The Church

I spoke of the Church, with a capital C, this past Sunday. It was one of our joint services and it seemed a good time to speak of the entity with which, by God’s grace, we are identified. We considered the Church under four headings. The Church is one; the Church is universal; the Church is apostolic; and the Church is holy. 

All who confess Christ, no matter their age, gender, language, or culture, are one in Christ. This promises the real possibility of peace between peoples no matter how deeply the warring parties have been offended. All who come, from whatever tongue, tribe, or nation, partake of the life that flows from our one common source, Jesus Christ, the head of the Church.

This leads us to the next heading: the Church is universal. The fact that God intends to draw people from every nation opens up the worldwide missionary enterprise. The Church represents the most diverse collection of people of any other religion or belief system. This is because the gospel transcends cultures and tongues and gathers in peoples from across the spectrum of human expression. Contrary to the common perception that the Church is a Eurocentric entity, the most vibrant center of Church life currently is found in Africa and Asia.

The Church is also apostolic. The Church is defined by the faith proclaimed by the apostles and preserved for us in the Scriptures (Cf., Ephesians 2:20). When the Church abandons the Scriptures it abandons its message and, therefore, its reason for existence. We were sent by Jesus to bear witness to him and if we don’t believe what has been said about him we have nothing to proclaim.

Lastly, the Church is holy. It is a unique entity that has been brought into existence by a holy God to be holy unto him. The gospel is not one path among many to God nor is it merely another form of therapy. The gospel calls people to faith and repentance in Christ alone. We must resist every attempt of unbelieving critics to fold Christianity into the deck of world religions. The Church has been set apart by the grace of God to bring glory to his name and to carry out his mission on the earth.

The culture around us works hard at marginalizing the Church, painting it to be bigoted, oppressive, and a threat to an open, pluralistic society. As a result, we are often hesitant to openly identify with the Church. Truth be told, the people around us need the Church for it is the repository of the gospel, the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). They need us to be faithful to and unashamed of the Church and its mission.