Poles Apart in the Church
Image: Chesterfield Service
Jesus Christ in John 17:21 expressed his prayer “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” Although most of my audience claims to take scripture at face value, this verse may be an exception. As Carl Trueman recently observed:
“We Protestants default far too quickly to a spiritualized understanding of Christ’s prayer that his people should be one, at the cost of credibility.”
The church today is not a ringing endorsement of the “manifold wisdom of God” in part because of the lack of love among his people that leads them to justify all manner of fleshly communication as speaking the truth. Strange the way that verse gets clipped—it’s speaking the truth in love.
The Bible is full of instruction about our disposition toward others. A very small sample: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” Or “Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near!”
How are we to pull this off? By being Spirit-filled for sure since the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Spirit-filling isn’t going to happen when we reflexively justify harsh sarcastic speech as standing for truth.
Michael J Kruger points us to the path of wisdom. “When we are kind, fair, and even-handed with our intellectual opponents, we are actually more persuasive, both to them and to those listening. Scorched earth tactics might energize the base who is already with you, but such tactics do very little to persuade folks who already disagree.”
Most important of all, love is a commandment. We are to love one another just as Jesus has loved us and this will mark us out as authentic Christians since only the regenerating grace of God can so transform us.
Many years ago, Francis Schaeffer wrote an extended treatment of John 13 :34-35 called The Mark of the Christian (available here as a free pdf). Schaeffer observes:
“The command at this point is to love our fellow Christians. But there is another side of Jesus’ teaching: We are to love our fellow human beings, as human beings. We are to love all people, in fact, as neighbors.”
Jesus said, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.” We must study God’s word to understand what He commands and then rely on the Spirit to actualize our knowing and convert it into action.
What follows is an approximate transcript of the podcast on this topic.
In the previous podcast as well as this one I’m illustrating the transformative potential of biblical discipleship. Deep understanding of scripture produces personal embodiment —truth lived out as God’s Holy Spirit transforms us from one degree of glory to another. This cause-effect relationship is seen in Paul’s prayer for the Colossians (1:9-10, ESV)
“We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
A Dysfunctional Family
The book of Ephesians argues that God intends his people to be unified. Many of us have experienced the opposite in our churches. It is not just the general population who are polarized into warring factions. When the church is gathered in many places there is the tension and awkwardness of a dysfunctional family at a reunion. Conversations stay on the surface. We avoid certain people. We don’t enjoy being with each other. We try not to grimace for the group photo of the reunion crowd, but inwardly we may wonder, “what is wrong with these people?”
Unity in the Body of Christ isn’t achieved by human effort. It is given by the Spirit of God. But it is the duty of those in the church to live in such a way as to maintain the unity. The reflex human way to maintain unity is to insist on uniformity. Humans often impose this uniformity and police it. Bosses don’t want to hear alternative views. Dictators penalize or imprison dissenters. Some churches effectively have an autocrat in the pulpit who bullies his congregation so that his will is accomplished. The alternative to the strong-arm approach is skin-deep unity. Politicians tell their partisans what they want to hear and stay light on details. Within the church this approach leads to superficiality and sometimes posturing and pretension to avoid censure.
Unity in Diversity
Biblical unity is a unity within diversity because God gives differing gifts to his people. It is only when each different part is working properly that the Body of Christ grows and stays healthy.
It is one thing to acknowledge that unity is what God expects of His people, it is quite another to embrace the truth and live it out. This where active wrestling with the gap between head knowledge and inward motivation must be addressed. As a person thinks in his heart, so is he. We’re back to discipleship. Let’s return to using questions of the text in Ephesians to direct a deep conversation that unearths and confronts what we really believe about unity
In the last podcast we studied Ephesians chapter 2 where we found that our backstory and that of our sisters and brothers in the church is the same in that we were all dead in our trespasses and sins, and it is God who by grace has made each of us alive. We are no longer alienated from God, and we should no longer be alienated from our adopted siblings in the church. Christ’s redemptive work has broken down the wall of hostility that has separated opponents and He expects adversaries to reconcile and unite as members of His body.
Let’s resume our study. I’ll ask questions I asked my life group and I’ll pause for your answer. (You might even consider getting your Bible and pausing this podcast sincerely trying to answer each question before moving ahead. That kind of engagement is key to personal transformation).
What is the significance of the verb tenses in Ephesians 2:19-22?
There is an informative shift between past and present. We are no longer strangers and aliens, but we are presently fellow citizens with everyone in the household of God. We are built on a foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. The structure is not yet complete, though. It is being joined together; it is growing.
We could explain this growth as people coming to faith and being added to the church. That should be true. However, the current members are specifically addressed in v.22: “you are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
I think this points to a unity that is a growing corporate reality because it is a growing inward reality in each believer through the work of the Spirit in their sanctification. Each one is being transformed from one degree of glory to another thus increasing their oneness with others in the body.
Let’s see how Ephesians 3 pushes unity to a higher level. Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles, and he has been entrusted by God with a secret (usually translated mystery) that no one would have guessed.
Ephesians 3:6 plainly states the mystery. What is it?
“The Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
What is so mysterious about that?
A possible follow-up if needed: The OT recognizes that Gentiles could attach themselves to Israel as proselytes. How is this different?
The Gentiles here are given full rights and privileges with the Jews. They are in no way second-class citizens or green card holders who are denied the benefits of citizenship. This is pushing Jewish readers even further than the “abolishing of the law of commandments and ordinances.” (2:15). There is now no practical distinction remaining between Jews and Gentiles. In the OT Gentile proselytes had to follow Jewish practices, but no longer.
Paul in Ephesians 3:8-9 says he was called to preach this message to the Gentiles (v. 8) and then in v.9 says he is preaching to everyone.
Humanly speaking, how would these verses land with a Gentile vs. how would they land with a Jew?
Gentiles would be thrilled that God had authorized an apostle to preach the gospel to them. Jews as God’s chosen people would probably still be somewhat shocked, which may be why God assures them (v.9) that this was actually the plan from the beginning—it has just been hidden until now.
Ephesians 3:10 moves the readers further regarding the implications of this mystery.
What is surprising about God using the church as the display of his “manifold wisdom?”
The church as we know it seems to be small and often in disarray, lacking in influence in a broadly secular culture. Even in times when the cultural morality respected the church, there were many who criticized it for its inconsistency and even outright hypocrisy.
Christ will build His church, so it is not hard to think of how His actions build His church and make it glorious (v. 11). How does that logically link to individual believers in v. 12?
The big picture answer is that we can know for certain that He is favorable to us, and we can be confident in His faithfulness to us (which I think is a better translation than our faith in Him). His church is built of individuals and as they are transformed into His image, the church brings glory to God. Particularly in the flow of Ephesians to this point, God is glorified when Christlike individuals dwell together in unity.
Paul is convinced in v. 13 that in spite of incredible adversity and suffering, everything in his life is going according to the wise and loving plan of God and he wants his readers to be convinced as well. This is what motivates his prayer in v. 14-21.
Ephesians 3 is mostly big picture and corporate in orientation, but verses 12-19 are focused on individuals within the broader family of God. Why do you think Paul makes this shift?
Paul is compelled by his confidence in the love of God, but he knows that unless his readers share this confidence, they will not reach their God-given potentials and the church will not be the glorious display it could be. God’s love is perfect and confidence in His perfect love casts out fear.
Paul prays for the Ephesians in v. 16 that they will be strengthened with power in their inner being. Without the verses that follow, how could this request be misinterpreted?
This is not a request for superhuman strength to do exploits. The excellency of the power is of God and not of us. We are a channel for God’s power. We don’t own it. We remain weak and dependent on God to do what He commands.
We have a hard time grasping the love of God for us. Verse 17 links the prayer for power with “so that Christ may dwell [be at home] in your hearts through faith,”
V. 17 goes on to remind us that we have been rooted and grounded in God’s love. When did this happen?
This references the redeeming love of God which sought us out and gave us the gifts of repentance and faith.
Verse 18 says we need strength (power) to comprehend the love of God in all its dimensions.
Why do you think Paul makes this request for individuals and then includes “with all the saints?”
Perhaps this is a reminder that Gentiles are included. Regardless, this is not an individual problem of intellectual weakness. It is a universal need for all of us.
Verse 19 presents us with a conundrum. Let’s take a running start beginning back in v. 17 and using the NET, which I think is clearer.
“Because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”
What is the conundrum? That is—what seems contradictory?
Verse 18 says that as a result of prayer you will be able to comprehend the love of God. This seems to be reinforced in v. 19 with “and thus to know the love of Christ.” This is all scuttled by Paul’s reality check at the end of v. 19 that the love of Christ actually surpasses knowledge—that is, our capacity to know.
I think the translation in v. 18 “to comprehend” is the crux of the conundrum. An alternative translation is to perceive.
If we substitute gaining the ability through prayer to perceive the love of God, how would this solve the problem?
The passage from the NET would read “Because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you will be able to [perceive] with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”
Perception means we’re praying for eyes to see—to notice the displays of God’s love.
Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay
The hymn writer Audrey Assad captures this in Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus when she says of Jesus’ love, “Rolling as a might ocean in its fullness over me. Underneath me, all around me is the current of your love.” This is perception! This is also just the tip of the iceberg. We don’t begin to have comprehensive knowledge of God.
I Cor 2:9 (ESV) “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him.”
It is wonderful to live with confidence that God loves us, but what does verse 19 say is the intended result of this confidence?
“That you may be filled with all the fulness of God.”
Image from U.S. Army
What would it look like for you to be filled with all the fulness of God?
Some would say to be filled with the Spirit (and thus to display the fruit of the Spirit). Perhaps. Paul’s entire prayer here is predicated on power imparted by the Holy Spirit. I’m inclined to think, however, that this is more individualized manifestation of being Spirit filled. In the manner of the Amplified Bible, we might render it as “That you, filled by the Spirit, may realize your full potential—that you may be all that God created you to be as an individual.”
A parallel might be found regarding Jesus Christ in Col. 1:19 ESV: For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and Col. 2:9 ESV: For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.
As Jesus Christ was fully God, perhaps Paul is praying that each individual reader would be fully what God created them to be. I have a secular book called Reaching Your Full Potential, which was written to create higher aspirations in college students. Paul wants his readers to aspire to be all that God can empower them to be.
The hymn Speak, O Lord addresses this desire in the phrase, “Speak, O Lord and renew our minds, help us grasp the heights of your plans for us.”
Ephesians 3 ends with the church in verses 20 & 21.
How do individuals who are confident of the love of God and praying for greater ability to perceive it in operation live in community?
Through the power of the Spirit, they walk in love toward one another just as God has loved them. The potential of this church enabled by God is “far more abundant than all that we ask or think.” It is through the church operating in loving unity that the “manifold wisdom” of God may be known. This love is not insular. It reaches out to unregenerated humanity. After all—God so loved the world that He gave His Son.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Jesus said in John 13:35 ESV “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Love within the church is crucial to our witness. It demonstrates the transformative power of the gospel. The world is entitled to judge the authenticity of our faith by our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jesus Himself prayed similarly in John 17:21 ESV: 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.
The credibility of the church is severely undercut by polarization. We are commanded to dwell together in genuine loving unity.