We had another great discussion today starting our series about the Church. Today we started with the difficult task of defining it. Here’s the Definition that I worked from. It was created by the collaboration of myself, a missionary named Jon Freeman and a DTS professor. It probably is not the best definition out there, but it suffices for me.
The Church is the community of Christ followers, empowered by the Holy Spirit and sent by God to participate in His redemptive mission.
The Breakdown:
Community
“But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Cor. 12:21-26).
Community is important when we talk about the Church. First off, I like to make people aware that without community, we cannot reveal the full nature of God who himself exists in community being Trinity. It is the community of God’s people that work together to reveal Him and participate in his mission.
Christ Followers
“I am the vine, you are the branches, if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.” (John 15:5)
The Church is a community of Christ followers. They are people who have been chosen by God to be saved and reveal who he is. There may be many you attend church, but only Christ followers are part of The Church – the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”(Acts 1:8)
The Holy Spirit is the bridge that links both the Community of the Church and the participation of the Church in the mission of God. The Holy Spirit is at work in our communities, placing people in the Church and endowing Christ followers with specific gifts to use within the community.
Sent by God
Christ tells his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”(Matthew 28:19-20)
From the beginning, God has been a sending God. From Adam and Eve, to Noah, to Moses and the Israelites into the promise land, to the pinnacle of His sending, His son, the messiah who put on flesh to be the Lamb of God, sacrificed for the sins of the world. Afterward, Jesus sent his disciples and we too today, are sent into the world to reveal the Glory of God.
Participate in His Redemptive Mission
We have a specific part in God’s redemptive Mission, just as Christ had his. We are to reveal God. This is how he is glorified. This is how we participate in His Redemptive Mission. Though we are participants, we are not necessities. God will accomplish his will. It is by his grace that we can be participants and experience the joy of doing so.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:24-25).
How would you define the Church? This isn’t a perfect definition, how would change it? What is missing? Would you take any of it out?
I hope you can join us this next Sunday as we discuss what makes a local church, really a church.
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