THE BRIDE YOU CAN KISS – Part 1

My wife belongs to the universal sisterhood of women.  They have existed on earth since Creation[1]. They have infinite value before God and should have similar value among all mankind. The sisterhood of women have spanned all ages and nationalities.  I believe in the sisterhood of women.  To this date I am forever grateful that from among this distinct and noteworthy throng of women there emerges into the sphere of my existence one that is visible, tangible, preferable and touchable. I would surmise that not one of the members of the brotherhood of men would be satisfied with a generic, abstract, universal, invisible woman.  The invisible dimension of womanhood can neither provide companionship or counsel; neither intimacy or interest; nor affection or accountability.  Yet let me share with you a fictitious conversation based on a real event.

“So my brother, you have been attending this Church, for some time.  Have you considered membership,” I ask.  “No, I actually find it unnecessary,” he responds.  Continuing, he states, “When I became a Christian I became part of the universal Body of Christ.  Joining a Church is redundant and unnecessary; besides institutional churches are just man-made organizations.” 

This viewpoint is more common than one might think. If not held to by conviction, it is embraced by practice.  An average poll suggests that 50% of Church attendees are not Members of the local Church. I capitalize ‘M’embers in this article because I will argue that it is a unique and essential office.  It is my impression, because of several conversations, that the view of a number of Christians is that the local, visible, tangible, organized Church ranks significantly below desirable, as compared to the spiritual, universal, mystical Church affirmed by the Apostles Creed[2].  There’s only one problem: we can’t hold the mystical Church; we can’t kiss the mystical Church; we can touch the mystical Church.  It is a mystical Bride.  It’s the marriage to a numinous mate devoid of any responsibility or accountability.  It’s a phantom partner that cannot love in real-time nor bear children[3].  The mistaken view of the universal Church that denigrates the local, visible Church is simply a vehicle of autonomy and self-interest wrapped in the spirit of independence and consumerism.  The clothing appears as spirituality on steroids and it hides its abject carnality.

The Article that addresses the Church in the Statement of Faith[4] in my Church starts the paragraph this way: “We believe that the Local Church is the visible, tangible expression of the Body of Christ purposed to display the distinct qualities of a God glorifying community.”  In other words, the Local Visible Church is the “incarnation” of what is true and glorious: the universal, mystical, holy Church of our Christ, the Lord Jesus.  It is as if everything that is principally true of the transcendent catholic Church throughout the ages has been laser-focused and established in the local Church.  It is as if everything good and praiseworthy of the Body of Christ extending to all nations and peoples throughout all time and has minimized, visualized and actualized in the Local Church.

If asked of me, “What is the greatest threat to the Church in the coming years?”  I would answer without hesitation, the deprecation of the doctrine ecclesiology[5].  The specific threat is the treatment of the local church as a potential retailer of spiritual goods where the best deal attracts my patronage, yet no outlet demands my allegiance and association.

My goal in the next few articles is to provide an alternative and superior view of the local Church; a view that is not unlike the assertion that the Apostle Paul to the Elders of the local Church in Ephesus. He elevated their view such as they were to see that “the Holy Spirit has made [them] overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”^[6]

 

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[1] “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, ESV)

[2] https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/apostles-creed

[3] This point should not be overlooked. Evangelism in the New Testament is a corporate function given to the local church. 

[4] https://cutt.ly/abhaXYX

[5] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecclesiology

^[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 20:28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Moving Beyond Words Into Understanding

No human being has arrested my thinking, clarified my thinking and challenged my thinking, like John Piper.  I have read his Book on Thinking several times and also listened often to the audio version. There he writes,

"Thinking is not an end in itself. Nothing but God himself is finally an end in itself. Thinking is not the goal of life. Thinking, like non-thinking, can be the ground for boasting. Thinking, without prayer, without the Holy Spirit, without obedience, without love, will puff up and destroy (1 Cor. 8:1). But thinking under the mighty hand of God, thinking soaked in prayer, thinking carried by the Holy Spirit, thinking tethered to the Bible, thinking in pursuit of more reasons to praise and proclaim the glories of God, thinking in the service of love—such thinking is indispensable in a life of fullest praise to God."[1]

I'm not a great thinker, that's why I need help from sources like Piper.  Recently I bought his opus magnus: PROVIDENCE and again at the outset he has helped me immensely.  As he developed his theme of the book he wisely prepared us for it in a number of ways.  One of those ways was called Penetrating through Words into Reality.  Let me explain to you the quandary that he helped me with.  Over the years I have heard sincere Christians answer questions and I've thought, "They know the words but they don't meaning."  Or I have thought: "This is a pat answer."   The answer leaves you empty in the sense it is devoid of something really critical to understanding.  Perhaps the answer-er if pressed might even struggle to defend the answer, if pressed; and might not even understand the critical nuances that attend the answer.  Let me quote Piper:

"The Bible itself makes clear that it is not enough just to say the words of the Bible. The Bible mandates that all churches have teachers. All churches are supposed to have elders (Titus 1: 5), and elders are required to be teachers (1   Tim. 3: 2). The task of a teacher is not just to read the Bible to his hearers, but to explain it. And explaining means using other words besides the ones in the text. Throughout the history of the church, heretics have frequently insisted on using only Bible words in defending their heresy." [2]

That's it! Words alone don't always provide explanation leading to understanding.  "The longer I have studied Scripture and tried to preach it and teach it, the more I have seen the need to encourage preachers and laypeople to penetrate through biblical words to biblical reality."[3]  Recently in my Bible Reading Schedule I arrived at 1 Kings 22:19–23 (ESV)

¹⁹ And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; ²⁰ and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. ²¹ Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ ²² And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ ²³ Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.”

Penetrating beyond words to reality is a mind-bending, sometimes frightening, faith-testing experience. Would God do such a thing?  Would God not only use, but seemingly give direction to a "spirit" to perform a lying, deceitful act?  Are there sinful "spirits" among the "host of heaven"?  Will this "lying spirit" be punished eternally because they responded positively to the LORD's bidding?  

This is just one example where we must press through the words into biblical reality.  It's a stunning example that I've used for this purpose.  There are countless more examples that one could use.  Recently in my preaching series in the Gospel of John we've encountered the phrase "the people whom you gave me out of the world".  In Chapters 6 and 17, the concept is repeated several times.  I encourage you to push through that phrase and enter into a land flowing with milk and honey! 

The New Age Movement, as does the Word of Faith Movement, idolize words. Words take on magical and mystical power.  Just 'Google' articles on the power of words and you will see what I mean.  But words are symbols of reality.  One astute author picked that up when they concluded that they can no longer refer to members of their communion as "brothers and sisters".  Why?  Because in their opinion, there are more than two genders in the world.  It is for that reason that orthodox Christians use "brothers and sisters"!  That seemingly innocuous idea pushes through to a massive reality including Genesis 1 and 2, Imago Dei, marriage, etc.  Who would have thought?  

And that's just the point: Think!  Words have meaning and meaning has consequences.  Join me in a journey to press through words to the understanding they convey. 

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1. Piper, John. Think (Foreword by Mark Noll): The Life of the Mind and the Love of God . Crossway. Kindle Edition. 

2. Piper, John (2021-02-09). Providence (Kindle Locations 333-338). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

3. Ibid, (Kindle Locations 344-349)