WHAT IS THE CHURCH? (Part 1 of 3)
In his book, Lee Eclov shared about
a remarkable family in West Virginia that he read about. “Paul and Jeane Briggs
have thirty-six children. Thirty-one were adopted from the United
States, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Ghana. Paul and Jeane seek out
hard-to-place older and special-needs kids. Jeane says, “It’s not for
everybody, but it is what my husband and I feel called to do by our faith.” I
wasn’t surprised to know that they are Christians.”
Not many parents can open their
homes so wide, but that’s just what churches were born to do. Churches should
have a welcoming attitude toward the spiritual orphans, outcasts, and outlaws
whom God brings to our attention. But so often, we don’t have that attitude.
And that mindset, that indifference to the spiritually homeless both inside and
outside our church doors, is what, more than anything else, keeps us from
building a community that feels like a real family of God.”[1] What is our attitude
towards people that God brings to Hope Church?
The apostle Paul reminds the
Ephesian believers how to operate in their community by giving them three
definitions of a Church. Paul was not likening the Church to some metaphorical
object; instead, he told them this was what they actually were. What is
the Church? Paul defined the Church in three different ways. Ephesians
2:19-22
I.
Church is God’s Family.
We all know that the Church is not a
concrete building but a living organism. It is a group of believers gathering in
a place to share a common bond of love and celebrate their faith in God. Last
week, we learned that, perhaps, certain Gentiles were not feeling at home in
the Ephesian Church due to the unwelcoming and superior attitudes of Jewish
believers. To change that unhealthy attitude, Paul reminded them that they were
a family, so they should act like one.
Ephesians 2:19, “So
now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens,
along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.” In NIV, it reads,
“members of God’s household.” God’s family or household are the same.
“The Church as home has always been
a rich theme in the Bible. It is something we all long for. Family! A place
where they take you in and set a place for you at the table. It is something
that, sadly, too many do not enjoy or have walked away from, like someone who
forgets their address. Part of pastoral work, of church leadership, is drawing people
back home.”
As none of us chose the earthly family
we were born into, so was God’s family. It was all God’s doing. Paul says, “God
decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself
through Jesus Christ.” It was his decision, and that gave him immense pleasure.
You can only imagine how Gentiles
who once felt rejected and ridiculed by the Jewish community wandering away
without a home felt hearing these comforting words, “So now you Gentiles are no
longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens, along with all of God’s holy
people. You are members of God’s family.” All the believers in Christ belong to
God’s family. What kind of God’s family is this? How can we relate to one
another in Church: God’s family?
A.
What is the Church made up of?
After listing all the sinners who cannot
enter God’s Kingdom, Paul qualifies the Corinthian believers by saying, “Some
of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were
made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God.” I Cor 6:11. To the Colossians, he says, “It doesn’t matter
whether you are a Jew or Gentile, slave or free, Christ is all that matters,
and he lives in all of us.” Col 3:11. We become part of God’s family through
Christ Jesus our Lord. Regardless of our religious background, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, or economic status, Christ lives in all of us.
No matter who you are, in God’s
family, we all have God as our Father and Jesus as our brother. That makes us
brothers and sisters in God’s family. So, let us act like we are a family.
These words, “brothers and sisters,” appear 130 times in the Bible. In some
cases, they refer to the siblings in families, but most of the time, to “brothers
and sisters” in God’s family.
For instance, the Psalmist said, “I
will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among
your assembled people.” Psalm 22:22. This chapter refers to Jesus. Jesus
revealed his true family at one point by pointing to the crowd and saying,
“Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does God’s will is my
brother, sister, and mother.” Mk 3:34.
B.
How do we relate with one another in God’s family?
Because
the Church is a family, that should also affect our organization. Is your
family organized differently than the business you work at? Sure, it is. We
operate not based on a bunch of rules but on relationships. Hope Church is part
of God’s BIG family worldwide.
Locally,
we are a small family of God. Several young families joined Hope Church during
the initial years, raising their children here. Many of them are now retired,
and their children have moved on. Over the past seven years, several new
members have joined us, and more will join us by faith. Our existence depends
on how well we relate to one another.
We
are given specific scriptural guidelines to be all God wants us to be. Here is
the apostle Peter’s advice for the Hope Church family. I Peter 3:8, “Finally,
all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other
as brothers and sisters.
Be
tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate
with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing.
That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.” If
we practice these principles, we will experience God’s blessing and reflect
God’s love in and through our lives in Sharon.
As
in any family, we may have differences and quirks and may not agree with one
another, but we seek to resolve our conflicts in a Christ-like manner. As
brothers and sisters in God’s family, we respect and honor one another. We
don’t want to hurt each other intentionally or unintentionally through our
words and actions. If we did, we would be quick to ask for forgiveness and keep
serving the Lord and one another with joy and love.
C. It is by our love for each other that
everyone will know we are His disciples
When we remain in
His love, and his love remains in us, we truly become God’s children. Let’s
follow this three-fold directive of Jesus to show our love for one another.
John 13:34-35. “I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other.” Loving our
brothers and sisters in God’s family is not an option but a command. Not
following it means we are not his children.
We
love our brothers and sisters as Christ loved us. Jesus’ love for us is the
measure we should use to evaluate our love for each other. Like Christ’s love
for us, our love must be sacrificial, servant-hearted, and full of grace.
Everyone will know that we are Jesus’ disciples by our love for our Christian
brothers and sisters. How can Hope Church remain as God’s family?
Paul and Jeane Briggs adopted thirty-one
hard-to-place, older, and special-needs kids from various countries. In other
words, they made room for those kids at their dining table. Similarly, God our
Father invites people from everywhere to join His family. It is as if Jesus is
hosting a banquet every week at Hope Church. He wants us to invite the lonely,
the harassed, the hurting, and the spiritually hungry so that they might find
the bread of life.
Jesus
is our host. There is more room at the table. It is up to us to invite people
and sometimes persuade them to come. One day, after getting my flu shot, I told
the nurse I was a pastor and asked her to visit us. She said I am an atheist.
You are welcome at Hope Church, I said. Then she said does your Jesus love
atheists? I said, yes, He loves all people.
