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On October 14, 2021 By In Church, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must confront and forgive one another

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The fifth duty of the assembly toward one another is to confront and forgive sin. No doubt, this is the requirement that causes the most consternation for Christians. Of all the duties listed in this series, this is the command that many churches neglect altogether. That shouldn’t be the case. Confronting sin is never fun or easy, but it is a command from God. We must obey it, and he will give us the strength to do so.

Step one: Keep it private

Consider the instruction from Jesus himself in Matthew 18.

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother (Matthew 18:15)

Jesus establishes that you are deputized to confront those who sin against you. If someone sins against you, you have the authority to go to them privately and try to make amends. The goal is for the offender to repent and for you to forgive him. The intent of this process is not to humiliate the offender, but to bring about reconciliation.

Popular belief would have you think that confronting sin is unloving and vindictive. But does that sound like something Jesus would approve of? No. Confronting sin is actually based on love. It is a good and gracious thing, and your demeanor must reflect that. You do not confront someone with anger and disrespect. You approach them with kindness and gentleness.

How should Matthew 18 work in practice? If a fellow assembly-member sins against you, you start by keeping it as quiet as possible. You’re supposed to deal with it privately, with that person alone. You should clearly explain your grievance, citing Bible verses as necessary. Ideally, the person will confess his fault and ask for your forgiveness. You must then forgive him (Matthew 18:22, Colossians 3:13).

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On August 4, 2021 By In Church, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must share gifts with one another

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The fourth duty that assembly-members have toward one another is the giving and receiving of gifts.

All members of the assembly have gifts that God has given them, and those gifts are to be shared with others. Whatever skills, expertise, or knowledge you have is for the benefit of all. Each person is a unique image of God with unique traits and perspectives. Each person has interests and abilities that are not identical to anyone else. You are to share your gifts with others, and they are to share their gifts with you.

Consider the following passages:

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit…given to each one for the profit of all…the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 21)

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10)

Peter says that we are to “minister” our gifts to one another. That’s a profound command that should not be dismissed easily. It’s a ministry of yours to share your gifts. Maybe you’re a musician, a mechanic, a doctor, a math genius, or a babysitter. Maybe you’ve learned wisdom from life experiences. Whatever the case may be, the Bible views your gift as a benefit to the whole assembly. Don’t think that you have nothing valuable to offer! You do. Each member — clergy and layperson alike — plays a vital role in the life of the assembly.

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On March 16, 2021 By In Church, Music, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must edify one another

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The third duty that assembly-members have is to edify one another. You have the obligation to edify, uplift, and encourage your brothers and sisters.

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29)

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another…pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all (1 Thessalonians 5:11, 15)

These verses teach that we are to build each other up. The Greek word for edify (oikodomé) means “to build.” It’s the same word for building a house. We build up the house – the assembly – through mutual edification.

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On January 5, 2021 By In Church, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must submit to one another

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The second obligation that assembly-members have toward each other is submission. We must submit to one another.

For many people, the word “submission” triggers unpleasant thoughts. Evil people have used the concept of submission to justify tyranny and oppression. That is a worldly, perverse form of submission.

In the Bible, however, submission is a good thing. It is not tyrannical, it is not oppressive, and most importantly – it is not one-sided. Biblical submission is mutual. This single caveat makes Christian submission entirely unique. As we’ll see, it mirrors the life of the Trinity and it is only possible given a trinitarian worldview.

Paul tells the entire assembly to “submit to one another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21). That is the general command given to all. Paul then applies that command to various relationships within the assembly: husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants.

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On December 30, 2020 By In Church, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must love one another

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

My previous article established that the church is an assembly, and that assembling is therefore the church’s most basic duty. We assemble primarily for worship, though many things flow out of worship.

What are some of those things? What are our duties toward our fellow assembly-members? The Bible’s instructions to the assembly can be outlined in five categories. Each of these categories connect to one another and overlap – you can’t have some without the others! – but it is important to consider them individually.

First up: Love one another.

This should be an obvious one. The scriptures frequently command Christians to love one another. This command forms the foundation for all subsequent commands. To be clear, I’m not speaking of love for God, though that is necessary as well. This series deals with how Christians relate to Christians. We are commanded to love the assembly. We are commanded to love our fellow-assembly members. Loving God comes easy for Christians; loving other Christians takes work.

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On December 24, 2020 By In Church, Worship

Ecclesiology 101: The assembly must assemble

In this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Ecclesiology is the study of the church. Various aspects of the church and church governance are covered in ecclesiology, usually in abstract terms. This is good and necessary, but I want to take a more practical approach. I want to talk about ecclesiology from a layperson’s perspective: What does it mean to be the church? How do we function together? What are our duties toward one another? In this series, I hope to lay forth an outline of how the church is to be the church. I will not be focusing on outward-facing ministries of the church (e.g. evangelism), but on inward-facing ministries.

Defining terms

First things first: What does it mean to be a part of the church? To answer this question, we must first determine what the word “church” means. Most Christians know that the church isn’t a building, though we sometimes speak that way. “The church is people!” we rightly proclaim (Matthew 18:17, Acts 11:26).

From there, we might say that the church consists of anyone saved by the atoning work of Jesus (Ephesians 5:25, 1 Corinthians 1:2). In this usage, any self-professed Christian – anyone who believes in Jesus – is a part of the church.

But more fundamentally, the church is an “assembly” or a “congregation.” The word translated as “church” in our Bibles is the Greek ekklesia, which literally means “to call together” or “to assemble.”

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On August 25, 2020 By In Culture

The Church Is A Building

“The Church is not a building!” This has been a popular cliche for some time, and it has recently found renewed popularity as many have argued, in the time of COVID, that the Church can do just fine as Christians worship in private or online. While it is not my aim to address the shutdown situation here, this past Sunday’s Gospel lessona, Matthew 16:13-20, goes against the grain of this thinking. Of course, the Church is not constituted by the roof and walls in which congregations congregate; I know of no one who believes otherwise. And yet, a building is precisely how our Lord describes His Church.

On This Rock

Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”, and receives from Peter one of the most clear confessions of Jesus’ identity in Matthew up to this point: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter’s bold confession receives a profound, astounding response from the Lord: “… you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church…” This statement is one of the most discussed and debated verses in the New Testament. What is Jesus saying?

Jesus uses a clear pun in the Greek: the name Peter comes from the word for stone. It is Petros is Greek, and the term for stone used here is petra. Translating this literally would sound something like, “You are the Rock, and on this rock I will build my church.” He is clearly “punning” on Peter’s name. The question that has come up in the Church’s history is, what is the rock upon which Jesus says He will build His Church? Is it Peter? Is it the truth in Peter’s confession? 

The Roman Church has found in this verse a support for the supremacy of the Pope of Rome. Peter was (according to their argument) the first bishop of Rome, and Christ built the Church upon him; thus, the bishop of Rome, the Pope, is the human head of the true Church. On the other hand, many Protestants will argue that what Jesus was actually saying was that it’s not Peter, but the content of Peter’s confession (that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God) that is the rock upon which the Church is built. It’s not Peter, but true doctrine.

Neither of these positions- that Christ confers supremacy to Peter and his successors, or that He is only talking about true doctrine- seem to fit with the text. Jesus’ response is a response to the confession Peter makes. It is also clear though, from the pun Jesus uses, that He is identifying Peter as the rock upon whom He builds the Church. Considering the nature of this “building project” according to the rest of the New Testament will help us make sense of this.

Built on the Apostles and Prophets

“Upon this rock I will build my Church,” Jesus says. The Church is a building. We’re used to hearing the exact opposite: “The Church is not a building,” many say, emphasizing that the physical structure in which we meet does not constitute the Church. That’s true, in so far as it goes. But the Church is a building. It’s a building that’s not made of bricks or stones, nor even upon an abstraction or an idea, but upon persons. And the ultimate One upon Whom the Church is built is Christ Himself, the Chief Cornerstone. 

The same Apostle Peter writes of this building in his first epistle: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 2:4-5)

The Church is a building, a great house, being built up through history. We are a house made of living stones- you and me, together with all the saints!- and Jesus Himself is the cornerstone upon Whom we are built: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (v. 7)

But Jesus identifies Peter, the leader of the disciples as this time, and says He is a rock upon whom the Church will be built. Jesus is saying the same thing that Paul says in Ephesians, that the Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Eph. 2:20-22)

The Apostles and Prophets, joined with Christ the Cornerstone, form the unique foundation of this building. And what both Paul and Peter tell us is that this is a house in which God and man dwell together; that’s to say, a temple. The Church, in Christ, is the fulfillment of what the Temple pointed to. 

The Church grows upon this foundation, Paul says, into “mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Eph. 4:13) Jesus will bring His Church to maturity; or, in the words He speaks to Peter, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18) Jesus assures us of victory. This is not a victory in our own strength; Peter himself, who is an example here of boldly confessing Christ, becomes an example of the fact that it’s in our weakness that Christ works. But He will win the victory through us; He will use us to disciple the nations, to make all His enemies His footstool.

  1. for churches following the Revised Common Lectionary.  (back)

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On April 4, 2015 By In Theology

What Happens the Day Before Easter?

The Passion Week provides vast theological emotions for the people of God. Palm Sunday commences with the entrance of a divine King riding on a donkey. He comes in ancient royal transportation. The royal procession concludes with a Crucified Messiah exalted on a tree.

The Church also celebrates Maundy Thursday as our Messiah provides a new commandment to love one another just as He loved us. We then proceed to sing of the anguish of that Good Friday as our blessed Lord is humiliated by soldiers and scolded by the unsavory words of the religious leaders of the day. As he walks to the Mount his pain testifies to Paul’s words that he suffered even to the point of death. But hidden in this glaringly distasteful mixture of blood, vinegar, and bruised flesh is the calmness of the day after our Lord’s crucifixion.

After fulfilling the great Davidic promise in Psalm 22, our Lord rests from his labors in the tomb. Whatever may have happened in those days prior to his resurrection, we know that Christ’s work was finished.

The Church calls this day Blessed Sabbath or more commonly, Holy Saturday. On this day our Lord reposed (rested) from his accomplishments. Many throughout history also believe that Holy Saturday is a fulfillment of Moses’ words:

God blessed the seventh day. This is the blessed Sabbath. This is the day of rest, on which the only-begotten Son of God rested from all His works . . .(Gen. 2:2)

The Church links this day with the creation account. On day seven Yahweh rested and enjoyed the fruit of his creation. Jesus Christ also rested in the rest given to him by the Father and enjoyed the fruits of the New Creation he began to establish and would be brought to light on the next day.

As Alexander Schmemann observed:

Now Christ, the Son of God through whom all things were created, has come to restore man to communion with God. He thereby completes creation. All things are again as they should be. His mission is consummated. On the Blessed Sabbath He rests from all His works.

Holy Saturday is a day of rest for God’s people; a foretaste of the true Rest that comes in the Risen Christ. The calmness of Holy Saturday makes room for the explosion of Easter Sunday. On this day, we remember that the darkness of the grave and the resting of the Son were only temporary for when a New Creation bursts into the scene the risen Lord of glory cannot contain his joy, and so he gives it to us.

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