The Ekklesia

      The Greek word for church is ekklesia, and it literally means ‘assembly’. This meshes with the dominant thought in Paul’s letters that the church is Christ in corporate expression (I Cor. 12:1-27; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:1-16). Surprisingly the Bible never defines the church. Instead it presents it through a number of different metaphors.

     One of the reasons why the New Testament gives us numerous metaphors to depict the church is because the church is too comprehensive and rich to be captured by a single definition or metaphor. Unfortunately, our tendency is to latch on to one particular metaphor and understand the ekklesia through it alone.

     By latching on to just one metaphor—whether it be the body, the army, the temple, the bride, the vineyard or the city—we lose the message that other metaphors convey. The result is that our view of the church will become limited at best or lopsided at worst. Although the New Testament writers depict the church with a variety of different images, their favorite image is that of the family. Familiar terms like ‘new birth,’ ‘children of God,’ ‘sons of God,’ ‘brethren,’ ‘fathers,’ ‘brothers,’ ’sisters,’ and ’household’ saturate the New Testament writing.

     For this reason Paul would say: ‘Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers’ ( Gal. 6:10; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 2:19; I Tim. 5:12; 3:15). To this Peter urged: ‘Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation’ (I Pet. 2:2). John added to this by saying: ‘I write to you dear children because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name. I write to you fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you dear children, because you have known the Father’ (I John 2:12-13). These writings of Paul, Peter, and John in particular are punctuated with the language and imagery of family.

     These images simply teach us that the church is a living organism rather that an institution. The church we read about in the New Testament was ‘organic’. By that it means it was born from and sustained by spiritual life instead of constructed by human institutions, controlled by human hierarchy, shaped by lifeless rituals and held together by religious programs. An organic church is one that is naturally produced when a group of people have encountered Jesus Christ in reality (external ecclesiastical programs being unnecessary). It is not a theater with scripts; it is a gathered community that lives by divine life. It does not operate on the same organizational principles that run the business corporate world.

     Besides, in all of Paul’s letters to the churches he speaks to the ‘brethren’—a term that includes both brothers and sisters in Christ. He uses this familial term more than 130 times in his epistles; so without question the New Testament is filled with the language and images of family. When we stop giving glib assent to the idea that the church is a family and start fleshing out its sober implications, the following characteristics would emerge.

     The church as family would take care of their own. Its members would take care of one another, as a true family takes care of its own. A dysfunctional family does not. Members of a dysfunctional family are selfish, individualistic, and profoundly independent. This family is characterized by detachment, and non-connectedness. Nor do they seem to care much for each other (James 2:14-17. Real faith expresses itself in acts of love toward our brothers and sisters in Christ (Eph. 4:28; Rom. 12:5, 13; 2 Cor. 8:12-15; Gal: 6:2; John 15:12-13).

     The church, as family, takes time to know one another outside of scheduled meetings. Hence, the Scripture says: ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread in their homes and all together with glad and sincere hearts (Acts 2: 42, 46). This is a functioning family model.

      On the other hand when the church family is in a dysfunctional state, members barely know each other and; consequently, are unable to show affection to each other. In a functioning church, members show sincere affection one to another. It is in such atmosphere that growth in the membership is experienced. As a family it will grow. Biologically, growth is natural happening in the family.

      A church grows in two ways. One way is through hiving (division) and multiplication. That is, if a church grows too large, it may divide and multiply into two fellowships. Our bodies grow the same way: cells divide and then multiply. Another way is by addition. That is by giving birth to spiritual children. This is the principle of reproduction. If the Lord is at work in a church, it will grow. God gives the increase. It may not be immediate; it may take time, but if the church is alive and healthy, it will grow—both internally (spiritually) and externally (numerically). Churches that live as families grow indeed. Some call this body life.

      As a collective and corporate expression, the members share responsibility. In the household of God there are spiritual fathers and mothers. These are the older men and women in the faith with maturity and experience. Their role and responsibility before God is to give guidance and provide mentoring to the younger brothers and sisters in the faith.

      This does not mean holding an office or title in the church such as elder, or pastor. These mature ones are aware of their spiritual gifts and are exercising them as believer/priests in the church. In a functioning church family they also contribute their wisdom to the church. They are not obstructed by those who consider themselves as oversight, leaders who are therefore, threatened by it. These ministry activities are organic, and they operate by spiritual life (I John 2:13-14). Every member functions in the church meetings.

     Members also function outside in the community life. The spiritual fathers and mothers are very active in mentoring the young and provide wisdom during crises. The mothers teach the young women how to be wise and how to function as wives and mothers (Titus 2:3-4).

      The men bring excitement and strength to the church, but they need the stability of the older ones to temper them. The spiritual children inject newfound zeal into the believing community, but they need maturing. They need the older ones to feed them, check up on them, change their diapers, and teach them how to walk with the Lord. This is what it takes to mentor others. It is not about setting up a formal classroom instruction format. Neither is it about playing pastorship in the name of eldership or commended workers.

     The Godhead lives in everlasting reciprocity with its members. For this reason, the church is called to be a reciprocal community above everything else, or in other words, a family. It is functioning as a family that the church reflects the triune God in their relationship. Within the triune God one discovers mutual love, mutual fellowship, mutual dependence, mutual honor, mutual submission and mutual dwellings

      In the Godhead there exists, therefore, an eternal complimentary, and reciprocal interchange of divine love, and divine fellowship. When the church reflects the personhood of the Godhead, we experience interdependence, wholeness instead of fragmentation, participation, connectedness, solidarity instead of individualism, spontaneity, relationship instead of program, servitude instead of dominance, enrichment, and freedom instead of bondage, community and bonding instead of detachment.

      This church is true to the nature of God and functions fully to the intent of the New Testament, a living ekklesia. Here titles such as elders, deacons, officers are not about power and dominance but servitude under the people with the sole intent to lift them up and build them to their full potential. This gathering of believers has one pursuit, one obsession, one goal and one grand purpose: to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. The healthy church is nonsectarian, nonelitist and nonexclusive. It meets on the ground of Christ. It is a church in living color-ekklesia.

     In the words of Stanley Grenz: ‘Only in our spirit-produced corporatness do we truly reflect to all creation the grand dynamic that lies at the heart of the triune God. Our fellowship is nothing more than our communion between the Father and the Son mediated by the Holy Spirit.’ The ekklesia is the family of God.
T. Cyprian Kia

Spiritual Gifts are Divine Investments in You: Be Accountable

     There are many things wrong with the church today just as there have been many things wrong with it throughout the centuries since Jesus came to establish it.  In some places the churches are not true to the teaching of the Scriptures. They have imposed their own views of God’s program, will, and nature on the Bible. They pick and choose the part they want to believe and cast aside the others.

In other places, the churches have lost their vision for mission and evangelism.  All their energies are expended in caring for their own members.  Their horizon reaches only to the back pews of their own buildings. They behave as though Jesus had died only for them, or as though men and women are going to heaven regard less of what they believe.

The others things visibly hurting the church are divisions that stem from racial bigotry, heresies that grow out of Biblical ignorance, personality cults that celebrate human achievement, compromise with pagan valves in sexual and marital matters. All these give the church a clinical rating that ranks with some of the sickest persons in an intensive care ward.  These problems weaken the church’s mission, but what debilitates the church more is the neglect of spiritual gifts in the body of Christ. The situation in thousands of assemblies and gatherings is literally tragic. It is sad, despite Christ’s strong warning.  Matthew 25:14-30 speak specifically to the tragedy that God’s people suffer when they do not make the most of the gifts that God has given them. The story is in the parable of the talents whose familiar theme is found in the text;

1)      the tragedy of abused accountability;

2)      the tragedy of missed opportunity;  and

3)      the tragedy of lost joy.

No account of the discovery and cultivation of our spiritual gifts can be complete if we fail to note the damage done when those gifts are neglected.  The people in the parable are one key to its message: a master and three servants. That relationship speaks of accountability. Servants must answer to their master in all details of their life and work. We make a great mistake when we mix our role with God’s; He sets the term of our work. He is in all things the Master, our task is not to make the rules, but to obey by saying “yes” to the rules He has already made.

Jesus began His parable thus: “For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property to one he gave five talents, to another two to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. “(Matt. 25:14-15).  Who decides who would get the five, the two and the one? The master, of course, only he knew that servants well enough to determine how much property each of them had ability to handle. There was no squabble among them, no elbowing each other for the largest share, no badgering the master for an extra talent. They recognized his right to decide. They had no property of their own, nor any power to acquire it. Their share was determined by His grace and by that grace alone. We are accountable to the Master’s grace.

The master’s grace placed them under obligation to make the best possible response. What they had not earned or deserved had been put in their trust, their only acceptable answer was to use it well. The Master of the Church gives these gifts of the Spirit to the Body as expressions of His grace. We do not chose which gifts we receive or how many. These matters are up to Him. Most importantly, we cannot chose not to use what He has given us.

There is a purpose why He lavished His grace upon us. This fact is made clear in the master’s rebuke of the servants who had hid his own talent (matt 25:276-27). It tells us that God’s grace in our lives is counted as an investment. It is not just to be conserved. That was the wretched servant’s mistake. He did not realize that grace is a seed to be planted for further growth. He did not understand that God’s blessings are not for hoarding, but for multiplying as we put them to work in the lives of others.

That servant could not plead ignorance. He knew precisely how demanding the master was. But he misapplied the knowledge that he had. He was defensive, not aggressive. He took no risks in using the master’s grace and, in so doing, took the greatest risk of all; he neglected his accountability to the master’s purpose.

The gifts of God’s, Holy Spirit are precious and true. And the Lord of the Church demandingly wants them treated as such. They are not like gold to be stored in Fort Knox, nor like Rembrandts’ paintings to be hung in a well-guarded museum. They are fuel to be converted into spiritual power, they are ore to be refined into useful tools, and they are seedlings which will grow into fruitful trees.

The grace of God granted this servant was an opportunity to expand and grow as a person; he missed all that because he was fearful and unduly cautious. God gives more, when we use well what we have.  Part of the servant’s tragedy was that he missed his opportunity for greater blessings. The Master’s command was harsh; “Take the talent” he said “from him, and give it him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matt 25:28-29).

The greatest responsibilities, the larger privilege, the expanded service, the enhanced growth, all of these chances were missed because the servant misread his master’s instructions. Sadly he lost the chance he had; so his single talent had to be forfeited.  Unused gifts may lead to disqualification from God’s service. Who dare take lightly any spiritual gift bestowed upon us by the risen Lord Jesus.  He is Lord of all. Wisdom demands that we discover what gifts God has given us and to diligently use them in full submission to Him. It is not about doing things for God or being active, busy and involved.  Rather it is about letting God do things through us. Let us not cripple the Church and turn the body of Christ into losers because the Holy Spirit gifts have not been put to work for God’s purpose. Joy follows when we purposefully use our spiritual gifts in service for Him. Let us therefore, walk humbly before our God and be accountable to Him for the spiritual gifts we have received so far.

Reaching For the Life of God in Christ is to Know Him in Depth

To know Christ in depth and to manifest Him in His fullness in our lives is the goal for which we should aim.  It is the high price of the calling of God in Christ Jesus. It is not the ultimate of God, but as we eat of His word, and digest the truth, then He will draw back the veil and reveal more of the glory and beauty of the Christ. If you are of His fold, you will hear and recognize His voice, and you will know that you are being introduced to deeper truth.

Our pursuit is after Christ, rather than knowledge just for the sake of knowledge. We seek to know Him in His fullness, reaching for the life of God in His person.  It is in Him that every limitation and impossibility turns into possibility. There have always been men who walked in a realm beyond the limitations of their time and generation. While most believers feel that they have to settle for the status quo and even seem satisfied with whatever is made available to their generation, there are some who are spiritual pioneers, who reach beyond the general bench mark.

Enoch was such as man for his generation.  The Bible says: “Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.”  (Genesis 5:24)  It had been almost a thousand years since Adam had walked with God in the garden. After the fall humankind had only promise of death. The earth was filled with violence and the ungodliness of human kind was a stench that reached to heaven.  In the midst of this, Enoch believed that he could reach beyond the limitations of his generation and walk with God. Hebrews 11: 5 says that Enoch pleased God. It also says that he was a man of faith, and by faith he was translated that he should not see death. This was something unheard of in his generation and since then.

We learn in Jude 14 that “Enoch prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” .“ Enoch was only the seventh generation from Adam and he lived in a day when one can hardly find half dozen saints, let alone ten thousand. Yet, he looks far beyond his own day, and saw into the great day of the Lord when the saints of God would execute a great victory over evil in the earth.

Today our day is evil.   A time of death, war, famine, and pestilence will take the lives of millions. The outlook is very dark. Even today those who know their God will do great things and break glass ceilings sealed of our generation in spiritual exploit.  Noah had never heard Enoch’s prophesy. He had never heard Adam tell of the wonders of the garden of Eden. He was born at a time when the wickedness of humankind was so great it was causing God to repent that the He had ever made them. There seemed no hope for humans. The word of the Lord had been spoken. “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.”  Judgment seemed inevitable. Noah had no one to encourage him in the way of righteousness, nor a five-fold ministry to help perfect help.

Noah would not settle for the lot of other humans.  Genesis 6:8 says: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord “.  There have always been those who stand out from of the world. This man was an outstanding example. Ezekiel 14:14 lists him as one of the three who could deliver their souls by their righteousness. Hebrew 11:7 says that Noah was a man of faith, and that he believed the warning of God concerning things not seen as yet, and became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. And it was not only himself he was interested is saving, but the Bible says that he prepared an ark, “to the saving of his house” as well as the inhabitants of the beast realm.

Enoch and Noah heard from God.  They found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  They refused to be held down to this realm of sin and judgment.  They pressed towards the work for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  If you cannot receive such a word, walk where you must, but let the pioneers of faith press on in God.  They cannot stop until, like Noah, they step out into a new earth, full of the righteousness of God.

Elisha was a young man, the son of a judge.  He was strong, husky and a hard worker.  He had a good future, and would have been able to have a nice farm and a nice family.   One day while he was plowing with twelve yokes of oxen, and he with the twelfth, the prophet of God came by where he was working and cast his mantle over the boy.  His life was immediately changed.  He had heard the call of God for a higher calling.  He left his oxen and began reaching far beyond the limitation of humans.

Elijah was the greatest prophet of that day, but he was very unpopular with the government.  In the natural wisdom it was not an easy choice for Elisha to make.  But God had chosen wisely.  He had picked a man to succeed Elijah.  This was a large calling and required a man of daring faith.  Elisha was that man.  His ministry did not start in a blaze of glory.  He began by being a servant to the man of God.  He washed the dishes, the clothes, and the prophet’s feet.  He carried the wood and built the fire and did all the other necessary, but menial jobs while Elijah spent time seeking the face of God.  This is where many men fail their calling.  When the ministry turns out to be less than spectacular, they decide to go back together to something else.  But Elisha kept plugging ahead on his way to the double portion God had for him.  If it took faithfulness, he would pay the price.  Whatever it took, he had a spiritual stubbornness that made him determined to go all the way.  He had heard from God.  Nothing else mattered.

Elisha received no encouragement in following Elijah.  Everywhere he went the sons of the prophets tried to discourage him.  His answer was: “Hold your peace”.  Even Elijah tested him, three times, but his answer was always, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee”.  There was none to encourage him.  All he had was his determination to see this thing through and receive that which he felt belonged to him by virtue of his calling in God.  Finally, they crossed Jordan.  He had just seen a tremendous miracle by the hand of the prophet.  It was time to get his inheritance.  The question comes: “Ask what I shall do for thee”.

Here is Elisa, a young man standing with Elijah who had stood before King Ahab and judged the nation of Israel.  He is the one who had spoken the word that withheld the rain for three and a half years, and then had stood alone against 400 prophets of Baal and defeated them with a mighty demonstration of the power of God.  Ask, says the prophet, and in response Elisha cried out, “I want twice what you have from God”.  He received twice and so much of the life of God that he caused iron to float, poison pots to be nutritious, the dead to be raised to life again, and the ditches to be filled with water.  He healed the leper, fed a multitude on a few loaves of bread, and a handful of corn, and caused the widow’s pot of oil to flow until her debts were paid.  At his word barren women brought forth sons, and he captured an entire army single handedly.  And when he finally goes to be with the Lord, his body still has so much of the life of God in it that a dead corpse that is accidently thrown in the grave on top of him comes to life and goes running off.

Do you think you can bankrupt heaven?   Well, think again.  Think with the mind of the Spirit, and come up with a heart full of faith.  Rise above your circumstances.  Don’t be bound to the limitations of your generation.  You don’t have to stand and stagnate in the status quo.  You can reach into that which God hath prepared for them that love Him.

To do so you must pursue after Christ, know Him in His fullness; and every human limitations will be turned into limitless possibilities.  Reach for the life of God in Christ.  There lies the double portion Elisha asked for, and it is all in Christ.  Go get it, the beloved of God.

T Cyprian Kia

The Centrality of Jesus Christ and Our Spiritual Gifts

     When we try to understand God’s message to us and live in accordance with the will of God, we turn to the Scriptures for guidance. In them, God is disclosed in the person of Christ Jesus. Our Lord as the Almighty Creator, whose nature is love and who has given to humankind all that is necessary for holy living. Holy living that is graced by the Spiritual gifts of faith, hope and love.

      “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on My behalf.” (John 1:39). Through the Scriptures we gain the spiritual understanding and strength required to live in harmony with God’s purposes. It teaches us that God has ordered the world for God’s own purposes. God has appeared in the world in Jesus of Nazareth, “reconciling the world Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This means that all our grace gifts are not the central point, but the person of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, our Savior, is. In His loving kindness He bestowed upon us His redeemed, graces to co-labor with Him in His mission.

     In music, art, athletics, or politics it is customary for gifted people to call attention themselves. Actors treasure their certain calls; artists revel in their exhibitions; athletes save their newspaper clippings; politicians enjoy when their admirers make glowing speeches about them. God’s gifted people; that is all of us who know Jesus personally, should work form motivation different from these. It is the honor of Christ that we should seek. The applause must go to Him and not us. We must not hug the credit.

     This is especially true in the exercise of the gift of speaking. As stewards of God’s grace, as servants doing His work in His power, we cannot preach a message of our choosing. Whoever speaks, Peter instructed, should speak “as one who utters oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11). What are these oracles? They are the promises and requirements of the living God who has made Himself known to us in Jesus. This side of Bethlehem’s stable, Golgotha’s cross, and Jerusalem’s empty tomb and God’s oracles about Jesus. He is God’s final Word to us. Our speaking them in the Spirit’s power must center in Jesus words and deeds. His worship is what we proclaim; His glory is what we covet “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:11).

      Not our pet persuasions, not our private hunches , not our own religious aspirations, but Jesus Christ to whom all glory and dominion belong is the theme of our preaching and teaching when we do it in the power of the Spirit. To cultivate the gifts of the Spirit we focus on Jesus. After all, the reason God sent His Spirit was to make Jesus known. Entertaining with grace, serving with dependence and speaking of Christ with assurance are the gifts of stewardship. They are to be performed not just with skill, but with poise and gracefulness. This significance of love, the importance of humility, the centrality of Jesus Christ, without these whatever gift we try to cultivate will rot before they ripen. Christ’s church will suffer from malnutrition.

      Giftedness and arrogance are arch enemies, as hostile towards each other as giftedness and selfishness. Gift and pride do not belong in the same sentence. Peter knew that and, therefore, urged his readers toward humility with words like these “ whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength God supplies” (1Pet 4:11). That last line slams the door on pride. What we do as believers in service to others we do in “the strength which God supplies.”

      Humility is important for a number of reasons. First our ability to render significant service is a gift not an achievement. Good service takes selflessness; it means setting aside what we might prefer to do to in order to give attention to the needs of others. Jesus illustrates this gift, with the towel and basin, when He washes His disciples’ feet (John 13: 1-20). Such serving does not come naturally to us. We would rather be waited on than to wait on others. Humility is important for a second reason: service is not only a gift; it is a gift of God. This makes it both precious and purposeful. Its purpose is powerfully stated by Peter; “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” Peter 4:11). Washing feet, cleaning house, doing shopping, preparing food, bringing flowers are all to the glory of God! Daily chores that we do for the helpless and regular tasks that we perform in the church have the highest possible dignity because they make God’s glory known and bring joy to His heart.

     When we take credit for what we do it becomes easy them for us to look down on those we serve. In such a situation, service becomes our work, not God’s. Our purpose gets served, pride, self-satisfaction, public acclaim, not God’s. All of life goes out of kilter, and service becomes a liability to the church instead of an asset. Whatever polishes human glory tarnishes God’s glory. To let that happen is an unspeakable mistake. Cultivating God’s spiritual gifts calls us to honor the importance of humility in all we do, to put it better, in all He does through us. As good stewards of God’s varied grace, we draw on the grace He abundantly supplies. We have only one aim; to do the Master’s bidding. That means doing His work His way.

     God stewards are different from glamorous stars. They are not a law unto themselves; they are bound to the Master’s rule. Those rules insist that in whatever we do, we do for Him. We do it with three great realities in mind; 1) love, 2) humility and 3) the centrality of Jesus Christ. Cultivating spiritual gifts takes more than training and practice of doing; it takes training and practice of being. Christian character is an essential part of Christina service. In God’s program no one is gifted enough to be acceptable; neither generosity nor even martyrdom, the ultimate gift, accounts anything with God unless love is the motivation (1 Corinthians 13). God’s gifts are jewels whose beauty and brilliance are marred if their setting are tarnished.

     It is for this reason that Peter viewed hospitality as an attitude, as well as, an act. It could not be done well if it was done grudgingly. An open door must be matched by an open heart. Warm bread tastes best when spread with a warm welcome. Nothing makes a guest more uncomfortable than to know that they are just being tolerated and not truly received. The same grace and generosity with which our heavenly Father has swung the door wide open and ushered us into the heart of this family circle must mark those who have the gift of hospitality. Act and attitude must be in harmony.

     “The end of all things is at hand; therefore keep sane and sober for your prayers. Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. Whoever, speaks, as one who utters oracles of God, whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever “. Amen (1 Peter 4:7-11)
T. Cyprian Kia