This morning I want to share some principles that must govern every church, regardless of its denominational label, particular heritage, or geographical locale. The reason these principles should govern every church isn’t because they are my principles, or even our church’s principles, but because they are Christ’s principles. Wherever churches have embraced these principles, the church has flourished. There has been great unity among the believers. God has truly governed the hearts and minds of his people. Lives have been transformed into the character of Christ. Jesus Christ himself has been glorified. New life has been added to the body of Christ. God’s presence has been made real and personal. Lots of positive fruit has been born by these churches!
But wherever Christians have forsaken these principles, the Church has grown divided. People have gone their own separate ways, usurping the authority of Christ. Believers have compromised their characters and have disgraced the name of Christ. The Church has grown inward, failing to impact her culture. The Church has adopted a counterfeit form of godliness, while denying the true power and presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
In Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV) the apostle Paul introduces us to these principles. "Consequently, 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.”
From these verses we discover several principles that must govern the life of every Christian and every fellowship of Christians.
Principle 1: Unity is non-negotiable
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household..." Here in Ephesians 2:19 (NIV) Paul describes Christians as no longer being, "foreigners and aliens".
One of the big box office hits when I was a kid was "E.T." Does anyone remember E.T.? For millions of Americans that movie marked the beginning of their Reeses Pieces addiction. E.T. was a foreigner and alien in a strange new land, made stranger by the fact that he found himself in the care of a bunch of kids.
A foreigner or alien is someone who has lost, or even forfeited a part of his identity, in order to find a new home in a new land. In their new environment they're outsiders, surrounded by strangers, standing on the outside looking in on people with differing values, customs, preferences, and language. In their new environment they have no history, no identity, and few relationships. They're not readily embraced by established citizens. They are distrusted. Their motives are suspect and their every action is scrutinized. Because of all this, they feel a sense of disconnectedness, estrangement, and homelessness.
The miracle of God’s work in the Church is melding foreigners and aliens together and establishing them as fellow citizens with God’s people and as members of God’s household. In God’s household there are no foreigners and aliens. There are only former foreigners and aliens, fellow citizens, and fellow members. The outsider is at home.
For this miracle to happen the Church must ratchet up the value of its own unity. As God incorporates new life into his body, differences are bound to multiply. Along with foreigners and aliens, God incorporates diversity into his household. If we don’t raise the value of unity, these differences can rip any fellowship apart.
I’ve noticed that Christians today rarely divide over the essentials of the Christian faith. Instead we divide over cultural and generational differences, music preferences, order of worship, which prayers we pray, what we wear, how we express ourselves, and non-essentials. Basically, we divide over really petty stuff. The Church is the one place where diversity can work and where the foreigner and alien can be accepted. The Church is where differences can be overcome, where diversity doesn’t have to divide, and where we can truly be fellow citizens and family members. But this can only as transpire when unity becomes a non-negotiable value. We need to unite on the essentials and stop bickering about all the petty trivia that can consume us.
Principle 2: The Bible is Basis for Unity
"...built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets." Here in Ephesians 2:20 (NIV) Paul describes the foundation upon which God is building his church. Despite the diversity that exists within the Church, the one foundation we have in common (upon which we can effectively achieve unity) is the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…" The Bible is more than a book. It is God’s authoritative word for the Christian. It forms the basis for our teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training one another. It’s the common ground upon which we can resolve our differences. Take the Bible away, and you remove the only hope that the Church has for achieving unity. The Bible is from God to be sure, but it has come to us through the apostles and prophets.
2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV) says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
The prophets foretold the coming of Jesus Christ, the messiah. The apostles demonstrated that Jesus is the Christ, the promised messiah, andis the fulfillment of earlier prophecy. The writings of the apostles and prophets found in scripture, create a firm foundation upon which God establishes us as fellow citizens and members of his household. When the Church replaces the scripture with creeds, or when the Church sets up a rival authority or adds to scripture with its traditions, or when the Church stops reading the Bible in favor of the latest book or fad, the Church forfeits her foundation. We cannot unite on the basis of men’s words, creeds, or traditions. We can only unite on the word of God.
Principle 3: Christ is the Lord of His Church.
"...with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together." Here in Ephesians 2:20-21 (NIV) Paul is describing Christ as the being the chief cornerstone of the Church. The cornerstone can refer to the largest stone placed in the foundation of a building. It can also refer to that final stone which is laid atop an arch or on the corner of a building, which binds the whole structure together. This cornerstone is keeping the walls or arches from falling outward, or sideways. Either way, the cornerstone is that stone which a building most depends on for its structural integrity. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, the one in whom the Church holds together. If you take Jesus Christ out of the center of the Church, or even out of your own life, the Church and your life will begin to fall apart.
Surely Paul was thinking of this in Colossians 1:15-18 (NIV) when he wrote, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church…”
Jesus Christ is the organizing principle behind all of life. The fastest growing and strongest churches in America are those that embrace the Bible as the word of God and preach the name of Jesus Christ with conviction. Predictably, those churches which forsake God’s word and stop preaching Christ, unravel. The reason mainline liberal denominations are crumbling and are rapidly losing membership is because they have no foundation and they have rejected the chief cornerstone. There’s just nothing there! They are overcome by their diversity and have no basis for achieving unity.
Principle 4: Evangelism is the Result of Unity
Ephesians 2:21 (NIV) says, "In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." We live in a culture that wants us to repent of being evangelistic. Sociologist Christian Smith conducted an in-depth study of American Christianity. For his study he interviewed lay Christians. He discovered that clergy and laity believe that other religions can be as equally true and legitimate for others. Even Christian ministers believe this fact. One Christian said, "In my mind there is only one God, no matter what you call him. Muslims pray to the same God I do. They call him Allah or whatever, but it’s the same entity for all world religions, those that believe in a supreme being. They’re talking generally about the same one."
Another Christian said, "I am not a believer in missionaries. If we want to go to Africa and provide medical help and teach people how to farm, great. But if we go to Japan and try to convert Shintoists, no way. If they came here and tried that on me I’d get mad, and I think they have every right to feel the same. Christianity is great. If I’m anything, I’m a Christian. But I think that others have a right to believe for themselves, and if they go to hell, then they just took the wrong turn."
One last Christian said, "To say that other religions are wrong is self-centered and egocentric. I am not even comfortable with saying all religions point to the same God. Whatever trips your trigger is fine with me, if that’s your belief system. We are mortal. Who is to say who is right and wrong? If it helps you get through life and helps bring meaning to your life, then fine."
I’m not afraid to say it. We are developing a horrible attitude about missions and evangelism! At different times and in varying degrees, I’ve heard some of you express the very same sentiments about evangelism. Some have questioned why we even give to missions. Our attitude is that Christ doesn’t matter, that it makes no difference whether a neighbor or coworker or friend believes in Allah, Buddha, angels, Satan, or Jesus. Our attitude is reflected in our lack of initiative in the area of evangelism. We don’t talk about our faith, we don’t ask people about theirs, and we most certainly don’t attempt to lead people to Christ (at least not as we should). We have this "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy about Jesus Christ, as if we're ashamed of him. We make excuses for why we don’t share Christ, and for why others wouldn’t listen to us even if we tried.
We are sinning against the command of Christ and against his shed blood by not believing that his shed blood is absolutely necessary for the salvation of all men. And we are sinning by not preaching the good news of Jesus Christ to our friends. Paul says that in Christ, the whole building rises and becomes a holy temple. This is evangelism, outreach, and world missions. You name it!
The early Church valued all the principles we have described so far. Acts 2:42-47 (NIV) says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." The Lord gave the increase. He added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Principle 5: The Holy Spirit is the Power of the Church.
"And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." In this last verse of Ephesians 2:22(NIV) Paul is sounding off a note of hope for the Christian. That note of hope is that we too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. The Church, you and me, are works in progress. We haven’t arrived yet. We don’t abide by these principles perfectly. We fall short. But our shortcomings do not short-circuit the work God is doing, or the fact that he dwells within us.
Historically, our church has been part of a movement to restore the Church to its first love. We want to restore those guiding principles that have made the Church the light of the world, that city on the hill that attracts people to God. This message is a clarion call to obedience. We must collectively strive for unity, embracing the foreigners and aliens among us, and the new life that God is bringing into our midst. We must unite on the essentials and stop bickering and dividing over petty issues of preference.
This message is a clarion call to rediscover our core values. That we might continue building our lives on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. That God’s word might be in our hands, in our thoughts, and on our lips. This message is a clarion call to let Christ be Lord of your life. To let him be that organizing principle that stabilizes the whole structure of your life and this church. To let him protect it from crumbling and collapse.
This message is a clarion call to actively build Christ’s church. To share your testimony in Christ with other people. To get out of your comfort zone and tell people the good news about Jesus Christ. To stop making excuses for your evangelistic indifference, and show some initiative in doing the Church’s most important work!
Last, this is a clarion call to let God’s Spirit build this church and to build your life. Let God use this occasion to nudge you off the bench, and onto the field.
"Consequently, 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."