A Preposterous Assertion and a Dream
A Preposterous Assertion and a Dream
Allow me to make a preposterous assertion, and then do a little dreaming out loud with you.
Here’s the preposterous assertion: there is, and always has been, only one Body of Christ. If you’re among the faithful, whether you like it or not, you are a member with the faithful in those “other” churches. We must cease speaking of “them” and begin to speak of “us.”
Furthermore, the unity of the Body of Christ extends to include the faithful across the centuries. We are part of them; they are part of us. There is and always has been, only one Body of Christ.
Preposterous!
Here’s the dream: that as the headship of Christ - the active administration of the people of God by Jesus through the Holy Spirit - becomes a dominant reality among us, the multiplied divisions over the centuries begin to reverse and unity begins to occur.
Only One Body of Christ
Listen in on this conversation. Someone asks a pastor, “How big is your church?” “Between 400 and 500.” “Do you want it to grow bigger?” “Yes, of course!” “What if I told you your church could grow to over 10,000 people in less than twenty-four hours?”
At this point the pastor is remembering a line from The Muppet Movie: “We picked up a weirdo!” But wanting to hear the punch line for this obvious joke, he says, “Yeah, how could that happen?”
“It could happen - it will happen - by seeing the Church differently. Let’s assume there are 100,000 people in your city. And let’s assume that 10% of those belong to Jesus. There’s your 10,000. Your church has just grown to 10,000. And that’s just in your city.”
You may be thinking, Oh, you’re talking about the theoretical, invisible Church. No. It’s not theoretical. It’s real. If anything is imaginary, it is the divisions we have created within his Body. Paul would be exasperated with us as he was with the Corinthians when he was told of divisions, “Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:13) Heavens, no!
How many Bodies of Christ are there? Let Paul settle it:
There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all… (Eph. 4:4-6).
And,
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Cor. 10:17).
Yes, there are subgroups within your new church of 10,000. Jesus subdivided the 5,000 into groups of 50 to make it easier to distribute the miraculous food. That’s all the subdivisions in the Body of Christ are - convenient ways to take care of the larger number. But they were never meant to create partitions dividing the people of God.
So, go work your new understanding into a conversation or two. Go tell someone that your church just instantly grew from 400 to 10,000! You might want to brag a little further and tell them that St. Augustine, John Calvin, John Wesley and Billy Graham are all members of your church.
Now, not all who say they belong to Jesus actually do. Jesus himself said that there will be “many” who say “Lord, Lord” that he is not acquainted with. Here’s a tip: he can sort that out better than you!
Now Dream with Me
The dream I would like you to enter into is not the wispy, ephemeral kind. No, this is a dream that is rooted in the Word of God which stands forever. It’s a Biblically-inspired dream. In particular, it’s a dream based on Ephesians 4. It’s a dream you can take to the bank. It’s a hope that has certainty.
So image this: Christ gave us leadership gifts for
building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… (Eph. 4:12-13)
Is he teasing us or did he really mean the body of Christ will “attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God”? And did he really mean the future will bring us to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”?
Stir this into our dream: Jesus, the night before his crucifixion, asked this of his Father,
…that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:21).
Amazing! Unity among us like the unity between the Father and Son!
Because Jesus prayed it, and because the Apostle Paul taught it, I believe that the Church has an incredibly great future, which includes a profound unity and a maturity that is described as “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
Pray that dream!
The Headship of Christ
As I’ve prayed that dream, I bump into some seemingly insurmountable problems between here and its fulfillment.
Historically, the Church seems bound to a narrative of factions and divisions. Once there was one Church; then two; then two became ten; ten became a hundred, and so on. By one accounting, there are now 33,000 denominations in America alone! Seems like we’re moving away from unity rather than toward it.
Enter Isaiah.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder… Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end (Is. 9:6-7).
Enter Jesus.
Not just the Church’s Savior, but her King! No longer just a figurehead, but the active head of the Church! In most monarchies, it’s not really the king who administrates; it’s the prime minister. In the kingdom of God, however, the government is on his shoulder resulting in unending peace and flourishing.
But you say, didn’t God delegate authority in the Church to apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers? You’re right, he has. But when delegated authority moves away from subordination to God’s Word and Spirit, a human-centered, renegade administration emerges, another headship. Repentance and submission to God’s will are the only way back to his active headship.
Once upon a time, the Church was a world-wide, monolithic organization. Today it has devolved into thousands and thousands of splinters. What if the leaders of these tiny versions of the magnificent Body of Christ became exceedingly weary of their smallness, of these lesser headships, and found their way to other weary leaders humbly acknowledging together, “We’ll never get this done by ourselves.” The God-ordained ineffectiveness of divisions could actually lead us back to Christ’s active headship.
But how?
Growing Up into Christ’s Headship
In Ephesians 4:14-16, Paul goes on and tells us how.
Instead of children being tossed back and forth and carried along by waves and winds of human cunning and deceitful schemes, we begin to practice loving truth telling with one another.
…speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
We get honest with ourselves and with one another. We confess our sins and hear confessions. We find mercy, and light replaces darkness. And we grow up in every way into Christ, our head. It is from him that every joint, every relationship, becomes equipped. In him, each part works properly, and the Church spontaneously expands! The world looks on at our genuine love and unity, and believes that Jesus really is who he says he is (John 17:21).
Don’t accept the Church’s subpar status quo as normal. Pray for the Church, speak of the Church as it shall be. Keep your eye on movements that embrace Christ-centered cooperation across denominational lines, among honest and humble leaders.
We shall attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, and to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Your kingdom come!
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