“I Love My Church.” This series slogan is not a sales pitch. It’s not a gimmick. It’s not a boast. It’s an invitation to make a covenant, a pledge, that we be Christ’s people, united together, in this place, in this time, serving God’s purposes. We started off talking about how as a church we ought to radiate the covenant faithfulness of God. Then last week, we spoke about how were to radiate the undying love of Christ.
We unpacked John 13:34-35 where Jesus tells his disciples, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The same love that makes for a godly marriage, makes for godly family, makes for a godly Church! Love is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect people that brings about God intended purpose.
We also introduced Ephesians 4:16: How… “From [Jesus] the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.” This verse provides a beautiful word picture of what God wants to see in his church. First, he wants to see a people who are truly faithful to one another, the whole church united together, fitted together, knit together. That is marital language. What God has joined together let no man separate.
But then second, he wants to see a people who support and promote the good in one another. Like a marriage, or a family, the church is to build itself up in love. Love needs an address, a place, a time. Right now is an excellent time to get connected into fall groups, classes. Go to www.lakesidechristian.com/groups to see all the opportunities that exist for you to get connected and rooted.
But let’s turn our attention to that last phrase in Ephesians 4:16, which describes “the proper working of each individual part.” I don’t want to assume everyone here understands what the church is. The church is like a human body. First and foremost, there is the “head”—who is Christ Jesus Himself. He has the authority, he is Lord, over the whole church. We’re not interested in making the church what you might want it to become, or what our culture wants. We’re here to discern what is the good, pleasing, perfect will of Christ and live it out. He is the Lord, the Chief Shepherd, the Head of the Church. His Kingdom come, his will be done on earth (in this church) as it is in heaven. Scripture and prayer are integral to understanding Christ’s will.
Secondly, if Christ is the “Head”, I’d venture to say the Holy Spirit is the “Heart.” 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “… no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” No head, no heart, no life!
But thirdly, we are all “members” of Christ’s body. This doctrine of the church is spelled out in Ephesians 4. 1 Corinthians 12. Romans 12. 1 Peter 2,4. I really like the directness of 1 Corinthians 12:27: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
Paul goes full tilt on the “body” imagery in 1 Corinthians. There is a mind-boggling diversity of functions within the body. There is the head, hand, and foot, there is the eye, the ear, and the tongue. There are stronger and weaker parts. There are more honorable and less honorable (private) parts. Every part of your human body has been fitted and knit together by the creator for optimal support, growth, and functionality. Every part of the body has vested concern or interest in each other part. If one part suffers, the other parts suffer with it. No one part of the body can say to another “You don’t matter. We don’t need you. Nobody would miss you if you were gone.”
There is also great diversity in this regard… there is Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. But there is no diversity in this regard—there is one Lord, one Spirit, and one baptism. We can suppose a part of the body can become “weak.” A weak part of the body has great potential, but it hasn’t been realized yet. Or perhaps a part of the body can become weak from overuse and exhaustion. In many churches they say 20% to 80% of the heavy lifting. But also, a member of the body who has spent themselves in service for years may very well become weak and needing rest. Younger members should relieve older members!
We can also suppose a part of the body can become “lame.” A lame part of the body doesn’t function. It just exists, it just hangs there, needing special care perhaps, maybe siphoning life and energy away from healthy parts. A lame member of the body Christ maybe hasn’t caught Christ’s vision for the church, or perhaps understands the vision has chosen to be lazy, or chosen other priorities.
But worse than “weak” or “lame,” a part of the body can become “cancerous.” The very definition of church “membership” is Ephesians 4:4-5, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” A cancerous member resists the Holy Spirit, rejects the central tenants of the Faith (Scripture), refuses the covenantal pledge and spirit of Christian baptism, and even bristles at the Fatherhood of God. A weak or lame member might frustrate the body; a cancerous member can kill the whole body! You can show grace, humility, gentleness, and patience bearing with those weaker parts of the body; But a cancerous member cannot be allowed to metastasize!
Now it’s an amazing vision. How big does Christ want his body to grow? Ephesians 4:7-10 says, “Now grace has been given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. For it says, “When he ascended on high, he took captives captive; he gave gifts to people. But what does he “ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.” God wants his church to fill all the heavens, and earth, and universe with the glory of God. The church isn’t supposed to be some kind of side show (or freak show). It’s supposed to be most the inspirational, prominent, beautiful, God-glorifying entities in all creation. The Church is elevated right along marriage and the family. Marriage, family, and church are the institutions through which the glory of God pervades all things in every way.
Now how does God build up the church? He has given us gifts! We see a list in Ephesians 4:10. “He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.” As Ephesians 4:11 indicates, he has called and gifted some with the work of “equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body Christ.” Over the past few years, I’ve tried to devote as much energy as possible to “equipping” people to do the work of ministry. Quite frankly, it’s easier just to do ministry myself. It takes ten times the energy to equip someone to do ministry. But when you equip others… you get an exponential return on that investment. You produce 10x, 50x, 100x, even a 1000x fruit! The leaders of the church’s energies are best spent equipping. Jesus spent the lion share of his three years on earth equipping the Twelve. The Apostle Paul continually equipped whole entourage of workers.
But in Romans 12:6-8 Paul says some are gifted with prophecy, serving, teaching, exhorting, giving generously, leading diligently, showing mercy cheerfully. We all know how people can serve with a sour heart and face. Friday night we went to the fair. But when I gave the lady our tickets she scolded me! “Come on mister! Smile!” She even hit my arm! “You’re about to enter the State Fair!” I didn’t tell her that I’d already been to the fair 2-3 times! That my body is worn out from all the walking, and the heat. That it's reeling from all the grease intake. That it’s going to be a whole other year before I get excited about corn dogs and elephant ears! No, show mercy with cheer! If you have joy in your heart, have your heart tell your hostile resting face about it!
In 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 Paul lists gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. The Spirit has given all these gifts for the common good, the building up of the body.
In 1 Peter 4:8-11 Peter says, “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” There are gifts of loving, hospitality, serving, and speaking. Peter likens our diversity of gifts to that of a kaleidoscope. When you look at the church what do you see? You see the kaleidoscopic array of God’s grace in his “varied forms.” You see the trillions of colors comprising the radiant glory of Christ Himself. The Church ought to be the most spectacular, beautiful creature on the face of this earth!
I was thinking this week about how there are seven days of creation. On the sixth day God made man, and man was “very good.” Everything else in creation was good, but Adam and Eve were “very good.” On the seventh day God rests. But what is to emerge on the Sabbath is a God-glorifying humanity. Adam and Eve. The nation of Israel. All failed to be the people of God, radiating his faithfulness, love, and glory. But now it’s the Church. Peter says (1 Peter 2:9), “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
There really is something special happening within us, as Christ’s body. Ephesians 4:10-16, “The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things. 11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.”
Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
Pathway Class—God’s faithful love, grace. Welcome to Lakeside Class—Groups—find your fit and get knitted into body, love. Website—Take an assessment, explore service!