together, not with the forced unity that denies differences, overlooks difficulty, or compromises the message of the gospel, but with unity that preserves the message of the gospel and acts as a compelling testimony to its value? How can we respond to sin in our midst without descending to gossip and slander? How can we trust our leaders but still recognize that they are sinners, too? How can we love people who make us feel uncomfortable because they are so different from us? How can we honestly critique an imperfect church without grumbling? If youve been part of a church for any amount of time, you know that these goals are difficult to achieve. Churches far too often become places of division, complaints, and unhappy people. Therefore they fail to display to the watching world the power of the gospel that should be at work within them. Our goal for this class is to explore a practical blueprint of what makes a church healthy. What makes it a community where sound doctrine expresses itself in love that glorifies God? My prayer is that you will leave this class with a better understanding of what the Bible says about being a healthy church, and also with some clear ideas of what you can do to help build a healthy church. I. GODS GOAL FOR THE CHURCHUNITY (EPHESIANS 3-4) Lets begin by considering a foundational question: Why is the church important? More specifically, why is it important to God? To answer that question, lets look at Ephesians 3 and 4, where Paul lays out the importance of the church in Gods plan of redemption. Ill run through the whole passage, and then summarize some critical takeaway points. Unlocking the Mystery of the Gospel To give you some context, Paul has spent chapters 1 and 2 describing the power of the gospelthat though we as Christians were dead in our transgressions, we are now alive in Christ and reconciled both to God and to each other. Lets pick up his train of thought in Ephesians 3:2:
What is this mystery that Paul understands so well? Skip ahead to verse six:
You see? Paul is excited about the fact that Christianity has united Jews and Gentiles together into one body. The hatred and enmity which had existed between them for centuries is overcome in the gospel. As Paul put it a little earlier in 2:14, Christ has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles. Back to chapter 3. In verse 8, Paul says that the proclamation of this mysterythis gospel-induced peace between Jew and Gentileis central to his ministry:
The Purpose of Gospel Unity But why is unity in the gospel so important? In verse 10, Paul gives us a unique glimpse into Gods purpose:
Who are the rules and authorities that Paul mentions here? We dont really know. The phrase in the heavenly realms suggests that it refers to the spiritual dimension that exists beyond the physical. What is absolutely clear, though, is that it is through the churchand specifically, through the unity of Jews and Gentiles within the churchthat God is bringing glory to himself by showing off to everyone (verse 9) his manifold wisdom. How does the church display the manifold wisdom of God? Only an all-wise God could devise a way to reconcile his love and his justice while saving a rebellious people who are estranged from him and from one another. Unity AppliedHow Then Should We Live? Through the rest of chapter 3, Paul prays for the family of God. He asks God to strengthen them through his Holy Spirit. He also prays that, as Christ dwells in their hearts through faith, they would come to understand just how all-encompassing Christs love is for them, and thus be filled with all the fullness of God (see verses 14-21). In chapter 4 Paul begins to apply the truths we have just discussed, calling the Ephesian Christians to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. My guess is that when you hear this exhortation, you probably start to think immediately of your own personal holiness. But if you keep that exhortation firmly planted in the context of chapter three, its clear that he doesnt have our individual holiness in mind here so much as our life together as a church! Look at verses 2-3, where Paul talks about what should characterize our relationships in the church:
Paul has more than one person in mind here. Hes talking to a group of people, not just individuals. Through the next few verses, Paul describes our calling as one body and explains that our unity with each other is fostered by the gifts God has given to his people (verses 4-11). And whats the goal of these gifts? Verses 12-13:
Some Things to Remember Well, thats a lightning run through two marvelous chapters of Scripture. Lets pause for a moment and notice three truths in this passage that are of critical importance: First, the unity of the church is central to the message of the gospel. One of the great accomplishments of Christs work is that he has broken down the dividing walls of hostility that existbecause of sinbetween human beings. Through the blood of Christ we are reconciled with God and we are reconciled with one another. It cannot be otherwise. Second, church unity showcases the wisdom of God. The church isnt a collection of people who merely tolerate one other long enough to sing some songs and hear a sermon every Sunday; the church is a gathering of people who demonstrates a unity so powerful that it can only have come to pass by the hand of God. Third, cultivating unity is our responsibility as church members. It is the entire church that has been gifted by the Spirit, and so Paul calls the entire church to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. And, as we see in 1 Corinthians 1 and James 2, the New Testament authors will rebuke the entire church when unity is damaged. Not just church leaders. Church members. Unity Throughout the Bible So what is Gods goal for the church? Unity. Why? Because when redeemed sinners with little in common choose to love each other, that displays Gods wisdom and glory like nothing else. This truth is not unique to the book of Ephesians. It is found throughout the Bible. Consider Jesus words in John 13:34-35:
Jesus continues this thought in his prayer for believers in John 17:
Or think of Lukes description of the early church in Acts 4:
Even in the Old Testament, the mission of Gods people was to revealas a corporate bodyGods character to the nations around them. When God chose Abraham, his ultimate goal was not to save just Abraham as an individual. God intended to make of Abraham a great nation that would bless all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3). Similarly in Ezekiel 36, God promises to save and reestablish the nation of Israel so that all the nations around them would know that he is God. It was his goodness to the people as a whole that would glorify him in the world. Unity is Not Just an Option We can see from all this that unity among Gods people is not just an optional addition to our lives as Christians. It is an integral part of our life as Gods people. Remember how starkly John puts this in 1 John 4:20:
The bottom line is that we need to realize that focusing on my individual life as a Christian is fundamentally wrong-headed. God accomplishes his purposes in believers primarily corporately, not individually. Thats why the word-pictures the Bible uses to describe the churchliving stones built into a spiritual house, members of a body, and so forthemphasize the communal nature of the church. God will fulfill his purpose for the church as it acts in unity, as a community of believers. II. THE RIGHT KIND OF UNITY Ironically, the concept of unity has become quite divisive over the past hundred years or so. People have understood the Bibles call for Christian unity in many different and conflicting ways. So what do we mean, exactly, when we talk about Christian unity? One ExtremeUnity at All Cost Some people say that Christian unity means that all people who call themselves Christians should organize together institutionally, or at least cooperate together as a single body of believers. The problem with Christianity, they say, is that our doctrinal disagreementsbetween Catholics and Protestants, or Evangelicals and theological Liberalsdamage our ability to influence this world for the kingdom of God. Therefore, we should set those differences aside and unite in the greater cause of making the world better. The problem with this expansive view of unity, as many Christians have noted, is that it would be a shallow unity, indeed. Many who call themselves Christians would disagree on some very fundamental questions:
When there is disagreement about basic issues like those, its hard to imagine how any real unity can be fostered. Sure, you could ignore such questions and declare yourselves unified anyway. But organizational unity for its own sake is pretty meaningless, isnt it? Even worse, it can confuse the world as to the nature of Christianity and the gospel. It is certainly a good thing to cooperate with others for the sake of a common goalworking with Roman Catholics to protect the rights of the unborn, for example. But while that is a type of unity, its not Christian, per se. Ill partner with non-Christians to protect the rights of the unborn. The Other ExtremeNo Unity At All At the other extreme are those Christians for whom unity is almost a bad word. Such separatists may be right to regard the kind of ecumenism that we just considered as confusing and contrary to gospel purposes. But these separatists can go too far, declaring that they will share Christian fellowship only with those who agree with them on every point of doctrine. Many separatistic churches place undue focus on doctrines that are not clear in Scripture, such as their own understanding of the end times or particular rules for Christian living. As a result, they become known more for being divisive, schismatic, and legalistic than for holding out the life of the gospel. The idea that a local church would isolate itself from other churches is almost as preposterous and unbiblical as an individual Christian isolating himself from other Christians. Even as we struggle against a wrong-headed, utopian view of globally organized Christian unity, we must also fight to reclaim the high place that real Christian unity should hold in our livesboth between individual Christians and churches. Avoiding the ExtremesTrue Christian Unity In this fallen world, real Christian unity falls in between those two ends of the spectrum I just described. Perhaps a helpful way to get our heads around the kind of unity Paul talks about in Ephesians is to think of it in terms of an action, a purpose, a source, and a place. 1. The action that defines Christian unity is love. In particular, it is love for our brothers and sisters in Christ that crosses worldly boundaries. In this world, people divide along all kinds of socio-economic, racial, and ethnic lines. And people certainly divide when one person sins against another. But as we have seen, the gospel of Jesus Christ tears down those walls, both the walls of life circumstance and the walls of offence-rendered and hurt-received. Now we as Christians are called to love those whom we would not naturally be drawn to love. Think of Jesus words in Matthew 5:46.
Or chapter 18:21-22
2. The purpose of Christian unity is the glory of God in the vindication of his gospel. Unity that exists for any other purpose may well be valuable, but it is not the Christian unity that we are exploring in this class. This is a crucial point in determining whether we may unite with another group of people and describe it as Christian unity. Is this other church or organization laboring for the same God as we are? Are they seeking to proclaim and vindicate the same gospel? Or are there fundamental differences that will cause people to believe in a different gospel altogether? These are not always easy questions to answer, but that does not mean we are free not to ask them. The decision to unite with another church in gospel work is one that has enormous implications. The last thing we want to communicate to the world is that we as a church are somehow okay with beliefs that actually repudiate the biblical gospel. 3. The source of Christian unity is the love of Christ. As John puts it, We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). Real Christian unity has at its root a deep understanding that we are forgiven in Christ. Do you remember Jesus words in Luke 7:47? He who is forgiven little, loves little. And he who has been forgiven much, loves much. Unity that glorifies God and vindicates the wisdom of the gospel is unity that is powered by our understanding that we have been forgiven in Christ. When Christs love for us is the source of our love for one another, that is a supernatural love, one that can only be explained by the power of God working in us. But if unity is driven by an affinity which is familiar to the worldone based merely on a desire to clean up a neighborhood, for example, or effect some sort of social changehow will the wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms be displayed? No, the unity for which we strive is one based on something that the world simply cannot fit neatly into its godless categories. Its a transcendent unity based on Christs love for us. 4. Finally, the place where Christian unity is primarily worked out is the local church. Of course, Christian unity is not limited to an individual local church, but it works itself out most practically in that context. It is in the local church that we learn to rejoice with people with whom we may not naturally rejoice, and to weep with people with whom we may not naturally weep. In the local church we learn to share our lives with people who share one profound love with us: the love of our Lord Jesus Christ who has forgiven us of our sin. Understanding all that, we might define Christian unity like this:
That is the kind of Christian unity that will declare Gods wisdom to the world. III. THE BENEFITS OF UNITY The unity we seek in the local church is not just theoretical. It has real implications for our lives, and real benefits to us as Christians. For the next few minutes, I want us to turn our attention to exploring some of the benefits that unity brings to a local congregation. As we walk through each of these, keep two questions in mind:
Here then are some of the benefits of Christian unity that Scripture holds out to us: Assurance of Salvation
And later,
John is writing here about the importance of loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we look at our relationships with other Christians and see unity and love rather than discord and strife, it should encourage us that we are in fact the children of God. Unity in the body of Christ is an important part of a believers assurance of salvation. Encourgement
These verses begin with a stirring callto hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. Thats really hard to do, which is exactly why God has written these words not to you as an individual, but to us as a church. Our life together as a church is important because God knows were not self-motivated all the time. We need each others prayer, correction, and encouragement so that we may love each other. This type of encouragement cannot happen in an atmosphere of dissention and strife. It happens when there is unity. Orthodoxy
What will have this kind of impact? The unity Paul has been describing for the previous thirteen verses. Unity protects our doctrine. It protects us from the tyranny of faddish teaching, from the danger of being pulled into error. More than creeds and statements of faith, more than bishops and popes, unified congregations have been the primary means God has used to protect the core teachings of the Christian faith. Today, efforts to recapture unity often get a bad reputation precisely because they come at the expense of orthodoxy. But far from seeing a delicate balancing act between doctrine and unity, Paul sees unity as our main hope for preserving our doctrine. Evangelism
The churchs unity is one way that non-Christians will recognize the divinity of Christ and his divine mission. Moreover, it is part of how they will come to understand the love of God. That ambitious, God-given objective should make us consider the role our church plays in our own evangelism. Of course evangelism is more than simply bringing people to church, but that doesnt mean that the church has no role to play in evangelism. Exposing a non-Christian to the love we have for each other as Christians is a powerful witness to the work of God in our lives. There are other benefits of unity we could consider as well:
IV. CONCLUSION Remember the question with which we began the class: how can an imperfect people display the glorious character of a perfect God? Whats the answer? A still sinful people can display both the love and holiness of God as they live in gospel unity: a unity that doesnt come from white washing sin, but calls it what it issin; but a unity thats born of the forgiveness of sinthe forgiveness of Christ which we both proclaim and extend to one another. This entire course is a class about unityunity that proclaims Jesus Christs greatness to the people around us because it flows from and celebrates Gods work of redemption. Over the next twelve weeks, we think practically about how we can build a church marked by that kind of unity, one that therefore protects and proclaims the life-changing message of the gospel. I pray that God will use these weeks to help us better understand the role that each of us is to play in that great work. May/June 2008, ©9Marks For teaching this material: You are permitted and encouraged to teach this material in any format you wish, which includes the ability to rewrite and personalize entirely at your discretion for the purposes of your own setting. For reproducing in print or online: You are permitted
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