West Valley Connection 10/8

From Our Pastor Emeritus, Clio Thomas

Pastor Clio Thomas serves as "Area Director" for the Asia/Pacific mission field of the Advent Christian Denomination. One of his duties is to encourage mission workers in a variety of settings throughout Asia. The following is a weekly installment of his letter, sent literally around the world to those in his charge.

Dear Ones in Christ,

You may be wondering why I keep thinking and writing about the Church of Jesus Christ. It is because I think that the nature of the Church is a much neglected topic among Christians. It seems to me that there is a disconnect in our contemporary thinking about Jesus Christ and the Church. If we follow closely the teaching of the New Testament about the Church being the Body of Jesus Christ, then there are serious implications for how we not only perceive the Church, but also how we as individual Christians live in this world. Jesus said, "I will build my Church." He also said, "As the Father has sent me into the world, so I send you." In the writings of the Apostle Paul he uses interchangeably the phrases: "Christ in you", and the Christian being "in Christ". Let me put this another way. Any statement we make about Christ is a statement about His Church, and any statement about the Church is a statement about Christ.

Now, what are some practical implications?

Where there is disunity and infighting in the Body (the Church) it is a denial of the reconciling work of Jesus. This does not mean that we have to agree intellectually on everything, but it does mean that we have to accept each other and live together in unity and love as a testimony to the world of the reconciling power of Jesus who is our Lord and Savior.
Where there is a lack of love, not only for those in the Church, but for the world, we are living contrary to our dear Lord Jesus. Did He not say, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.'" Love is not just a sentiment. It must show itself in concrete action. The Apostle John wrote: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and with truth." (1 John 3:18) We must be Christ to every person we meet, otherwise they will never see Him.
Our concern as Christians must be for all the world. Jesus' mandate to the Church was and is to go into all the world with the Gospel, beginning in our Jerusalem, into our Judea, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. To do less than this is to deny our Lord's command. A parochial self-centered Church is a denial of its very nature as the Body of Christ.

Remember today and every day that Christ is in you, and you are in Christ. You and I are His Body, the Church, living and serving in this world.

God bless you, now and always!!

Love in Him,

Pastor Clio