Christianity has so many diverse
compositions to it sometimes one can get
confused over the very nature and essence
of its reality. It really makes one wonder, if
we can't internally define who we are, we
can't externally witness about what we
are? That being said I want to proceed to
make some sense of and express some
clarity to the origin and nature of the
church. The church of Jesus Christ has
progressed from a small group of Jewish
believers to a diverse world-wide body of
Christians echoing the message of the
kingdom of God to a lost world. The fact
that sometimes we forget or try to ignore
our Jewish roots doesn't help. Actually
what the church has experienced for over
two millenniums is ethic, religious, and
class profiling.
So let's explore some basic principles for
insight. The essentials to consider as to
the composition of what a church consist of:
- Its Origin
- Its Mission
These two factors offer close insight as to
the intention of the church. Origin is
defined as the point at which something
comes into existence, dealing with the
basic qualities of its character, and
distinguishing the essence of its
beginning. From there we derive a history.
Origin then relates to basic character.
Many uninformed people have expressed
their misunderstanding of a church and
their definitions are either incorrect or
inadequate while missing the revelation of
what the church really is.
The most common perception of a church
is a building; either implied or spoken to
those outside of the corporate structure of
the church or those members who are
partakers of the fellowship. It is easy to see
how one can mistake the building or the
meeting place as the church. It's
imperative that we do not forget that there
were churches long before there were
buildings. The Early Church understood the
concept as a mystical entity. That being the
case, the first church buildings were not
constructed until near the end of the
second century (290 A.D.). The New
Testament describes the church as the
body of Christ composed of all the
redeemed of all the ages and at no time
does this usage refer to a specific body of
people or a geographical place
(1Cor.12:12-13; Eph.2:19-22).
The Greek word, Ecclesia is "an assembly
of Christians gathered for worship in a
religious meeting; whether in a city or a
home this makeup constitutes a company
of people united into one body, defined as
a civil body of called or elected people".
The term mission indicates "the divine
activity of sending intermediaries, whether
supernatural or human, to speak or do
God's Will that His purposes for judgment
or redemption are furthered." The biblical
concept is expressed by the use of verbs
meaning "to send," with God as the
expressed subject. The Hebrew verb
is "salah" and the Greek word "apostello".
The emphasis is the authoritative
commissioning relationship involved.
The scriptures also employ the cognate's
apostolos ("apostle" the one sent),
apostole ("apostleship" the function of
being sent), indicating the one sent and his
function. In modern times we want to use
the root words like "apostle" to define
position rather than function. In reality, a
missionary is in fact the modern example
of the ancient term. Not only were these
people sent out but many were martyred
for the Faith.
The biblical concept for "mission" is to
understand:
- The authority of the one who sends
(Jesus Christ)
- The obedience of the ones sent
(Missionaries)
- The task to be accomplished
(Evangelism)
- The power to accomplish the task (The
Holy Spirit)
All of this is done within the moral
structure of God's promise of judgment
and redemption. The primary mission in
the early church was to clarify its purpose
and its nature. Those appointed are sent
forth with this burden. As the apostles
reflected on the Savior the Father
commissioned (Jesus Christ), they
highlighted the motive, context, task, and
result of His mission.
I don't believe Christianity is reduced to
arguing over the fine points of salvation
within elite circles of division. What is more
interesting is how many diverse doctrinal
perspectives there are. The church of
Jesus Christ must get a grip on the
Kingdom mandate with a redemptive flair.
So then, just what is the Kingdom of God?
The idea is so pervasive in Scripture that it
is very difficult to be comprehensive. The
kingdom of God is the sphere in which the
Lord reigns-that is-the place where his
sovereignty and dominion express
themselves.
There is a lot that can be said in trying to
give a definition though. It must be
asserted that the kingdom of God is not a
place-though we usually think of
kingdoms in geographic terms. It is better
understood in terms of the dynamic reign
of God in the heart and minds of His
subjects.
Let me conclude with three aspects which
can be defined as the essence of the
kingdom:
- The supremacy of God in the sphere of
saving power
- The sphere of righteousness
- The state of blessedness
Paul says, "The kingdom of God is . . . in
power" (1 Cor. 4:20). It is interesting to
note that when the kingdom is preached, it
is often associated with verbs of motion.
Just as in Matthew's Gospel we read verbs
such as enter, seek, cast out, suffers
violence, come upon, gather out, and
come (translating three different Greek
verbs). The metaphoric language of a
physical kingdom helps us to
conceptualize the relationship the body of
Christ has to God's sovereignty.
The Church has advanced in its
conception of a kingdom from a Jewish
nation in the 1st century; to a Jewish city in
the 10th century (Jerusalem); to an Israeli
nation in 1948 (Israel); to a prosperous
nation (USA) today. All these insights has
not led us to the mandate of kingdom
building Jesus has mandated for us to
achieve.
