The Pitfalls of Organic Church (Part 3)

Let Jesus Be The Leader.

For the longest time, our house church family struggled with the idea of leadership. First, everyone looked to me because they considered me to be the pastor. Eventually I withdrew myself from this title and position and functionally encouraged everyone to step into their gifting and to take spiritual responsibility for one another as members of the priesthood of believers. But still, we weren’t quite sure what it meant for Jesus to be the Head of our Church family.

I think every Christian would affirm the notion that Jesus is the head of their Church. However, in practice, the leader of the church is functionally the senior pastor. Of course, the assumption is that the senior pastor is hearing from Jesus and therefore the Church is being led by Jesus. But, according to Jesus himself, every believer is capable of hearing the His voice and responding to him. So, if all of us are able to hear the voice of Jesus, and if Jesus is capable of speaking to us directly, why would we limit ourselves and allow only one specific person to hear the voice of Jesus on our behalf? Maybe we should all come together and practice listening to Jesus together each time we gather? Maybe Jesus is actually serious about leading us into all truth through the indwelling Holy Spirit? Maybe Jesus really can lead our times of worship, and prayer, and bible study if we actually ask him to? Maybe Jesus is powerful enough to teach us Himself? Maybe He actually wants to direct our time spent in His presence? Maybe Jesus actually does show up whenever two or more are gathered in his name?

If so, it makes a lot of sense for us to collaborate together as an organic body of disciples to surrender ourselves completely to the Lord Jesus Christ and allow Him to speak, and move, and minister, and touch, and encourage, and edify everyone in the room. How? Through us! We are his hands, his feet, and his children. We are filled and gifted by His Holy Spirit. We are empowered and called out to use our gifts to bless our brothers and sisters in the Church. But, it’s not us doing the blessing, it’s actually Jesus doing it as we surrender our will and our lives to His control.

Now, this isn’t easy to do. It will take practice. It will involve praying together as a church family and asking Jesus to not only show up and lead you this way – but to help you as a group to learn how to respond to Him properly.

I can guarantee you that there will be times when someone speaks out of turn. There will be times when someone tramples on the Holy Spirit and does something, or says something, that is off base. Get used to that. But, don’t give up! The more you submit to one another, and to Christ, in this process, the better you will get at learning to hear His voice and respond to His leadership and headship when you come together as a Body.

Have any of you had any experiences like this? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section.

Peace,
kg

THE DISCIPLES ON LEADERSHIP AND HIERARCHY

The disciples of Jesus were very concerned with leadership. Early on they spent a great deal of their time discussing issues of hierarchy with one another. For example:

"An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest." (Luke 9:46)

Even at the Lord's Supper, when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, and that he would suffer in order to establish a new covenant between God and man, the disciples took a break from discussing which of them might betray Jesus in this way in order to discuss the very important topic of leadership:

"A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest." (Luke 22:24)

Earlier on in Jesus' ministry the mother of James and John came to him to engage in a dialog about leadership, saying:

"Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." (Matthew 20:21)

Of course, James and John themselves were also quite eager to move up in the hierarchy of the Kingdom and so they also came to Jesus to talk about leadership issues when they said:

"Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." (Mark 10:37)

Even when they traveled from town to town, the disciples loved to talk about which of them was the greatest of all.

"They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, [Jesus] asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the road?' But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest." (Mark 9:33-34)

Yes, the disciples were extremely fixated on the topic of leadership and hierarchy. But Jesus wasn't. In fact, in every single one of these cases, Jesus took the time to stress to the Disciples that, in the Kingdom of God, leadership didn't have anything to do with being top dog. In fact, if they wanted to be great in the Kingdom of God, they would have to get used to washing feet, being everyone's servant and acting like simple children.

In the Kingdom of God, the only boss is Jesus. He is still the head of His Church and no one else. All the rest of us are brothers and sisters in His Family.

Jesus reminds all of us that the least among us is the greatest of all.(Luke 9:48)
He models a servant style of leadership for all of us to follow (John 13:4-17)
He boldly declares that, unless we can become humble like little children, we will never enter the Kingdom of God.(Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17; Matthew 18:3-4)

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:5-8)

Jesus pointed to both Jewish (Religious) and Roman (Political) hierarchies and made a point to contrast those systems with his own model. He sternly warned his disciples not to “lord it over” one another as the Gentile rulers did.(Mark 10:42-45) He also commanded them not to follow the example of the Jewish leaders who loved the praise of men and built their own kingdoms to glorify themselves. (Matt 23:8-12).

Eventually, the disciples got it. They abandoned their pursuits of hierarchy and they embraced the loving, servant leadership posture that Jesus so beautifully modelled for them.

We see this when Peter appealed to the Church as a fellow laborer in Christ and referred to himself as a "fellow elder" rather than as an Apostle:

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” – 1 Peter 5:1-4

Paul echoed this also, saying:

“Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.” – 2 Cor.1:24

People love leaders. We love leadership. We flock to those with the greatest talent and ability. But this is exactly what Paul warns the Church about when he rebukes them for identifying themselves as followers of Appollos, or Peter, or even of himself. (see 1 Corinthians 1:11-13)

Instead, Paul warns all of them not to become disciples of any other man, or leader, but to fully submit to Christ alone as Lord and Savior and Teacher.

When Paul was preparing to return to Jerusalem he wrote a letter of farewell to many of the churches he had helped to plant and nourish. As he encouraged them he took the opportunity to remind them of something that had been burning in his heart for three years. It was something that, in his own words, he “never stopped warning each of (them), night and day with tears.” – (Acts 20:25-31)

What do you suppose it was that concerned Paul so much? What could bring him to tears like this? What could compel him to constantly remind and warn those first Christians “night and day”?

Was it false doctrine in the church? Was it the coming persecution? No, it was something far more devasting to the Body. The rise of teachers and leaders who would draw disciples after themselves rather than pointing them directly to Christ.

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” – Acts 20:25-31

What troubled Paul most of all was the knowledge that, after he was gone, men would rise up “to draw away disciples after themselves”. Paul was broken-hearted to think of the Body submitting to the authority of men rather than to the authority of Christ.

Think about this. Paul is mainly concerned that men will rise up from within the Body itself and, in his absence, set themselves up as leaders and draw disciples to themselves.

Why would this concern Paul so much? Why would it cause him such anxiety and emotional turmoil? Perhaps because Jesus made the issue of leadership within His Body very clear: It was designed to be a family, an organism and a community, not a hierarchy.

In the Church, our only Head and Leader is Jesus.

"Christ is the head of the body, the church; Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,that in everything Christ might be preeminent." (Colossians 1:18)

"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23)

-kg

TEACHING IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

My friend Tom Crisp and I have been engaged in a fascinating email discussion lately and I wanted to share some of what we’ve been talking about here to get more reactions and thoughts from you guys.

The conversation started when Tom observed that many in the Organic Church arena tend to read 1 Corinthians 14:26 as if it says that everyone can teach as opposed to the more American model where only one person stands up front and teaches everyone else.

Tom said that while Paul's Body metaphor suggests active participation in church meetings where all use their various gifts to minister to one another, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is therefore a teacher.

He goes on to say, “I think Paul is better read in 14:26 as saying each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue OR an interpretation. He's not saying to the Corinthians that, when they meet, everyone has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue and an interpretation. He'd just finished saying in chapter 12 that different gifts are given to different members of the body for the common good, then in verse 29, he asks rhetorically, "All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? ... All do not speak with tongues , do they? All do not interpret , do they?" where the context strongly suggests the answer to those questions is 'no'. Thus his saying in chapter 14 that he wishes everyone spoke in tongues, but more so that all would prophecy, the implication being that not everyone had these gifts.

[Therefore] I'm inclined to read 14:26 as suggesting, then, that, when the Corinthians met, everyone contributed his/her gift to the meeting, but that only some contributed the gift of teaching.”

In response, I said that I totally agree with Tom’s assertion that not everyone in the Body is a teacher, or has the gift of prophecy, etc. No disagreement there. But, the more I thought I about it I realized that there was another way to look at the situation.

While the scriptures suggest that there are a variety of different spiritual gifts given to the Church and that not everyone has the same gifts, the Bible also tells us that all should be able to share their faith with unbelievers, for example. Dose this mean that everyone has the gift of evangelism? Of course not. But it does suggest that every believer is a member of the priesthood of believers. (see 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 5:10) Therefore, even if one does not have a specific gift to evangelize, or to pray for the sick, etc., it does not excuse that Christian from sharing their faith or praying for someone in need. In other words, in the Kingdom of God we are not allowed to say, “that’s not my job!” because we’re all members of the priesthood of believers.

Looking again at the passage:

"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church." – (1 Cor 14:26)

As I read this I wonder if teaching is really so central to Paul's concept of what is important when the Church gathers? As I read through his epistles I tend to come away with the idea that Paul has a greater concern that the people of God love one another and know the love of Jesus. It seems that Paul is much more concerned, at least to me, with edification and the "strengthening of the church" than he is with teaching. Especially when we read through the entire epistle of 1 Corinthians I think Paul leaves a stronger impression that he values "Love" and "Prophesying" over teaching.

“Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” – (1 Cor 14:1)

Over in 1 Cor 14, in verse 31 Paul says; "For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged."

Doesn't this suggest that Paul does think that "all can prophesy" in the gathering? Or is that "can" more about having the freedom to do so, if not the ability or gifting?

Tom’s response to this is that Paul is speaking only to the prophets here and not to the entire church. This may be the case. (In fact, I think he’s correct.) But, again, the prophesying done here is by a group of people, not only one person, and the purpose is that “everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” This suggests, again, that the goal of the meeting is not only instruction but encouragement and it’s being accomplished through a participation of everyone in the Body – whether those prophesying or those teaching or singing, etc.

However, later on I realized that we were both taking an academic approach to this subject. If we were talking about a group of people who got together to discuss Trigonometry or to study the Chinese language, we would expect that they might require a teacher - an expert - to help them understand the material. But in the Church we are not only gathering for the purpose of understanding information. In fact, whenever two or more gather, the Author of the Book is in the room! The main character of the book is on site and available to explain Himself to us!

The Holy Spirit - the author of the Bible - is living within us. We are capable of reading the Word and asking Him to lead us and reveal the Truth to us. And He will!

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” – Jesus (John 16:13)

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” – James 1:5

“As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.” – 1 John 2:27

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." – Jesus (Matthew 18:20)

So, even if the people who have the "gift of teaching" are not present for one of our gatherings, it's still possible for everyone else in the room to read the Scriptures, and pray, and ask God for wisdom and insight. If they do this they should expect to receive revelation from God Himself through the Holy Spirit.

In this way, the Church is never without a teacher. She has been filled with the Spirit of God, and the head of the Church is in her midst. Jesus has promised that He is the Good Shepherd and that His sheep can hear His voice. (see John 10:14-16)

Again, this doesn't make everyone in the room a teacher, but everyone in the room does have access to hear The Teacher and share what they learn from Him. Therefore, it’s still possible for everyone in the Body to come together under the Headship of Christ and share the gifts they’ve received from the Holy Spirit and participate in the life of Jesus together.

What do you think?

HEARING THE VOICE OF JESUS

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples that he is the good shepherd and that his sheep hear his voice and follow him, (ch. 10, v.1-27). In addition, he also says that they will not listen to others because they have discernment to recognize his voice and obey his teachings.

He also affirms, at the end of his ministry, that the Holy Spirit would come and speak to us and teach us.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” John 16: 13-14

In the book of Acts, at the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost, Peter affirms that the pouring out of the Spirit which Jesus promised was also a fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel which said,

“'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” – Acts 2:17-18

From that day forward, the followers of Jesus became empowered to preach the Gospel, baptize new believers, plant churches, and share communion with other believers. Everyone who was in Christ was automatically ordained into the ministry of Jesus Christ, and every follower of Jesus was “...being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." – 1 Peter 2:5

Throughout the New Testament, Paul and the other disciples affirm this ongoing dialog between Jesus and His people.

“As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.” – 1 John 2:27

Paul says, "I myself am convinced, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another." - Romans 15:14

"For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged". - 1 Corinthians 14:31

What I find fascinating is that, according to Jesus and the Apostles, every believer is capable of hearing the voice of God, and yet, in today’s modern church we typically find that only one, or perhaps a few, are expected to hear God’s voice and communicate His will to the Body.

Why is that?

Partly because we have created a false Clergy/Laity divide which falsely teaches (or at least models) the idea that only those who have attended seminary and/or graduated from Bible College are capable of hearing God’s voice or instructing the Body.

As one New Testament scholar, Howard Snyder, put it:

"The clergy-laity dichotomy is…a throwback to the Old Testament priesthood. It is one of the principal obstacles to the church effectively being God’s agent of the kingdom today because it creates a false idea that only ‘holy men,’ namely, ordained ministers, are really qualified and responsible for leadership and significant ministry. In the New Testament there are functional distinctions between various kinds of ministries but no hierarchical division between clergy and laity. The New Testament teaches us that the church is a community in which all are gifted and all have ministry.”

Essentially, in spite of the fact that the veil in the temple was torn in two “at that moment” when Christ said “It is finished” we have virtually re-sewn the veil and re-instituted our own levitical priesthood system.

Like the people of Israel in the days of King Saul, we want “a king like all the other nations have” – someone to rule over us and mediate for us. Like them, we have rejected God as our King and our Lord and have elected representatives who will listen to His voice in our stead.

Clearly, the New Testament reveals that Jesus, by His blood, purchased for us the right to become “a kingdom of priests to serve God” (Revelations 1:6) and also in chapter 5:

"You (Jesus) are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." - Revelations 5:9-10

Numerous New Testament scholars affirm that this man-made Clergy/Laity distinction came much later in the historical church and created a false hierarchy within.

“This (clergy/laity) structure does not correspond to what Jesus did and taught. Consequently it has not had a good effect in the history of the Church ...Among his disciples Jesus did not want any distinction of class or rank...In contradiction to this instruction of Jesus, a “hierarchy,” a “sacred authority,” was nevertheless formed in the third century - Herbert Haag, Upstairs, Downstairs: Did Jesus Want a Two-Class Church?, Crossroad, 1997, p.109.

"Our survey has shown us that no cultic priesthood is to be found in the New Testament. Yet we wound up importing Old Testament Levitical forms and imposing them on Christian ministry . . . Nevertheless in practice there is no denying that there has historically been a gathering into one person and his office what were formerly the gifts of many . . .[This practice] goes astray, of course, when it translates to mean that only ordination gives competence, authority, and the right of professional governance. It goes further astray when eventually all jurisdictional and administrative powers in the church come to be seen as an extension of the sacramental powers conferred at ordination. In short, there is a movement here away from the more pristine collaborative and mutual ministries of the New Testament." - William Bausch, from his book "Traditions, Tensions, Transitions in Ministry", Twenty-Third Publications, 1982, pp. 54, 30.

In spite of these man-made aberrations to God’s original intent for His New Testament Church, it’s still possible for us as the people of God to hear His voice today. Jesus promised that we, His sheep, were capable of hearing His voice. He promised to send His Holy Spirit to fill us and to reveal all truth to us, and we know that He did that – both at Pentecost and when we personally received Christ as our Lord and Savior.

So, what’s stopping us today from hearing God’s voice? Clearly, only our own lack of desire to draw near to Him and to listen. Of course, what’s also stopping us is the dominant Clergy/Laity system which forbids those designated as “laity” from sharing what we hear with our brothers and sisters. The life and ministry of the Body to “one another” is strangled by this man-made, unbiblical system.

Still, if there’s one thing I am convinced of, it is this: God is fully capable of speaking His will to His people. He has promised us that we – directly – can hear His voice without the need for any mediator between God and us. We can hear God. He can speak to us and we can know His voice.

May we draw near to listen to Him, and may His Bride make room for His voice to be spoken as He intended: Through the distribution of the Gifts of the Spirit, for the common good. (1 Cor 12).

If we are acquainted individually with the idea of submitting ourselves daily to Christ as Lord and Savior, let us carry that into our gatherings together and submit together to Him as our Head, our Lord and let Him lead our meeting and speak to us as we wait on Him.

If we truly believe that Christ is made manifest in our presence at the Lord’s table, and if we seriously believe that Christ is alive in each of us, then let us demonstrate this by acting as we would if Jesus were among us in the flesh. Let us keep silent and let Him speak and lead His people.

-kg

I'M OFFICIALLY LICENSED AND ORDAINED MINISTER OF THE LAITY

by Keith Giles

After over twenty years as a licensed and ordained minister of the Gospel under the auspices of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, I have finally achieved something extraordinary – I am now a fully licensed and ordained minister of the Laity.

It all started about four years ago, I suppose. My wife and I felt God calling us to step away from our on-staff pastoral position at a local church we had helped to plant with some of our friends in order to plant a house church where 100% of the offering could go to the poor.

I’ve always said that Wendy and I have “backed into house church” because our original desires for starting this house church weren’t the typical ones people usually express. We weren’t reacting to any feelings of disenfranchisement in the traditional church. We weren’t reacting to any books we’d just read about the pagan rituals embedded in our institutional church. Instead, we were consumed with the excitement of being part of a church where all of our offering could go to the poor, like in the New Testament.

It wasn’t until we began actually practicing the priesthood of the believer, and then re-learning a lot of what we thought we knew about God’s design for His Body, that the scales began to fall away. Now we can totally see where the traditional church restricts the life of the Body as Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 12, and how the 58 “one anothers” in the New Testament aren’t really possible when only one person is allowed to speak or teach while everyone else sits passively listening.

“Being the Church” has become more real to us than attending church ever was. We’ve discovered how following Jesus in our every day, actual lives is actually easier when we begin to see the Church as the people who gather throughout the week and not a building we rent or a meeting we attend.

Still, I passed another milestone a few weeks ago. I finally stopped being the pastor of the Mission House Church and started realizing that I am really only a member of the church body that meets in my home. It’s not “my church”. It’s really God’s Church. Jesus is really our pastor, not me. He’s the one who is our head. He is the one with the agenda. He is the one who shepherds us, and leads us, and makes His will known to us by His Word and His Spirit. Not me.

Part of my revelation involved pulling back from the duties that some in our house church expected me to always perform such as leading communion, or prayers, or leading our open share times. For several months I sat at the back of the room and refused to speak or lead in any way. This allowed everyone else in our body to step forward and take initiative, and ownership, of life in the Body. As I exercised restraint, I began to observe what God was doing in our times together more. I began to listen more. I suddenly found myself to be superfluous in some areas, but necessary in others. My true place in the Body was being redefined as I stepped outside the spotlight and allowed Christ to be our Head.

The final steps in my ordination into the laity involved realizing two simple truths: First, that Jesus is alive and fully capable of communicating his will for us. Secondly, that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we, his sheep, are capable of hearing his voice. By exercising this truth, it became more and more clear that whenever we, as a Body, took the time to stop and ask Jesus to lead us and to speak to us (and then we actually waited for him to speak and lead), that Jesus would be faithful to do this.

While we’re still just beginning to scratch the surface of what it means to surrender to the Headship of Christ in our regular gatherings together, I have to believe that a significant aspect of our ability to explore this was only made possible when our founding pastor finally took his God-given place as the head of His Church. That pastor, our good shepherd, is Jesus.

As soon as I gave up being the leader, and began to realize that this was not “my church” but that I was simply one of the members of His Church, our chances of experiencing the Headship of Christ jumped exponentially.

So, please celebrate with me my official ordination into the ministry of the laity of Christ. I am one of many gifted members of the Body of Christ in a Church that belongs to Jesus and happens, for now, to meet in my home.

-kg
**

“If God ‘visits’ a church, it betrays the fact that it doesn't belong to Him. A homeowner doesn't visit his own home. He lives in it. In a divine visitation, God will bless His people. But He will eventually move on and search for a home that He can call his own. Thus if the headship of Jesus Christ is not fully yielded to any given place, the best of Lord can do is visit. He cannot take up residency.”
– Frank Viola; From Eternity to Here

A PROFOUND MYSTERY

When you consider that the Bible as we know it today was written over a period of thousands of years, by wide variety of authors, and assembled as a single document nearly two thousand years ago, it's fairly miraculous that the first three chapters of the Bible correspond so symmetrically with the last three chapters of the Bible.

In the first three chapters of the Bible, in the book of Genesis, we see a series of events that are mirrored in the last three chapters of Revelation.

First, we see the creation of heaven and earth. At the end of Revelation we see a new creation.

In the first three chapters we see Satan ensnaring mankind and in the last three we see Satan cast down and doomed forever.

In the first three chapters we see a garden, and in the last three chapters we see a garden city. Both gardens include the tree of life.

In the first three chapters we have a curse given to man for his sins, and in the last three chapters the curse if forever removed.

In the first three chapters God visits the garden once per day, and in the last three chapters God is at home with man forever.

In the first three chapters man and woman are cast out, but in the last three chapters they are welcomed in.

In the first three chapters a bride is created from out of Adam’s side, and in the last three chapters a Bride is ushered in for the Son of God and a wedding feast is celebrated.

In the first three chapters we have the beginning of Time, and in the last three we have the beginning of Eternity.

DEEPER THINGS
The Scriptures reveal the Church to be the Bride of the Lamb. It is one of the most common metaphors used by God to describe His people throughout the Bible. However, as I began tracing these threads between Genesis and Revelation I noticed even more about what Paul the Apostle refers to as "a profound mystery".

In Ephesians 5:25-33, Paul uses the metaphor of marriage to teach us something astounding about Jesus and about our identity as the Bride of Christ. I've edited the text to highlight the main thoughts:

"...just as 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

"'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church." – Eph 5:31-32

Because this passage is so often used to counsel men and women in regards to the marriage relationship, I have removed those references so that we can see what Paul says he is actually talking about: "Christ and the church".

First, Paul tells us how Christ has given himself up for us (the Bride) and how he cleanses and washes us through the word of God so that we might be ready for our wedding day. Paul also quotes from Genesis chapter 2 in this passage and this reminds us of how God put Adam to sleep and made a woman for him because "God saw that it was not good for man to be alone". Notice it was God's idea, not Adam's, for man to have a wife. Somehow this reference points to God's plan for the Church. As Paul reminds us - "For this reason" the man is to "leave his father and mother and be united with his wife and the two will become one flesh". This is where Paul pauses and remarks that "this is a profound mystery". Why? Because he is not talking about Adam and Eve now. He's not talking about Christian marriage between a man and a woman. No, he is talking about Jesus and the Church "becoming one flesh".

THE MYSTERY OF THE BRIDE
We know from God’s word that we (the Church) are the Bride of Christ (Eph 5:22-33). But in Revelation we learn that the Bride is also a City:

"One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." – Rev 21:9-10

We are the Bride, and the Bride is a City.

THE MYSTERY OF THE TEMPLE
We also know that we are the Temple of God (Eph 2:21), but in Revelation we discover that it is Christ who is the Temple in us:

"The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." – Rev 21:21-22

So, we are the Temple where God dwells within, but we are also the Bride which is a city and in that city is a Temple which is the Lord Himself.

ONE IN CHRIST JESUS
Want to see how this is played out in the rest of the Scriptures? In the Gospel of John, beyond the prayer of Jesus to the Father that we (the Bride) would be one even as Jesus and the Father are one, Christ also prays:

"Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." – John 17:21-23.

In Ephesians 2:21 we are told that we are the Temple of God, as we have already seen, but look at what this passage actually communicates. Try to guess where God ends and we begin here:

"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 2:21-22

Here we see that we (the Church/Bride/Body/Temple) are being built to become a dwelling in which God lives, and yet the Temple is being built "in him". So, we are being built in Christ to become a Temple where God will dwell by His Spirit. Who is on the inside? Who is dwelling where? We are in Christ, and we contain God's Spirit all at the same time.

THE MYSTERY OF THE BODY
In 1 Corinthians 12, and in Ephesians 4:15, Paul gives us another wonderful illustration of how the Body is to function. He refers to the Church as the Body of Christ and explains that we are dependent upon one another for life, and yet that Christ is our Head and without Him we can do nothing (see also John 15:5). Here we have a wonderful picture of the unity which Jesus prayed we would have (John 17:21-23) and a fulfillment of the picture that we are "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24, Eph 2:21), with Christ since we are His Body and He is our head.

As I look at who we are in Christ, (His Body, Temple and Bride), and as I see God's sovereign plan from the beginning (to find a Bride for His Son, and a Temple for His presence), and as I hear the prayer of Jesus that we be in Him and that we be one even as He and the Father are one, I cannot help but feel an urgency to tear down our man-made divisions and embrace our identity as members of one Body, with one Head.

THE GLORIOUS MYSTERY OF GOD
This mystery is quite profound. One worthy of our awe. It is not my goal to explain or understand this mystery. One dear brother I shared this with recently said to me, "Let it continue to be a mystery in your heart" and that is my intention. This is a profound mystery and what we must contemplate is not how to make sense of it, but instead how to live out our part of it. How can we be one in Christ? How can we make Christ the head of our Body? How can we be the Temple of the Living God? How can we make ourselves ready for that glorious wedding day to come?

THE END IS THE BEGINNING
The last thing I see as I look at the symmetry between Genesis and Revelation is that all of History ends with a wedding. All that we have known, and all that we now experience is only the courtship. This is just the engagement phase of our life with Christ. One day we will become the Bride of Christ and be one with Him. Yet, a wedding is not the end of life, it is only the very beginning. God's Word ends with a beginning.

This is a very profound mystery, indeed.

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PROOF THAT I KNOW NOTHING AT ALL

Last night a dear brother in the Lord, Craig Lewis, was compelled to share a message with me from man named Lance Lambert about how the Spirit of God built a wonderful Church called "Halford House" in England, back in the early 1950's.

This was a simple, humble testimony of how God spoke to a group of young people and how He formed their church. It rattled me - in a good way - and I've been continually challenged by much of what was shared concerning the headship of Christ, giving birth to new life, travailing with the Lord and unity in the entire Body of Christ. (Just to name a few things).

Since last night I've downloaded the message online and I've burned a Cd of it to listen to it again in the car and now I want to share it with you.

After listening to this testimony I am convinced that I know absolutely nothing. Four years of leading this house church in my home and I am an absolute beginner compared to this man.

To be sure, you'll be hearing echoes of this message in my upcoming blog articles, I'm certain, for many months to come.

If want to get a headstart, I welcome you to download and listen to the message it's
HERE

After you've heard it I'd love to know your thoughts about it. So please post comments here and/or email me and let me know how the Lord speaks to you.

DISCLAIMER: The audio quality is a bit low so I apologize in advance.