Copyright © S P Townsend
Over the weeks leading up to Pentecost we are covering aspects of the vision and values of our church.
Our vision is to be a church on the move, serving God in the heart of the community; an IOU church, moving IN in fellowship with one another, moving OUT by reaching out to our community, moving UP in worship to God.
We uphold these six ‘G’ values.
Glory to bring glory to God through worship
Gospel to share the good news of Jesus
Growing to become more like Jesus
Groups to care for each other in small groups
Gifts to serve others using our gifts
Giving to be generous through giving
All these are under-pinned by God's word and prayer.
Today we are focussing particularly on those aspects of our vision and values that concern our relationship with each other as Christians. As God’s people we are formed for family.
The Bible uses many allegories or pictures when describing the people of God: body, building, temple, nation, tree, vine, city, bride. These all emphasise the fact that God did not save us just to bring us unto a personal relationship with Himself. His purpose was much wider than that, and all of these pictures teach us that God intends His people to have a strong, fulfilling and vibrant relationship with one another as well as with Himself. Moreover, God has a purpose when placing us into this community. We have a niche to fill, a function to perform, a role to play, that no one else can fill.
Family is one of the ways the Bible describes the church.
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” Ephesians 3:14, 15
But of all the ways that the Church is described, this is not an allegory or simile or analogy, rather it is the reality. The Church is THE family, the only one that will last forever. All other families on earth are reflections of this heavenly family of God, not the other way round.
The various other pictures used to describe God’s family, the Church, help us to understand better how this family should function, and how we in particular should play our part.
In the context of teaching about the relationship between the husband and wife in a human family, Paul said this about the Church considered as a body.
“Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Eph 5:25-27.
This tells us something very important about the Family of God. Jesus is the head, and we are the body. This means that He directs and we respond. He is in authority, not us. The biggest problems and divisions that arise in the Church are caused when we forget this principle, when men or women usurp the place that only Christ can fulfil.
This tells us something more though. It tells us how passionate Jesus is about the Church. He loves the Church. He is determined to bring this Church to completion, with all members in the right places, all radiating His beauty and perfection. No blemishes. Nobody missing. Nobody mal-functioning. Do you share that passion? If you are part of His body, and He is truly your head, then you are bound to vibrate with that same passion and longing. Paul said,
“Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” 2 Cor 11:28, 29
The body picture tells us something else too, about ourselves.
“So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5.
In God’s family we are members together, and we belong to one another. You can’t be a Christian on your own. A solitary Christian is a contradiction in terms. Of course you may be isolated for one reason or another. Peter was isolated when he was placed in prison by Herod. But although he was physically separated from the rest of the family, he was not alone. I don’t just mean that the Lord was with him. Back at the house of Mary, the mother of Mark, many believers had gathered together and were praying. When Peter was miraculously released from prison, this is where he went. Why? Because he belonged; because he was a member of the family. Because he was committed to them just as they were committed to him.
Is this kind of commitment a feature of your life. Are you committed to your brothers and sisters in Christ, longing to see them built up in their faith, rejoicing with them in their triumphs, mourning with them in their calamities?
This passage we have read from Romans 12 describes the ways in which we should relate to one another.
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” Rom 12:10.
In God’s family love is what holds us all together.
“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Cor 13:7,8.
Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.”
So, Jesus asks us, do you love my family? Actually, just as with Peter, has asks, “Do you love me?” We can’t wriggle out of that one, or prevaricate, or express conditions. If we belong to him we have to say, “Yes Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you, even though the flame is so weak and wavering.” And then He responds to us, “Very well then, feed my sheep.” Love me, love my family. That’s the deal.
Another picture used to describe the Church, the family of God, is a building.
“You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” Eph 2:19-22.
More than anything the picture of the building tells us that we have a unique part to play, that none other can fulfil. It is quite clear that isolated stones depict nothing more than a ruin. Only when stones are built together can a building take shape. Later in this series we will consider more how God shapes us to fit particularly where He has planned for us to be in this building.
But for now I want to just focus on an important aspect of this picture. When buildings are put up they are surrounded by scaffolding, cranes, fork-lift trucks and the like. For weeks, possibly months, all you can see is the scaffolding and the cranes. But eventually the work is finished, the scaffolding dismantled and the cranes and diggers off the site. The building is revealed in all of its splendour, finished and fit for purpose.
So, don’t confuse the scaffolding for the building. Much of what we see today of the Church globally, or of our church locally, is scaffolding. Scaffolding is important, provided it is understood for what it is and used appropriately. But scaffolding is not the building. Imagine the builders having an argument about the scaffolding –it’s the wrong colour, or the planks have too many splinters, or the rain gets in, or its rusty and doesn’t look nice, or this bit’s mine so get off, or you can’t take down that – I built it. Or, worse still, imagine the builders deciding to leave the scaffolding up as the finished article and forget about the building altogether.
What’s important to you, is it the building or the scaffolding? Remember, the scaffolding is important for a while, but is only temporary. The building hidden inside the scaffolding, that is the important thing.
Copyright © S P Townsend