Day 153: How Shall We BE The Church?
1 Timothy 3:14–15
… I am writing these instructions to you… to let you know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God, because it is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
This week we have been considering the way the Scriptures define both The Church and The Body of Christ. As we move forward with all these truths and ideas, we might need to reorient our thinking in a significant way. In our times, most people think in terms of “going” to church. We often think of it as a place or destination or building. From what we have seen and heard so far, it is clear that the Scriptures define The Church (and so the churches) in terms of people and our identity. Because of this, we—as Christ’s people—should think more in terms of BEING the Church.
We Should Always Keep in Mind WHO we are.
In the 1 Timothy passage above, Paul is telling Timothy the reason he is writing to him. Take note of what Paul says: “to let you know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God…” What we DO as the people of the Lord God reflects WHO WE ARE as the His people. The term “household” here reflects the culture of the time in which a family related by blood or marriage, along with all the servants, lived together. As the Church, we are the Lord God’s Family.
Paul goes on to say that this household/family is the Church of the Living God. As we have already seen, there is only One Body, One Church. This Church represents the Living God—the One True God who has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Because this is who we are, our “In Group” is the “pillar and support of the Truth.” What does that mean? It means that we are the people who hold up and support The Truth that can be found nowhere else out side the reality of the On True God. This is why what we do as the Lord God’s people is so important. We are constantly representing the reality of who He is to a world who does not know Him.
We Should Always Keep in Mind We Have Been Called Into Something Much Larger, Something Heavenly and Eternal.
Right now, in Father God’s sovereign and providential plans for all history, the Church is THE one and only “place” where The Truth about Jesus is “held up” (the pillar) and “confirmed” (the support). As part of The Church, The Body of Christ, we need to understand what a significant role we are playing in Father God’s eternal plans. Consider this:
Ephesians 3:8–11
To me [Paul], though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles [the Nations]the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold [multifaceted] wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord…
Father God has been working out an “eternal plan.” It was hidden and not fully revealed until Christ appeared. But now, this plan has been illuminated, brought to light in the Gospel. So now, Father God is displaying His work in us —The Church—to reveal and explain His Wisdom to the Heavenly Rulers and Authorities! That should blow your mind. What is now happening with us is being watched by those in the Heavenly Realm.
Peter tells us that the salvation that has come to us through Jesus’ suffering and glory that was foretold by the Prophets and then carefully pondered by them, are truths that “angels deeply desire to get a better glimpse of…” (1 Peter 1:10-12). The Angelic realm looks into what Father God has done for us and to us in Christ and they long, deeply desire to better understand what is going on! These statements remind us to always keep in mind how wonder-full and truly amazing our salvation is!
Remember, we are “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10) with the result that “in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). The work that Father God is doing IN Christ through the Holy Spirit in us is a work that will have eternal significance in the coming ages. (Yes, there is a lot more to come that we at the present time have no idea about!)
Remember that Jesus prayed that His people would be “One” just as He and the Father are “One.” When we live as One, we confirm the reality and truth that Jesus was sent by The Father to lead us all back to the One Father. As the Church of the Living God, we are all part of the One Body of Christ and it is our mission to let the World see Jesus in our midst through our Oneness.
Each and everyone of us has a unique and specific role to play in this. We all have different and diverse gifts and talents that are to work together to display the “unity in diversity” of the Body. Over the next couple of weeks we are going to dig into this a little more deeply. As we do so, think about and pray through these questions:
We Think in Terms of WE Instead of Me.
As we discussed in our unit on our Identity in Christ, our identity is shaped mostly by the people we are in relationship with. Our identity is being shaped by the pattern of Christ’s own perfection. Because no single one of us can display or exhibit every single facet of Christ’s glory and goodness, we each have something to offer and so we need one another as we “grow up, into Christ the Head.”
In Ephesians 3:10 above, you see the word “manifold” or “multifaceted” describing Father God’s wisdom. The idea is that this Wisdom is “many sided” or “diverse.” The Wisdom of God has many angles to it and you need a diverse presentation to see it clearly. This same type of word is used when Peter speaks of the gifts that have been given to us as an expression of Father God’s “varied” or “diversified” grace (1 Peter 4:10ff).
The point is this: Father God has included many different types of people with diverse and varied gifts in The Church in order to display His Wisdom and Grace to the world. And as we have already discussed we need one another with are differing gifts in order to be the people Father calls us to be and do the work He has entrusted to us. This will become more clear as we move along.
Today, let’s close our reading with a time of prayer and reflection. Read the following lines, then spend some time praying and listening.
Father, is there anything that I am doing that hinders the Oneness that we should have in The Body? Show me where I am proud or self-serving. Fill me with the Servant Spirit of our Lord Jesus so that He is glorified in me and through me.
Father, what role do you want me to play in Christ’s Body in my time and culture? How have you gifted me? I want be who you have called me to be to do what you have called me to do so that I can serve and encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
