What is the Church?
The disciple's concern for today.
"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."
- I Corinthians 3: 16 - 17 -
"Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written:
'He catches the wise in their craftiness' and again 'The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.' So let no one boast about human leaders."
- I Corinthians 3: 18 - 21 -
" 'I believe in ... a Holy
Christian Church, a communion of saints, a forgiveness of sins.'
This means - I believe that there is on earth, through the whole wide
world, no more than one holy, common, Christian Church, which is
nothing else than the congregation, or assembly of the saints, i.e.,
the pious, believing men on earth, which is gathered, preserved, and
ruled by the Holy Ghost, and daily increased by means of the
sacraments and the Word of God.
I believe that no one can be saved who is not found in this
congregation, holding with it to one faith, word, sacraments, hope and
love, and that no Jew, heretic, heathen or sinner can be saved along
with it, unless he become reconciled to it, united with it and
conformed to it in all things."
- Martin Luther - Works of Martin
Luther, Vol. II, pp. 372 - 374 -
"Now you are the body of
Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the
church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of
power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of
leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts
of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for
the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way."
- I Corinthians 12: 27 - 31 -
"Anyone who claims to be a
prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am
writing to you is a command of the Lord. Anyone who does not recognize
this is not to be recognized.
So, my friends, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in
tongues; but all things should
be done decently and in order."
- I Corinthians 14: 37 - 40 -
Ekklesia
(ekklasia)
- Greek - a gathering of
people, a congregation, also, church. The followers of Christ would
gather together in various locations for prayer and to celebrate
Christ's Last Supper. Usually, this was done in secret due to the
rising tide of Jewish and Roman hostility towards the new faith and
worshiping movement. Meetings were held in each believer's home, or
at a central meeting place, where they could worship in relative
safety. Later, as the new movement grew, and was formally named,
'Christian', so also were built larger meeting places, and these
were referred to as churches. The word 'church' (ekklesia)
was first applied directly to the congregation of followers of
Christ, and then later, also, to the physical building.
In America, we have a Church problem. Instead of representing Christ
to the world as a single, unified spiritual entity, we present to
the opposite a non-unified body of belief, broken into countless
religious cells of uncommon, unfamiliar practices - ofttimes, the
individual groups are under siege from internal strife, discord,
disagreement and outright internecine battle. Friends, this is not
the way the Church of Jesus Christ should be! The Church is the
living body of Christ, and as far as I know, Christ, unlike the
present and historical church, was not in continual strife
with himself. There is only one way for us disciples and that way is
the way of Christ Jesus as discerned from Scripture and
the Holy Spirit.
Human
fallibility got in the way. We messed up in the Garden of Eden, and
right from the beginning of Christ's church, we acted true to form.
Paul was at odds with Peter; James, the brother of Jesus had his
ideas. The other apostles went their way throughout the known world
and took with them their recollections of Christ and their
understanding of the Kingdom of God. The Gospels, as we now
know them, had yet to be written and circulated. After them, came
the Early Church Fathers, followed by enthusiastic believers who
often carried things to extremes such as sleepwalking ecstasies,
speaking in tongues, prophesies and, with some fanatical believers,
self-mutilation. In the flow of heresies, two popular movements
warrant mentioning: Ebionism and Gnosticism.
Ebionism was
a Judaizing, pseudo-Petrine Christianity; in other words, a
Christianizing Judaism that took hold and was practiced in and
outside of Israel. It made salvation depend on the observance of
the law, which of course, is contrary to Christ's sacrifice and
Paul's teaching.
Gnosticism is a paganizing or
pseudo-Pauline Christianity, or pseudo-Christian heathenism.
Gnosticism makes salvation depend on speculative knowledge. It
centers on the spiritual nature of Jesus and denies the humanity
of Christ. To Gnostics, the person who was in the company of the
Disciples for nearly three and a half years - the person who
Resurrected - was nothing more than a mere phantom. To their way
of thinking, how else is Jesus' walking on water to be explained?
Then again, one has to sympathize with the Gnostics as they
stumble to explain how their phantom Christ bled real blood
from his scourging and while hanging from the Cross. Please go
ahead and research the Early Church and all of its contortions,
agonies and machinations. You will find an excellent reference on
the subject here
http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/About.htm
compiled by Philip Schaff.
Then came the deification of Mary, the 'Mother of God' by the Roman
Catholic Church. Albertus Magnus, Middle Ages German monk,
theologian and philosopher, wrote about Mary in his exposition of
Canticles 1:15 -
"Behold thou
art fair, my love." He also comments on the beauty of her hair,
her shoulders, her lips, her nose, her feet, and other parts of
her body."
One does have to wonder if Jesus was pleased with the monk's
unusual carnal fascination with His mother. Magnus wasn't alone
in this folly; as countless Roman Catholic clerics and
theologians pursued the 'Mary quest' with such vigor that over
the centuries, Mary for many believers, has come between Jesus
and their salvation - Mary has become their mediator because she
is and will always be tender and forgiving of sinners. In Mary,
refuge is to be found from the wrath of her son, Jesus who does
judge the living and the dead. Christ as portrayed in
Revelation 1: 12-16*
was too overpowering for the Roman clerics and worshippers to
embrace. Mary is the mother to whom Roman Catholics run to, take
refuge behind, as their intercessor when they are in fear of
receiving punishment for their sins. Being a long time Roman
Catholic, now former, I know this for fact.
**
Then... "Who is the church?" The question is personal
and it must be asked. It has nothing to do with either bricks, mortar
or stone, but of flesh, blood and spirit. The church is built upon our
admission of Christ as our Lord and Savior, in other words, Peter's
Messiah admission found in Matthew 16: 13 - 20, and then upon a unified body
of believers called to discipleship and ministry. Let us also read what
Early Church Father Origen in his Commentary on Matthew has
to say:
"If we confess Christ, we will
become like Peter. We will be considered blessed as he was. Flesh
and blood haven't revealed to us that Jesus is the Christ and the
Son of the Living God, but the Father in heaven has, so that we
can be citizens of heaven. This revelation carries to heaven
those who unveil their hearts and receive the spirit of the
wisdom and revelation of God. And if we say like Peter, 'Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the Living God,' not because flesh and
blood revealed it to us, but because our heavenly Father's light
has shown in our hearts, we become a rock, or a Peter. Christ is
the spiritual Rock from whom his people drank and every disciple
of Christ is a rock. Every word of the church and its government
is built upon every such rock. For the church is built by God
through each of the perfect ones who provide blessing through
their words, deeds, and thoughts."
We - each
of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our personal messiah - we
are the building stones of the Church.
But what was once unified as a single structure, has
now split. The Church of Christ has splintered. Even the shards have
split among themselves. Today, there is a Roman Catholic branch that
still celebrates the Latin mass, and subscribes to the orthodoxy of
the old times. There is a modern, sociologically contemporary Roman
church that, for the main, follows the Papal Bulls of the Vatican.
There is the Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Church of Christ,
and they follow their own supreme earthly leaders. For every country
in Europe, there exists a Roman Catholic church that has been
oriented to the specific nation's culture, language and mores'.
The same can be claimed for the Roman church in every country it
exists. Some of these churches have been known to become resistant
to the edicts of the Vatican, break away, and form their own
peculiar branch of the Roman church.
The major historical split, of course, is the breakaway of the German
Roman Catholic church from the Roman Catholic Church, brought about by
Martin Luther. Luther did his best to try and reform the Roman
Catholic Church; for he did not want to break away, as he was a
dutiful priest. For over one hundred years prior, other reformers
throughout Europe attempted to put into motion reforms for the Roman
church which, by the time of Luther, had become thoroughly corrupted
by political and economic power, and had come up with its own special
vehicle that facilitated the believer's salvation - the sale of
indulgences. The salvific power of the Christ was proclaimed by the
Holy See in Luther's time to be
not enough
for one to enter heaven. No! One had to purchase blessed pieces
of a saint's garment, or slivers of wood from the Cross, or mortified
bones of a saint, or some other humbuggery as the means in which to
offset the believer's proscribed time for his or her soul to be spent
in the Roman-created transitional 'cleansing' world known as
Purgatory. The more indulgences one purchased from the Roman church,
the less time one would have to spend in Purgatory. Of course, this
sort of clap-trap was counter to the message of Christ, and finally,
it pushed Martin Luther beyond the point of no return. Luther set out,
as it was in the beginning, to bring the believer back into direct
communication and company with their Savior, Jesus Christ.
October 31, 1517 - Martin
Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the
Wittenberg Castle Church. The
Theses criticized the Roman church, particularly singling
out the abuses of Pope Leo X who promoted the indulgences sale in
order to pay for the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Leo also used the rich northern European benefices to reward
members of the Roman curia. In blunt terms, Pope Leo X was
strong-arming Europe's nobility, by threat of Papal denunciation
and excommunication, for money in order to buy his allies
in the Vatican's College of Cardinals political power throughout
Europe, and to pay the decorating tab for the creative services
of Michelangelo, Raphael, and other artisans.
©Copyright 2009 - Donald Neal McKay - The MISSION DISCIPLESHIP
* "Then, I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to
me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of
the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe
and with a golden sash across his chest. His head and his hair were
white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of
fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace,
and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he
held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword,
and his face was like the sun shining
with full force."
** I have picked up on a subtle change in Roman doctrine publicly propagated. In a recent program viewed on EWTN - Eternal Word Television Network, a group of clerical theology scholars were discussing their church and one of the clerics made this statement: 'When it comes to matters of a spiritual nature, the Church defers to the Word of God, Jesus, the center of the Roman Catholic faith.' It is quite obvious that the present pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI has already begun to exercise his vast theological influence. Such a statement from the Church rank and file clerics would have been unheard of during the 20th Century. In those times, especially during the 1950-80's, the Mother Church was considered to be the supreme authority on religious and theological matters.