Author: transcendenttouched

I have been teaching the Bible to children and adults for over twenty years. I have also been involved in various church leadership roles for many of those years. I've written an anthology of my first 40 years of writing poetry in my book, Growing.

Mystery of sin, salvation, and sanctification

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of Sin, Salvation, and Sanctification

[Bible references: Ps 38:39; Is 12:2; 25:9; Zephaniah 3:17; Matthew 26:28; Luke 24:47; John 3:16; 10:9; Acts 2:38; 4:12; Romans 5; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 15:2; Ephesians 2:8; 2 Tim 3:15]

How do we inherit sin?

There are two main views of how we inherit sin:

  • According to ancestral sin, Adam and Eve alone bear the full responsibility and guilt for the sin in the Garden, but we inherit mortality, the tendency to sin, and alienation from God and other people. Expulsion from the Garden was to prevent the humans from being eternally separated from God.
  • According to original sin, as Adam’s ancestors we inherit not only Adams’ sinful nature but his guilt as well. Expulsion from the garden was a punishment.

What did Jesus do to allow our relationship with him to be restored?[1]

By taking on human flesh the way that Jesus did and becoming fully human, he experienced all the temptations to sin that we face, but without succumbing to them. When he died on the cross as a perfect God-Man, he was able to overcome death and offer to restore our relationship with him. Different congregations have different ideas on how this transaction was able to actually work.

  • God paid a ransom to free us. Once the ransom was paid, justice was satisfied, and God was able to free us. There is a dispute about whether the ransom was paid to God or to the Devil.[2]
  • Christ is seen as the second Adam who is victorious where Adam failed and undoes what Adam did. The atonement of Christ has reversed the course of mankind from disobedience to obedience. Christ’s life recapitulated all the stages of human life and in doing so reversed the course of disobedience initiated by Adam.[3]
  • Just as Adam’s sins were imputed to us (original sin), when Jesus died on the cross, his righteousness was imputed to us.[4]
  • Christ suffered for everyone so that the Father could forgive the ones who repent and believe. Pardon and forgiveness cannot be brought to pass unless God’s righteous obligations as Moral Governor can be satisfied. Nor can it happen unless man is willing to repent and embrace the conditions of mercy. Man must identify himself in a committal of faith to the sufferings of Christ for his sins, as the only hope of his forgiveness and spiritual restoration from a state of ruin.[5]

What is the effect of sin on our bodies and on our world?

Despite the effects of sin, that we are image-bearers of God. This view creates a positive view of our bodies and is supportive of taking healthy care of our bodies and also the environment. However, there is a viewpoint originally developed by Greek philosophy that has continued to affect the church in many ways from the beginning is the idea that only spiritual things are good and physical things are bad.[6]

In regard to the body, this dualism leads to the view that sex is sinful and a general discomfort in talking about the body, preventing the church from counteracting the influence of the culture both within and outside the congregation. This dualism has led to many other errors as well, such as focusing on heaven as our final destination instead of a new creation, the need to deny oneself physical pleasure[7] in order to pursue the spiritual, and the neglect of our roles as stewards of our physical environment.

How are we saved from the consequences of our sins?

When the first people rebelled against God, they brought the penalty of death and eternal separation from God upon themselves. As descendants of those people, we inherited the corrupt nature that causes us to sin and therefore also brings the penalty of death and separation from God upon ourselves. Our salvation is only possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The gift of salvation can be received when we confess our sins, acknowledge Jesus’ death on our behalf and accept God’s forgiveness for our own sins.

That said, there are two explanations about how we are saved that depend on how we think we inherited sin.

  • According to the doctrine of ancestral sin, salvation is a process of avoiding sin and becoming more like God,[8] a process which, for those who are baptized into Christ, will continue after our death and resurrection. God did not expel Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and away from the Tree of Life as a punishment, but out of compassion, so that we would not be like the fallen angels and become immortal in sin.
  • According to the doctrine of original sin, Jesus’ death is considered to have paid the penalty for our sins. By receiving his forgiveness, we are legally justified before God, and he gives us his spirit so that we can begin the process of becoming more like him.

What is the role of grace in salvation?

In Reformed theology, God gives irresistible grace to those he chose before time began and gave them the will to respond to his call to repent so that they can be forgiven, and once forgiven, God will ensure that they will persevere in the faith.

In provisional theology all men are given a grace[9] that allows them free will to respond to God’s call to repent and be saved and also have God’s assurance that he will not let us go.[10]

In Arminian and Orthodox theology, it is by our free will that we accept God’s forgiveness and then also have the free will to abandon that faith later.

What does it mean to be saved by grace and yet have expectations to live righteously?

Some Christians think that once they are converted, that is they have received Christ’s gift of salvation, then they have done all they need to do. After that, some will either forget or neglect the entire process of being a disciple of Christ leaving the question of whether they were actually converted.

Some congregations believe that more than faith is required in order to receive salvation[11] and insist that salvation has not happened unless some specific things are done. The Orthodox tradition states that salvation is a process that begins with conversion but then continues with the process of becoming more like God. The Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions state that once we have been justified, then God can set us apart to be the type of people that he has intended us to be from the beginning.[12] In this condition, we can begin the process of growing in Christ, that is, becoming more like God.

We are living in the time between the first coming of Christ, where he conquered death and sin, and His second coming, when he will transform creation with a new heaven and earth, and we will have new resurrection bodies. In this in-between time, we still are living in corrupt bodies and in an earth corrupted by sin although we may have begun the process of being transformed more into the image of Christ. This does create some confusion.

Until the final resurrection we still sin and need to regularly be in an attitude of repentance, confessing our sin and turning back to God and acknowledging our need for God’s grace so that we can also be ready to give grace to others.

The Roman Catholics emphasize our need to not only confess our sins, but to do something tangible to express our repentance[13] and need to be purified more completely before we can appear before God. This requires a temporary stay in purgatory before we are allowed into heaven.

Viewing things in a more positive light, some congregations emphasize that while we may not actually free from sinning, that our hearts have been cleansed from sin by the grace of God.[14]

Since we are under grace, do the commandments still apply to us?

We are told that those who are born “of the Spirit” are not “under the law” because Jesus fulfilled the law. However, that does not mean that the law can be ignored. In fact, not only does the law provide guidance for us, but the expectations for our behavior are even more comprehensive. The New Testament explicitly tells us that:

  • hating our brother is equivalent to murdering our brother. 
  • we should not hate our enemy but love them.
  • looking at someone with lust is like committing adultery.
  • if we are forced to go one mile, then we should go two miles.

Our motivation should not come from trying to obey the external law “written in stone” but rather from the internal desires “written in our hearts” to love – love God and to love one another. To give a few examples: we should be.

  • Not driven to obey the Commandment to keep the Sabbath, but rather encouraged to live every day to God.
  • Not driven to obey the command to tithe, but rather encouraged to be generous.
  • Not driven to obey the command to not covet, but rather encouraged to promote the welfare of others.
  • Not driven to obey commandments, but rather encouraged to express the fruits of the Spirit.
  • Not driven to obey externally given commands, but rather encouraged to grow in our internal desire to love,
  • Not driven to avoid doing wrong, but rather encouraged to delight in finding the best way to do what is right

However, the relationship of the church to the law has been a point of contention in many congregations causing many congregations to adopt a legalistic framework. There is a tendency to consider the laws we call the Ten Commandments to be unlike the other laws in the Old Testament – to be “moral laws” that still apply. The New Testament, however, has not separated out the “moral law” from the rest of the laws (sometimes called civil and ceremonial laws) in the Old Testament. Some consider the Law to be good as it guides us away from idolatry, but others view the law to be bad as we should rather be relying on grace instead of the law which is considered to be oppressive.

The Ten Commandments, as we call them, are not numbered in the original texts (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5) but in the Biblical text are referred to as the Decalogue, which means “ten words.”[15] This has resulted in a couple of different numbering schemes for the “ten words.” One of the variations is influenced by iconoclasm, which makes “You shall not make any graven images …” the second commandment.

[1] Soteriology is the study of how we are saved

[2] Theopedia “Ransom”  Theopedia theopedia.com/ransom

[3] Theopedia “Recapitulation theory of atonement”  Theopedia theopedia.com/recapitulation-theory-of-atonement

[4] Theopedia “Penal substitutionary atonement”  Theopedia theopedia.com/penal-substitutionary-atonement

[5] Theopedia “Governmental theory of atonement” Theopedia theopedia.com/governmental-theory-of-atonement

[6] In Persia during the third century, Mani tried to synthesize all the known religions, including Gnosticism and Christianity into a religion known as Manichaeism. Gnostics think that there is a good spiritual world, and a bad physical world (aka Dualism).

[7] New Advent “Asceticism” New Advent newadvent.org/cathen/01767c.htm

[8] Theopedia “Theosis” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/theosis

[9] Prevenient grace means the grace of God that surrounds all, and is at work in all, even before we know or care about it.

[10] Spurgeon, C.H. “The Security of Believers – or, sheep who shall never perish”  Spurgeon Gems spurgeongems.org given 5 Sept 1889 www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs2120.pdf

[11] Theopedia “Legalism” Theopedia theopedia.com/legalism

[12] Sanctification is the process of being set apart for God’s use.

[13] Catholic Encyclopedia “Penance” Catholic Encyclopedia catholic.com/encyclopedia/Penance

[14] Theopedia. “Wesleyan perfectionism”  Theopedia www.theopedia.com/wesleyan-perfectionism. Wesleyan perfectionism, sometimes called entire sanctification, is a view held by John Wesley that taught that Christians could to some degree attain perfection in this life.

[15] Hale, Philip. “Numbering the Decalogue, Images, and Iconoclasm: A Historical and Theological Survey”  Nebraska Lutherans for Confessional Study, July 25, 2013

Observe

Read John 3:16; 10:9; Acts 2:38. How can we be reconciled to God?

Mystery of the traditions and the Bible

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of the Traditions and the Bible

[Bible reference: Matthew 15:1-14; Mark 7:1-23; 2 Timothy 3:10-17]

What is the relation between the Bible and church traditions?

Christ came to establish the church, not the Bible. The Bible is the product of the church recognizing which of its writings should be considered to be inspired by God. Within the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, there are unwritten as well as written traditions (including the Bible and other writings by the church Fathers) and both have equal weight. The Protestant denomination, reacting against the corrupted traditions of the Roman Catholic denomination, gave the Bible the authority over tradition.       

How were writings selected to get included in the Bible?

Throughout history, there were various “lists” denoting which books should be accepted as scripture.[1] Eventually, most congregations agreed on the New Testament writings, but there has been significant disagreement about which books to include in the Old Testament.

The Masoretic text is a set of writings that were preserved in oral form by the Jews until they were set in writing by Masoretes during the 6th through 10th centuries. This “Hebrew Bible” contains all the writings included in the current Protestant Bible and are arranged in three groups: the Torah, the Prophets and Writings.

The Roman Catholics and Orthodox use the Greek translations of the Hebrew scripture that were created around 200 BC.[2] The writings that are in the Septuagint that are not in the Masoretic canon but are accepted by the Orthodox as scripture are: I Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiastical by Sirach, Baruch, the Epistle of Jeremy, the First, Second and Third Books of Maccabees, and parts of Esther and Daniel. The Roman Catholic canon includes all those books except 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh in Chronicles, 1 Esdras.

The Protestants use the Masoretic texts but put the texts in the same order as the Septuagint[3].

How do we interpret the Bible?

The Bible was not constructed as a book of doctrines, but rather a collection of different types of poetry and prose: songs, wisdom literature, letters, civil and religious law and narratives, stories of God interacting with people and people trying to respond to God. More than that, each of those genres use a variety of literary techniques: hyperbole, poetry, allegories, anthropomorphisms, metaphors, etc.

That complexity, combined with the complexity of the historical context and language barriers, means that it is not straightforward as we try to use the Bible to construct theologies, statements of faith, and rules for behavior. The result is that many disagreements have arisen in how to interpret the Bible.[4] One of the current controversies has to do with that when we say that the Bible is true, how literal do we need to be in Bible interpretation.[5] That discussion is very serious as various heretical teachings have arisen when some individuals or groups put the community to the side and developed their own interpretations. For example, an individual, Marcion, rejected the Old Testament entirely and most of the New Testament except for what Paul had written.

The main types of interpretative principles used by various church communities are:

  • Interpreting the Bible according to its historical, socio-political, geographical, cultural, and linguistic / grammatical context.[6]
  • Analyzing the Bible by applying various literary genres that it uses,[7] including the differing levels of symbology, allegory, figurative language, metaphors, similes, and literal language. Also, each verse should be analyzed in context of surrounding chapter and book.
  • Presuming that the original texts of the Bible are without error or contradiction.[8]
  • Presuming that the basic message of the Bible can be easily understood by the average person.[9]
  • While some basic content can be understood by the average person, those understandings need to subject the expert knowledge of those who are trained in Bible interpretation.
  • While there are many academic disciplines used in interpreting scripture, proper interpretation can only be done by those who are spiritually discerning. The main goal of Bible study is not to gain knowledge but to gain sanctification.

How do you apply Biblical views to todays’ issues when the Bible is silent on those issues?

Particularly in regards in how to do worship, there are two main schools of thought on how to apply scripture: that we are allowed to do whatever is not specifically restricted by Scripture, or we cannot do anything that is not specifically permitted by Scripture.[10]

[1] Canonical books are the writings that are accepted as scripture from God

[2] Septuagint, a translation form Hebrew into Greek which was created by seventy-two scholars in the 2nd and 3rd century BC.

[3] Oakes, John. “When was the Old Testament Canon Decided?” Evidence for Christianity 3 Dec 2013 evidenceforchristianity.org/when-was-the-old-testament-canon-decided-was-it-at-the-council-of-jamnia

[4] The technique of interpreting the Bible is called hermeneutics, with the first step of hermeneutics being exegesis which means to interpret a text by way of a thorough analysis of its content.

[5] Christian Bible Reference Site. “Should the Bible Be Interpreted Literally?” christianbiblereference.org www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_BibleTrue.htm#:~:text=Literal%20Bible%20Interpretation%20Many%20fundamentalists%20believed%20the%20Holy,true.%20Anything%20less%20would%20be%20unworthy%20of%20God Different Church communities have different ideas on how to use a high level of literal interpretation or whether to use allegorical interpretation in various sections of Scripture; Bible Project “How To Read the Bible” Podcast Series bibleproject.com/podcast/series/how-to-read-the-bible-series

[6] Historical-grammatical Interpretation considers the historical, socio-political, geographical, cultural, and linguistic / grammatical context.

[7] Literary analysis – Each genre of Scripture (narratives, histories, prophecies, apocalyptic writings, poetry, psalms, and letters) has a different set of rules that applies to it.

[8] The principle of Inerrancy – The original autographs were without error or self-contradiction or contrary to scientific or historical truth (when the original authors intended historical or scientific truth to be portrayed).

[9] Principle of perspicuity

[10] Jackson, Wayne. “The Silence of the Scriptures: Permissive or Prohibitive”; also known as permissive view of scripture vs the restrictive view Christian Courier christiancourier.com/articles/the-silence-of-the-scriptures-permissive-or-prohibitive

Mystery of our role in the world

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of our role in the world

[Bible references: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15; Deuteronomy 18:14-22; Proverbs 31:4-9; Isaiah 1:17-20; Jeremiah 7:16-17; 21:11-14; 22:1-5; Amos 7; Micah 6:8; 1 Corinthians 14; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17; 2 Peter 3:10-12]

What is the prophetic role of the church?

In the Old Testament, two words are used to describe the prophet. The earlier of the two is the word ro’eh, which roughly means ‘the one who sees.’ Later, the more common word used for a prophet is nabi, which can be loosely translated as ‘the one who speaks,’ particularly on behalf of another… a prophet is one who sees a different world, and says a different word … A Prophetic church … sees Jesus as King and His Kingdom arriving here and now … Speaks the truth to power …points towards the day when the Kingdom comes in fulness … [1]

As the Body of Christ, the church serves to encourage the weak, bring hope to those without hope, to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted”[2], to warn the powerful, and to call all to repentance, justice, mercy, and humility.

The actual practice of the church through the years has been inconsistent. There have been times where believers were willing to speak for Christ despite the threat of death, were willing to sacrifice time and resources to provide for the poor, were willing to speak out and take action to defend the helpless. But there also have been times when believers closed their community off from outsiders, defended and encouraged the oppressors, showed hatred towards, and persecuted those who were different.

In what ways should Christians be involved in “guarding the sacred
space” [3] entrusted to us?

“Culture care is to provide for our culture’s “soul,” … a well-nurtured culture becomes an environment in which people and creativity thrive.” [4]

Our sacred space includes the “natural world” of God’s direct creation and the cultural world of the society we have created. However, those Christians who either have a Gnostic[5] of the world or who focus on the apparent destruction of the world in 2 Peter 3:10-12, there is no value in trying to redeem either the physical realm around us, or the culture around us.[6]

How should Christians respond to the community around them, particularly the unbelievers?

The caution in 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 cautioning Christians against yoking with unbelievers has led to a variety of responses. One set of responses leads to some form of separation of the church community from the surrounding culture.

  • Creating communities that are isolated in whole or part from the culture around them, such as with the Amish and Mennonites.
  • Other variants of this are the creation of monasteries or convents, where the “spiritual community” where the participants can focus on “spiritual” activities.[7]

Monastic communities were developed as a criticism of the church’s decision to become a large scale, inclusive organization.

  • Some congregations have even separated themselves from other believers whom they consider heretical, or even from other believers whom associate with any heretical congregations,[8] although some congregations desire to be cooperative in some extent with other congregations they are not in total agreement with.[9]
  • Some Christian communities are in outright opposition to the culture around them, creating a “culture war” or “Christ against culture” mentality.[10] Some Christian communities such as the Brethren, Quakers, Mennonites, Amish, Wesleyan Methodists, and Seventh Day Adventists are opposed to particular issues such as the appropriateness of Christians to be involved in the military or with violence in general[11] with others think war, or violence, is justified in certain circumstances.[12]

Moving in the other direction, congregations find themselves adopting the values of the surrounding culture,[13] sometimes to the point of adopting the power narratives of the government.

The intertwining of church and state began with Emperor Constantine, who not only allowed Christianity to be tolerated, but inserted his secular power into the church[14]. There are those who insist that secular law should conform to biblical values,[15] which can result in the conflation of nationalism with patriotism to the point of imposing some variation of Christian values on a pluralistic society.[16] This conflation happened regularly throughout history, particularly in the first millennium of the church because the religion of a nation was seen as a community value (i.e. no one had their own individual religion, the individual simply assumed the religion of the entire community). In practice, it was the local king who determined the religion of his kingdom. The linkage of nation and religion was prevalent until the end of the Holy Roman Empire and continued beyond. One variant of this viewpoint interprets the phrase, “compel them to come in,” (Luke 14:23) to authorize the use of physical force to “compel” people to become Christians.

In between those views of the separation from the state and intertwining with the state is the view that since all humans are image bearers tasked with stewardship of the world, and that we can work co-operatively with non-believers in those tasks in which we have a common interest.

[1] Packiam, Gary. “What does it mean to be a prophetic church?” ChurchLeaders churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/339974-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-prophetic-church.html

[2] Deis, Robert. Thisdayinquotes July 30, 2020 www.thisdayinquotes.com/2020/07/comfort-afflicted-and-afflict.html  This often used phrase was originally penned by Finley Peter Dunne on Oct 5, 1902.   The full quote as Dunne wrote it is: “Th’ newspaper does ivrything f’r us. It runs th’ polis foorce an’ th’ banks, commands th’ milishy, conthrols th’ ligislachure, baptizes th’ young, marries th’ foolish, comforts th’ afflicted, afflicts th’ comfortable, buries th’ dead an’ roasts thim aftherward.” Originally published in the column, “Mr. Dooley on Newspaper publicity”

[3] Walton, John H. “The Lost Word of Adam and Eve” InterVarsity Press. 2015 Kindle Edition (pp.104-105)

[4] Fujimura, Makoto. Culture Care, “Chapter 2 Culture Care Defined” Intervarsity Press 2014

[5] Theopedia “Gnosticism” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/gnosticism

[6] The overall concept of being stewards of what God has provided for us is sometimes called “Creation Care.”

[7] McCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity The First Three Thousand Years.  Viking Press. 2009 (p. 200)

[8] Van Gelderen, John. “Separation: Primary Vs. Secondary” Revival Focus 30 May 2018 Revival Focus www.revivalfocus.org/separation-primary-vs-secondary

[9] Theopedia “Ecumenism” Theopedia theopedia.com/ecumenism

[10] Stanley, Chris. “The 5 views of Christ and Culture” Culture Redeemed cultureredeemed.com/the-5-views-of-christ-and-culture

[11] This viewpoint is known as pacifism.

[12] Mosley, Alexander. “Just War Theory” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu/justwar/

[13] Theopedia “Syncretism” Theopedia theopedia.com/syncretism

[14] : McCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity the First Three Thousand Year “Chapter 6. The Imperial Church” Viking Press. 2009 Shortly after Constantine issued the Edict of Toleration, the Church found itself embroiled in an internal dispute which caused Constantine to call a council of bishops to resolve the issue. This precedent combined with those in the Church who sought the favor of the emperor began an intertwining of church and state.

[15] Theopedia “Theonomy” Theopedia theopedia.com/theonomy

[16] Encyclopedia Britannica “Christendom”  Encyclopedia Britannia Britannica.com/place/Christendom

Reflect

How should the church be involved in taking care of our “sacred space?” Should congregations join with non-Christians in that effort?

Observe

Read Deuteronomy 18:14-22; Proverbs 31:4-9; Isaiah 1:17-20; Jeremiah 7:16-17; 21:11-14; 22:1-5; Amos 7; Micah 6:8; 1 Corinthians 14. What is the prophetic role of the church?

Mystery of our humanity

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of our humanity

[Bible references: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25; Isaiah 59:1-21; Matthew 5:32; 19:4-6; John 8:31-47; Romans 5:12-21; 6:1-23; 7:1-25; 8:18-25; 12:3-8; I Corinthians 2:14; 7:1-40; 12:1-31; Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:11-16; 5:21-33; Hebrews 3:12-14; 3:4]

What is the role of spiritual gifts?

God gives spiritual gifts that to different individuals for the building of the body of Christ. These gifts include exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy, prophecy, service, teaching, administration, apostle, discernment, faith, healings, helps, knowledge, miracles, prophecy, teaching, tongues, tongues interpretation, wisdom, apostle, evangelism, pastor, prophecy, teaching, celibacy, hospitality, martyrdom, missionary, voluntary poverty. Different congregations stress different sets of gifts and some congregations will claim that some of the gifts have ceased.

What are the roles of families, marriage, and singleness?

There is a sense in which the church family transcends the biological family. The church family consists of every baptized adult, single or married and all adults can be considered as a parent to all those who are baptized after their own baptism. In a healthy congregation, the single and married adults socialize and serve together.[1]

There has been some contention regarding the roles of male and female. In some congregations, male and female are considered to be equal in all ways, but in others, they consider men and women to have equal value but complementary roles in marriage and within the congregation, where women are not allowed to have authority over men.[2]

Some congregations exalt the value of marriage and the value of procreation. Certainly, marriage reflects the Trinity, but the exaltation of marriage is sometimes done to the denigration of singleness, where the unmarried are not considered to be as mature or fulfilled as the married. In the other direction, singleness is sometimes held in high view, as the unmarried are seen as available to serve the church more whole-heartedly without the distractions that come with marriage. This view is particularly seen in the Roman Catholic denomination where convents and monasteries are available for the unmarried to serve the church and where unmarried men are available to serve as priests and bishops.

What is the role of sexuality?

Most of the church has regarded heterosexual sex within the bond of marriage and celibacy outside of marriage to be the norm, but an increasing number of congregations have become affirming of same-sex marriage. Added to that, post-modern thinking has led to the degradation of gender identification according to biological characteristics while promoting gender identification according to cultural or personal feelings. This transition has led to a rejection of the traditional male/female identification in favor of an unending array gender identities and to an increasing acceptance of transsexuality even within parts of the church.

Some congregations have fallen into the habit of choosing to simply reject people who don’t conform to the overall culture of the congregation, with this rejection being amplified by those people who don’t conform to the congregation’s sexual or gender norms. This is contrasted to other congregations that while not affirming non-heterosexual sexuality or the non-binary gender identification, desire to show acceptance to people who experience same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria without outrightly affirming same-sex marriage or gender transitioning.

How is our sexuality not just a physical issue but also a spiritual one?

There is a profound difference between human sexuality and the sexuality of other creatures. Because humans are made in the image of God, the union of husband and wife reflects the union of Christ and the church. The physical and emotional intimacy and intensity reflects of the intimacy and intensity between Christ and the church. The love and sacrifice of Christ for the church should be reflected in the love and sacrifice of the husband for his wife. The sexual union is not just a physical union, but it is a spiritual one.

[1] Hackman, Gordon. “Hauerwas on Marriage, Singleness, and the Church as First Family”North of the Tracks 3 Mar 2007 gordonhackman.blogspot.com/2007/03/hauerwas-on-marriage-singleness-and.html ; Griffith, Ryan. “Single in a Church of Families” Desiring God 16 July 2021 www.desiringgod.org/articles/single-in-a-church-of-families; Ware, Graham. “Marriage, Singleness, “Family Values,” and the Church” Pass the Salt Shaker 19 Mar 2015 www.desiringgod.org/articles/single-in-a-church-of-families; Treweek, Dani. “Singleness Lessons I Learned from the Early Church” Christianity Today 2 December 2021 www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/december-web-only/celibacy-singleness-early-church-lessons.html

[2] Roat, Alyssa. “What are Complementarianism and Egalitarianism? What’s the Difference?” Christianity.com www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-are-complementarianism-and-egalitarianism-what-s-the-difference.html

Observe

Read I Corinthians 12:1-31. How does the distribution of spiritual gifts relate to the church as a body?

Mystery of the church

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of the church

[Bible references: Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 12:17, 27; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 1 Peter 2:9]

What is the church?

As commonly used in current times, the “church” is a building to go to. In biblical terms it referred to an assembly of believers (called out ones).[1] How we understand this idea can influence our behavior. There are a few biblical metaphors that describe the church.

  • The body of Christ – This metaphor brings the ideas: that Christ is the head of the church, and we are His presence in the world, that each of us has a unique role in bringing Christ’s presence in the world. Our unique roles are distinguished by the spiritual gifts imparted to each of us to enable us to build each other in our faith.
  • A holy priesthood – This metaphor brings the idea that we have a relationship with God and can act as intermediaries.
  • A temple – This metaphor describes each individual as a stone in the temple and that it is all of us together who make up the temple, that is, the place where God resides on earth.
  • Ambassadors – This metaphor highlights our role in representing God’s to those not reconciled to God.

In the beginning, the organization of the church was not given in detail but seemed to be a cohesive group that “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer … had everything in common … broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”

Is the church more than a Jewish sect?

[Bible references: Romans 11:17; Ephesians 3:6]

At first the church was mainly a Jewish sect. Jesus focused his ministry within the borders of Israel and his disciples were mainly Jewish. After Jesus died, that situation did not change much until Jesus took definitive steps with Peter and Paul to reach the non-Jews (Gentiles). Until that happened, the church mainly consisted of Jews who happened to also be believers, and as Jews, kept up many Jewish practices. But when Gentiles started to be included, there was the question of whether they needed to become Jewish to belong. It took a council of the church to determine that Gentiles were not bound by the Jewish practices. But even after that council, the debate persisted.[2]

In the Old Testament, we are told that Israel will be a blessing to the rest of the world, but it was not revealed just how that would happen. In Ephesians 3, the apostle Paul explains that “through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” And then in Romans 11, Paul explains that the Gentiles were “grafted” into the family of believing Jews, of whom Abraham is the root, so that the Gentiles may receive all the same blessings.

What is the visible and invisible church?

The invisible church consists of all those, past, present, and future, who have put their trust in Christ. Only God knows who they all are. The visible church is the groups of people gathered together as communities. Both believers and unbelievers may be in the visible church.

Some congregations/ denominations are very strict about how to interpret scripture and/or have a limited view of forgiveness, and so would put limits on who they would consider to be in the church.[3] Other congregations/denominations have an extreme view that all of society should be under Christian rule[4] and then misused Luke 14:23, “Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in,” that they would even resort to torture in order to persuade a people to make a “confession of faith.” Then there are those who think that everyone will ultimately be saved.[5]

Who has authority in the church?

As the church grew and spread throughout the Roman Empire, the natural development was to “institutionalize” the church, trying to make the church more effective with more formal organization. While the apostles were still alive, it was possible to unify the church around the apostles, but of course that was temporary.

Over time, different governance models emerged within the church as there was no model within the church except for the synagogue. In the episcopal model, there is a single leader, or bishop, who oversees a group of congregations and selects the pastors for each congregation. In the presbyterian model, there is a “plurality” of elders, who oversee a congregation or a group of congregations – the congregation may elect their pastor, but the Presbytery has to approve whoever is selected. In the congregational model, the congregation itself is its ultimate overseer and selects its pastor.

Some congregations are independent from one another, and some are affiliated with other congregations. The affiliation may be a denomination where there is strong oversight by the denomination over the individual congregations, but some affiliations are mainly an association for the purpose of sharing resources, but the association has no oversight function.

Some congregations emphasize the importance of maintaining apostolic authority by maintaining the transfer of authority of the apostles and trace the leadership of the church from one generation to the next beginning with the apostles.[6] The Roman Catholic denomination further emphasizes their authority is transferred from the apostle Peter, whom they think was given the most authority from Jesus. Other denominations will maintain that they are apostolic because of their faithfulness to scripture and therefore to the apostolic teachings.

One issue related to authority within the church is related to gender roles. Due to apparent conflicts in some Bible passages, two main views have emerged regarding the role of women in the church On one side, there is no restriction of ministry roles because of gender, but on the other side, women are restricted from any role in which they have spiritual authority over men.

What is the role of elder, bishop, deacon, priest?

The New Testament doesn’t clearly specify how to organize a congregation and that has resulted in congregations organizing themselves in a variety of ways. The New Testament does show examples of elders (aka bishops) serving as spiritual leaders of a congregation and deacons serving the physical needs of the congregation. Priests, in the Old Testament performed duties for God on behalf of the other people. The New Testament talks about Christ being the high priest for all of us but then talks about all Christians as being priests since we all have direct access to God and our role as Christians is to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

The first denominations that emerged did keep the title of a priest, no longer offering the Old Testament sacrifices but rather now sharing the sacrament of the Last Supper. The Orthodox and Catholic traditions consider the bishops who oversee the priests to be the elders of the denomination. The priests are chosen to serve the sacraments, although they also serve in other ways with deacons helping the priests in carrying out the liturgy in the worship service or serving in other ways as well. In this context, the spiritual leadership of bishops or priests is recognized by the use of honorific titles such as Reverend or Father.

Protestant traditions vary. Anglican and Episcopal congregations retain the title of priest, while in other Protestant traditions congregations are led by pastors or elders.[7]

In some congregations, the pastor is considered to be the elder and the lay leaders are considered to be deacons. In other congregations the pastor is considered to be a teaching elder (if that title is used) while the lay leaders are considered to be ruling elders, or just elders. Some congregations are governed primarily by the pastor, some by a group (plurality) of elders, and some by the congregation itself.

What is the function of a creed?

As explained at the beginning of this chapter, there is much of God that is beyond comprehension. So, when God revealed himself through the prophets, the revelations were more in the form of stories and the interactions of God with the world than a spelled-out theology. That type of revelation requires us to do some of amount of interpretation as we try to better understand God, and that process of interpretation has been the function of the church at large. However, some individuals in the church came up with teachings that seemed to be more than minor differences and actually opposed the more accepted teachings of the church. Those ideas were considered to be heretical. Over time, to combat the heresies that arose, the church developed abbreviated teachings of the church called creeds.

As conflicts within the church developed, different sets of creeds started to emerge. The Protestant section of the church caused even more divergence with the creation of more detailed creedal statements called “confessions of faith,” while other congregations claimed to be non-creedal, stating that the Bible as a whole was their creed because creedal statements are limited and could never present a comprehensive theology of the church.

How can broken people within broken congregations can be instruments of God?

[Bible references: Romans 7:7-25; 1 Timothy 5:10; 2 Timothy 2:21; 3:17; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 13:21]

In this time between the Kingdom has come and is yet to come in full, even those of us who trust in Christ have wills that are internally divided between the desire to do good and the desire to do evil. Despite our brokenness, God still desires to use us to accomplish His will on earth. He did not remove the mandates given to us back in Genesis. We may be broken instruments, but God knows how to use broken instruments.

Is the church an Organism or an Organization?

[Bible references: Matthew 28:16-20; 1 Timothy 3:1-6; Titus 1:6-9; 1 Peter 5:1-3]

When Jesus gave the command to “go into all the world” he didn’t specify how to do it, particularly how they should organize themselves to do it. They were to be his body, that is, his hands, feet, legs, eyes, ears, etc. on the earth to continue to do what he had begun. He left no instructions that we know of on how to organize themselves to complete the mission.

The apostles did have the model of synagogue that they could refer to.[8] The first people they reached out to were already in synagogues. But the Bible makes no specific mention of them using that model to organize themselves. In the apostles’ letters to churches and individuals that we have preserved in the Bible, there are some details from which various organizational models have been proposed, ranging from congregation choosing their own leaders to leaders over the congregations choosing leaders for each congregation.

What the Bible is clear on, is the qualifications for those who would lead the church. Some of those qualifications are to be blameless, even tempered, hospitable, to love what is good, to be disciplined, and to encourage others with sound doctrine. The biblical focus seems not to be on how leaders organize their congregations but on the qualifications that those leaders should have.

[1] Biblehub. “1577. Ekklesia” Bible Hub biblehub.com/Greek/1577.htm

[2] Marcos, Juan. Gutierrez, Bejarano. “The Judaisms of Jesus’ Followers” (Chapter 10, The Church Fathers and Jesus Oriented Judaisms) Yaron Publishing, 2017. Nazarenes held orthodox beliefs except in their adherence to Jewish law. Not deemed heretical until the fourth century. Ebionites, possibly a splinter group from the Nazarenes held that circumcision is necessary for salvation.

[3] This “rigorist” viewpoint was held by various people such as the “Novationists” (third century) and “Donatists” (fourth century).

[4] This idea is known as Christendom. Mere Orthodoxy mereorthodoxy.com/christendom-1200-words-give-take/

[5] Encyclopedia Britannica, “Universalism” Encyclopedia Britannia www.britannica.com/place/Universalism

[6] Encyclopedia Britannia “Apostolic succession” Encyclopedia Britannia www.britannica.com/topic/apostolic-succession

[7] Whitaker, Alexander. “The Protestant Problem with Priesthood” The North American Anglican 8 June 2020 northamanglican.com/the-protestant-problem-with-priesthood; Patheos “Leadership”

[8] Burtchaell, James Tunstead. “From Synagogue to Church: Public Services and Offices in the Earliest Christian Communities” Cambridge University Press 1992 (pp.349-352)

Reflect

The quality of church governance is more dependent on the quality of the leaders than the type of governance structure. What qualities do you think church leaders should have?

Observe

Read 1 Corinthians 12:17, 27; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 1 Peter 2:9. How does the different metaphors for the church help you to understand the church?

Mystery of God

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mystery of God

[Bible references: Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 55:8; Luke 3:21-22; John 10:30; 1 Corinthians 2:11-14; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 3:15-16; 1 Peter 4:14; 1 John 1:6-8; 2:18-22]

How is it that there is only one God and yet Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and the Father is God?

The Bible reveals but doesn’t explain this paradox. From the beginning of the Old Testament there is an explicit teaching that “The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” a teaching that contrasted with all the other cultures around at the time. And yet, from the beginning of the Old Testament we have hints that this One God is complicated. The New Testament gets more explicit about the situation but still does not explain it. This paradox, that there was a person, God, and that there are three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) who are equally God, was given a name, Trinity.[1] The Greek side of the church uses a term, “perichoresis” to describe the interpenetration, etc. of the persons of the Trinity.

But just because a name was given to this paradox did not make it easy to accept. Various explanations were given to explain how this worked and how the three persons related to each other. Discussions involved how to define terms like person, substance and nature.

The following list shows a few of some different explanations that have been espoused but are considered to be heretical:

  • The three persons are three different modes of God expressing himself,[2]
  • The belief that God is only one person,[3]
  • Jesus was created and was less than the Father,[4]
  • God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are subordinate to God the Father not merely relationally, but also in nature and being.[5] This eventually led to the belief that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit are truly God.[6]

How can Jesus both be God and human?

There are two views held: 1) the one person Jesus has two natures, human and divine, combined in one person, or 2) the one person Jesus has one nature in which his divinity and humanity are combined, [7] In either case Jesus is made of the same substance as God[8].

There were controversies over whether that God could have suffered,[9] that Jesus only seemed to suffer,[10] or whether a human like Mary could have given birth to God.[11] 

So exactly what is the relation of the Holy Spirit to God the Father and God the Son?

There is a question about whether the Spirit proceeds from just the Father or the Father and the Son. This question was captured in a statement in the Nicene-Constantinople Creed which originally stated, “And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father ….” In disagreement with the Eastern Orthodox side of the church, the Roman Catholics felt the need to add the words “and the Son.” [12]

How does one develop knowledge of God?[13]

We need to distinguish that we are not trying to know about God as much as to know God, the person. We get to know a person by more than studying about a person, but rather spending time and doing things with that person. We are not a just a student, but a disciple.

When to comes to knowing about God, we find that He has revealed himself to all people through his creation and through our ability to reason.[14] That type of knowledge is not the same as knowing God as a person. To know God as a person, we need to be in his presence and allow him to reveal himself to us. We can do this through prayer, meditation, or scripture. Sometimes God will spiritually reveal himself to us or sometimes he will act through miracles. Other times we interact with God as we do things in His name.[15]

Whether we are learning through general or special revelation,[16] in either case, we are finite creatures trying to understand the infinite God, which is a task we can only do in part. But either way, the knowledge we seek is not an end itself but is for the sake of our relationship with God.

The following examples are some of the particular ways different parts of the church have practiced the pursuit of knowing God:

  • Eastern Orthodox traditions recognize our utter limits in knowing God through negative theology – that is, God’s infinite qualities are so far from our comprehension that it makes more sense to define what we know God is not, instead of trying to define what God is.[17]
  • Many traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox, posit the impossibility of our finite minds to be able to know God by intellectual means and we need to extend our knowledge of God through various spiritual practices such as fasting, prayer and meditation.
    • In the early church, an innovation introduced by Montanus[18] promoted revelations from the Holy Spirit. This caused the church to back away from any other innovations in theology.
    • Quakers have emphasized quieting oneself and waiting for God to reveal himself through the “inner light” that is available to all people.
  • The Eastern Orthodox tradition emphasizes the necessity of becoming transformed by God to become more like him to know God.[19]
  • In a reaction to an overemphasis on knowing God through intellectual means, a movement developed which emphasized spiritual disciplines such as Bible study and prayer.[20]
  • Some in the church over-emphasized knowing God by faith, leading to an anti-intellectual strain in the church. This despite the Christian heritage which did much to support the life of the mind. Christians founded universities, were some of the first to use science to investigate the natural world and have invested much towards loving God with “all our minds.”
  • Some in the church stressed the mysteries of God and the need to develop the more mystical disciplines of prayer, meditation, and contemplation.

[1] In AD 185, Irenaeus claimed that this concept was the teaching of the apostles, but it wasn’t until AD200 that Tertullian created the term, Trinity. Tertullian was responding to the teaching of modalism.

[2] Theopedia “Modalism” Theopedia theopedia.com/modalism

[3] Theopedia “Monarchianism” Theopedia theopedia.com/monarchism

[4] Arian (AD 256–336) was a presbyter in Alexandria. He did have some success in persuading people of his view and for a while it became quite a controversy in the church, but it was eventually denounced.

[5] Theopedia “Subordinationism” Theopedia theopedia.com/subordinationism”

[6] Theopedia “Unitarianism” Theopedia theopedia.com/Unitarianism

[7] Plante, Evan. “What is the difference between Dyophysitism and Miaphysitism?” Mainsail Ministries mainsailministries.org/index.php/q-a-a-god-bible-theology-culture/105-what-is-the-difference-between-dyophysitism-and-miaphysitism.html Dyophysitism (Christ has two natures, fully human and fully God) is the view of the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. denominations. Miaphysitism (Christ has one nature that is both human and divine) is the view of the Oriental Orthodox denomination.

[8] Homoousios – In Greek, the argument looked even more subtle. Was Jesus made of the same substance (homoousios) as God or a similar substance (homoiousios).

[9] OrthodoxWiki “Nestorianism” OrthodoxWiki orthodoxwiki.org/Nestorianism

[10] OrthodoxWiki “Docetism” OrthodoxWiki orthodoxwiki.org/Docetism

[11] Theotokos means “God-bearer”

[12] This additional phrase, referred to as the “filioque” is held by the Roman Catholics and the Protestants but the original wording is held by the Eastern Orthodox.

[13] Epistemology is the study of how we can know things.

[14] This is sometimes called “general revelation.” Trying to understand God this way can be called “natural theology.”

[15] These different ways of knowing God by being with him in these activities is sometimes called “special” or ”divine revelation.”

[16] Got Questions “What is general revelation and special revelation?” Got Questions www.gotquestions.org/general-special-revelation.html

[17] OrthodoxWiki “Apophatic theology” OrthodoxWiki orthodoxwiki.org/Apophatictheology

[18] Early Christian History “Montanus” Early Christian History www.earlychristianhistory.info/montanus.html

[19] Theopedia “Theosis” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/theosis

[20] Theopedia “Pietism” Theopedia www.theopedia.com/pietism

Reflect

We truly have reached the limitations of our knowledge of God when we consider both the concept of the Trinity and the concept of Jesus being both fully God and fully human. How do you handle that limitation?

Observe

Read Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 3:15-16; 1 John 1:6-8; 2:18-22. What does it  mean to us that God came to us in human form as Jesus?

Mysteries and distinctives

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Mysteries and distinctives

It will not be within the scope of this book to describe all the different permutations of individual congregations or denominations. It would take volumes of books to explain the current array of congregations and denominations along with the individual histories with the names of people and events that influenced their development. Instead, we will examine some of the mysteries that have been contemplated and briefly touch on some of the different ways different congregations have handled those mysteries. Appendix J shows a brief outline of church History. While the inter-relationships of the different denominations are complex, Appendix K gives a short summary to show how at least some of the major denominations relate to each other.

Interlude

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Interlude

Many years ago, I was in a committee meeting with a group of people in a congregation, when the pastor started to walk by. He turned when he saw us, walked in with a warm effusive smile, and said, “Don’t you just love the church?” Then he turned around and went on his way.

I had been involved in the church for several years at that point, had served on the Elder board of a previous congregation, but had moved and now was involved in a different congregation. I had been in church leadership for long enough to be aware of the many difficulties to be found within congregations. Leading church congregations is difficult, particularly for the pastor.

And so it was, that at that moment in time, that question pierced my heart. I was certainly devoted to the church, but love the church in the way that the question was asked? And I knew that the long-serving pastor had been facing even more difficulties than I had – but I didn’t love the church – not like that. And at that moment, I did not know how to get to that kind of love.

Many years passed after that, and that moment became long forgotten.

The church had grown in size and staff. Then one day I was one of many people who experienced a betrayal of trust that hurt very deeply, causing many people to leave the congregation. Though I didn’t leave, I was still in a deep pain that lasted for years. But in those following years, I found myself in a position where I had the opportunity to help guide the congregation through a renewal process that made it healthier – and also made me healthier.

It was after all that process, that I remembered the incident of the question, “Don’t you just love the church?” But this time, by a path I had not chosen, I could say, “Yes.” I have learned to love the church. It was within the suffering and within the acceptance that although the church had problems, I too had problems.

Whether we are inside the church or outside the church looking in, we need to be careful where we point our fingers at the problems we identify. Like many in Israel in the time of the Judges, or many Jews in the time of Jesus, we like to point to somewhere else besides ourselves, like at the government, and say we need a new government, we need a new king. But the problem is actually within each of us. We all need a new heart.

We need the courage and humility of the prophet Isaiah, who when confronted with the presence of the Almighty God, said, “Woe to me! … I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips.” Isaiah stood with his people in humility.

Maybe all the pain I suffered was due to the hardness of my heart which needed softening. But it took suffering for me to learn to truly love myself which then allowed me to truly love the church. That love gives me the freedom to look at all the issues of the church in all its brokenness and accept that I stand among the brokenness. And we are all fully loved and the One who made us, loves us, and guides us (though we don’t always follow).

Sometimes I cry when reading about the cruelty committed by the church I love, because we, the church, were so swayed by idols that we forgot our first love and our desire to bear the fruits of the Spirit. I also sometimes wonder if, in the same way that people like Simeon and Anna carried the hope of the Messiah amidst an unbelieving nation, that other mostly unnamed people walk among us, carrying the hope of the gospel amidst an unbelieving church.

Yet, we have the assurance that the One who has guided us, guides us still. So, as we begin to consider the myriad ways that different congregations within the church address the questions and practices of the church and have disagreements with each other about the way to address those questions and practices, we can be confident that the one who loves us all has not abandoned us and patiently, faithfully, persistently still calls us to follow Him. We have the assurance that all of us are created in His image and are bound together with common needs, that different languages are His idea despite the apparent confusions we have in understanding one another, that He is the provider of our intellect and is able to meet us in the midst our limited understandings, and that He provides His Spirit to guide us even in the midst of our confusions.

All the obstacles we have and the messes we see are continual reminders that the hope we have is not in the seemingly desperately confused church but rather in Him who provides for and guides us.

Historical issues affecting the church

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

Historical issues affecting the church

[Bible references: Matthew 5:14-16; 13; 24; 26:6-13; John 15; 17; Romans 12;  1 Corinthians 1:26-31; 3-7; Ephesians 6:10-20; Colossians 2; 1 John 4]

Overcurrents – Historical issues outside the church that impact the development of the church.

The development of the church doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it happens in the midst of governments rising and falling, conflicts within and between nations, in the culture of the people around the church influencing the culture within the church, in the plagues and catastrophes and other events that happen to society. Within those events, sometimes it’s the world that impacts the church and sometimes it is the church that impacts the culture around it.

The church initially developed during the time of Pax Romana in which a stable empire and its infrastructure enabled the missionary efforts of the apostles and others. That same empire was also responsible for various persecutions of the church. However, the response of the church to those persecutions sometimes profoundly impacted not only by those who became witnesses of God’s glory displayed by the courage of the martyrs, but also the courage of those who risked their own health and well-being to give aid to the helpless and sick.

Those persecutions unfortunately created tension within the church as it had to deal with those who succumbed to the pressure of the persecution and denied Christ (a problem that would occur in future persecutions in other places and times). Some persecutions almost totally eradicated Christian populations. This happened with the Church of the East which almost entirely disappeared in the 14th century. This happened even though the church, which was established in Persia in AD 410, grew to be the largest denomination in the world and whose influence extended to the east coast of China.

In the age of our hyper-individualism, it seems strange for us to imagine that it has been common throughout history for communities to identify themselves with a single religious identity. In the time of the early church, Christianity did not conform to the Roman religion which was cause for the persecution of the church. However, when Constantine became emperor of Rome (AD 306-337) and identified himself with Christianity, the church now found itself tied to the secular power of the government which changed dynamics within the church, with people now seeking identity with the church as a way of seeking power. Later on, as kings broke away from the empire and nation-states began to form (beginning in AD 1848), the religious ties to the state were often hijacked in order to accomplish the goals of the individual secular governments.

As the church spread, the different cultural environments and different languages spoken within the church created problems. Prominently, the Latin language and culture caused different developments than within the Greek language and culture. Emperor Constantine’s decision to create a separate capitol in Constantinople (AD 324) laid the groundwork for the creation of a bifurcated (Eastern and Western) Roman Empire. The Latin/Greek language problem worsened when the Western Roman Empire was overtaken by invaders from the north (AD 410), creating further isolation between East and West, and would eventually result in the formal East/West Schism in AD 1054.

Larger cultural events impacted the church as well. The contributions of Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle impacted the development of science and philosophy for many years. The contributions of Greece and Rome would be redeveloped during the Middle Ages in the development of sciences, although the church’s attachment to Aristotle’s geocentrism would hinder the development of astronomy for a while.

The invention of the printing press in 1439 supported the spread of ideas in science and humanism and would also be central to the Protestant revolution in the 1500s. During the same period, developments in shipbuilding and technology enabled the development of European empire and contributed to the age of Enlightenment (1714-1789) with the emphasis on reason having priority over theology, liberty, and progress[1].

Undercurrents – Issues within the church that have had a wide impact throughout the church

Christianity introduced new ways of thinking of the world, but those ideas did not change all patterns of thinking all at once. They needed a chance to develop and mature and then over time would challenge the older ways of thinking as the new patterns were gradually absorbed. In our current post-Christian era, new ways of thinking are developing, but the pattern continues. The now older Christian ideas are providing some of the framework for the current post-Christian ideas to build on, although the Christian contributions may not be recognized.

In that regard, as we examine the patterns of thought in Christian history, we find that there are various classic Greek ideas which have influenced the church. One of the classic Greek contributions, Platonism, developed into what has been termed Gnosticism. Within Gnosticism, one idea was that salvation is obtained through secret knowledge; this has led to the development of “secret” societies like the Freemason’s where only those within the society have that knowledge. Another gnostic idea is known as dualism, where spiritual things are considered to be good and material things are considered to be bad. The consequences of that thinking have led to heretical teachings about the nature of Jesus, severe asceticism, unhealthy thinking about sexuality, neglecting our stewardship of creation, rejection of the arts, etc.

Many disagreements have occurred through the years about the role of faith in respect to reason and revelation. When trying to balance these ideas with one another, some espoused fideism (in which faith is independent of and hostile to reason), some espoused special revelation (i.e., prophecies) over rationalism, and some espoused rationalism over faith or prophecies. These imbalances eventually fed into the conflict of faith vs. science in the 1800s highlighted by Darwin’s contribution to the evolution of species.[2]

There have been various moments in church life where there seems to have been a loss of focus on how Christianity is supposed to be lived out in our daily lives. When religious practices were perceived to be over-intellectualized, various pietistic movements were started where attention was paid to the spiritual aspects of the faith and on the transformation of our daily lives.

As the church grew it was natural that different personalities combined with different languages and cultures would result in differing ideas the nature of God and practice of Christianity. After all the apostles had died, the church had to learn how to determine which differences were acceptable and which differences were not. When someone’s practices seemed inappropriate the council would generate rules to address those practices. When ideas were taught that seemed to conflict with core beliefs of the church, the council created creedal statements, such as the Apostle’s Creed or Nicene Creed. The Creeds[3] were not designed to be all-inclusive statements of belief but were rather designed to address the emerging heresies of the moment.

Church developments outside the bounds of the Roman Empire, and eventually the fracturing of the Roman Empire itself, led to the fracturing of the church as well. The difficulty and sometimes outright inability of the church to hold a single large ecumenical council representing the whole church has contributed to the many branches of the church that can be seen today.

During the era of Enlightenment, reasoning and rationality were emphasized while the supernatural was rejected. In regard to the Bible, this meant that any miraculous events described in the Bible including miracles, healings, divine revelation, or God being active in any way in the world were rejected.

There was a view which postulated that God had created the world but then let it run according to natural laws without any further interference. This same viewpoint along with the acceptance of evolution, led to an evolutionary perception of historical and social development that led to the rejection of the traditional viewpoint of biblical development. One idea that became very popular in the 1800s (and is still popular today) was the idea that the Bible was created by piecing together various texts during Israel’s time of exile.[4]

Steering Currents

We should not assume that the church is dragged helplessly by overcurrents and undercurrents. Through all those influences, the Spirit of God is at work in the church. If the church sometimes behaves badly, it is a reminder that it is not the church that is the Savior of the world, that distinction belongs to God alone. Occasionally, even the church forgets that she is in daily need of a Savior as she brings the gospel to the world. Christ is the faithful one, not the church.

Those of us who are members of the visible church don’t even know with certainty which members of the visible church truly belong to Christ and who does not. Only God knows that. Only God knows whether we have the right balance of beliefs and practices,[5] and we most likely don’t. God’s ways are higher than the ways of those who are in the church as well as outside the church. This should call us to humility. But it should also call us to assurance that God is working His plan and His church even if we are broken and sometimes failing. The hope that we bring to the world is that God still works within us despite our weakness and failures.

In our unfaithfulness, we need to remember the words of Jeremiah. After many chapters of God accusing his chosen people, Israel, of prostituting herself to the love of other gods, at the end, God said, “Return, O virgin Israel …” Again, it is our faithful Yahweh who persists in seeking and holding onto us, despite our unfaithfulness – and yet He will cleanse us and put our unfaithful ways behind us. This is the good news that the church can receive and pass on to those not yet in the church. Our faithful Yahweh has not left us or abandoned us but leads us, able to redeem us even in our rebellion.

God loves His church, and He will restore us. We are therefore in no position to not love the church that God loves. He has not abandoned us but calls us by His Spirit. I have often said, “It is a miracle that the gospel has survived the church.” It is a miracle, and the miracle continues as it already has through the centuries. God will use the church and guide the church, despite herself. And there is the promise from Jesus to His followers, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

[1] Martin, Bruce. “Science and Faith: The Enlightenment;” Encyclopedia.com “Enlightenment and Empire” Explorations in Life, Theology, and Creation rossway.net/science-and-faith-the-enlightenment

[2] Darwin, Charles. “On the Origin of Species” John Murray 1859

[3] See Appendix I – Creeds of the Church

[4] Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis University of Maryland Department of Computer Science www.cs.umd.edu/~mvz/bible/doc-hyp.pdf

[5] orthodoxy and orthopraxy Learn Religion www.learnreligions.com/orthopraxy-vs-orthodoxy-95857

Observe

Read John 17:13-25. In His love towards us, God has created many things in the world for us to enjoy. However, the world’s hatred of the things of God is sometimes masked by the sweet enticements that lure us away the love of God towards the love of those things. How do we discern when we are being lured away from God?

The contributions of the church

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

The contributions of the church

[Bible references: Matthew 5:13-16; Hebrews 10:19-39; James 2; 3:13–18; 1 Peter 2:11-25]

The church is the Body of Christ consisting of all, now and in the past, who have acknowledged their sins and have accepted the forgiveness that God offers through Jesus Christ. Awkwardly, we now have an assortment of organizations that label themselves this church or that church, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant Church, etc. But these are only different organizations in which we can find members of the Body of Christ. For that reason, this book will use the term “church,” with a lower case “c” to refer to the entire church and use the term “Church” with an upper case “C” when referring to individual local bodies of the church.

The church consists of all those members of the Body of Christ, past or present, who may be found in any local congregation or denomination or sadly, sometimes not connected to any group of fellow believers. It is the members of this church that, driven by beliefs, have throughout history made many contributions to society in all sorts of various ways. A few examples:

Science and Education

  • Whitehead and Oppenheimer insisted that modern science could not have been born except in a Christian environment.[1] Many pioneering scientists were not only theists, but Christians: Newton, Pasteur, Kepler, Paschal, Fleming, Edwards.
  • One hundred of the first 110 universities in America were founded for the express purpose of propagating the Christian religion.[2]
  • Scientific knowledge was preserved and developed in monasteries and in the universities founded by the church during the Middle Ages.[3]
  • The Christian Missionary Society taught 200,000 to read in East Africa in one generation: Secured the abolition of widow-burning and child sacrifice, founded the educational systems in China, Japan, and Korea.[4]

Health Care

  • In AD 252, the Christians of Corinth saved the city from the plague by responding to the needs of those who were simply dragged into the street.[5]
  • Monasteries served as hospitals (treating even diseases like leprosy), places of refuge. Monasteries also developed agricultural skills and knowledge.[6]
  • During the Middle Ages, the Benedictines alone were responsible for more than two thousand hospitals in Western Europe. The first free infirmary was at Monte Cassino. The first public hospital in Western Europe. When the city of Edessa was ravaged by plague, established hospitals were open to all who were afflicted.[7]

Social Justice

  • Wilberforce, along with Buxton, Macaulay, and Clark, were all evangelicals who were converted under Wesley’s ministry, and were the top leaders in ending slavery. Anthony Ashley Cooper (Earl of Shaftesbury, self-described “Evangelical of the Evangelicals”) pioneered child-labor laws, prohibited women working in the mines, established mental health sanitarium, built parks and libraries.[8]
  • “It was extremely common in the Greco-Roman world to throw out new female infants to die from exposure, because of the low status of women in society. The church forbade its members to do so,”[9]
  • Pagan widows lost all control of their husband’s estate when they remarried, but the church allowed widows to maintain their husband’s estate,[10]
  • In the ancient world, infanticide was not only legal, but it was also applauded. It was the early Christian church that ultimately brought an end to infanticide.[11]
  • A fifth century monk, Telemachus is credited as being the pivotal force ending the gladiator spectacles,[12]
  • The respect for those who are poor and lowly, a concept embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is based on the premise that all human lives have worth and that all lives count equally derives from Matthew 20:16 “So the last will be first, and the first last.”
  • Christians regularly and consistently cared for the poor, both Christian and non-Christian,[13]

Governance and Economics

  • The origin of the separation of church and state and the concept of limited government because the state must respect the conscience of each person comes from Matthew 22:21 – “to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”
  • Theologians in the Middle Ages were the first to develop the basic rules of economics, and the monasteries spread throughout Europe were flourishing centers of business activity,[14]

The Arts

  • Shakespeare’s writings were heavily influenced by Biblical themes[15]
  • Beethoven wrote music to inspire faith[16]
  • Leonardo da Vinci created many Biblically themed works of art[17]
  • The emperor, Constantine, built monumental churches in Rome, Byzantine, and Palestine[18]

[1] Varugheses, T.V. “The Scientific Age” The Daily Hatch thedailyhatch.org/2013/10/31/was-modern-science-born-out-of-the-christian-worldview

[2] William, James. “The Social and Historical Impact of Christianity” Probe probe.org/the-social-and-historical-impact-of-christianity

[3] Flynn, John. “Christianity’s Contribution” Catholic Online 28 Nov 2007 www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=5250

[4] William, James. “The Social and Historical Impact of Christianity” probe.org/the-social-and-historical-impact-of-christianity

[5] William, James. “The Social and Historical Impact of Christianity” probe.org/the-social-and-historical-impact-of-christianity

[6] Newman, Simon. “Monasteries in the Middle Ages” The Finer Times 29 May 2012 www.thefinertimes.com/monasteries-in-the-middle-ages

[7] Hart, David Bentley. “The Ethic of Caring for the Sick” Stand to Reason www.str.org/blog/the-ethic-of-caring-for-the-sick#.XiBmNiNOnIU

[8] Turnbull, Richard. “Shaftsbury: The Great Reformer” Knowing & Doing Fall 2015 www.cslewisinstitute.org/Fall_2015_Shaftesbury_The_Great_Reformer_page1

[9] Faith Facts “The Impact of Christianity” Faith Facts www.faithfacts.org/christ-and-the-culture/the-impact-of-christianity

[10] Keller, Tim. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism Penguin Books 2009

[11] Silver, Sandra Sweeny. “Infanticide in the Ancient World” Early Church History earlychurchhistory.org/medicine/infanticide-in-the-ancient-world

[12] Preston, S.G. “Telemachus: The Monk Who Ended the Coliseum Games” Prayer Foundation prayerfoundation.org/favoritemonks/favorite_monks_telemachus_coliseum.htm

[13] O’Brien, Brandon J. “The Social, Economic, and Political Commitments of the Early Church” Christianity Today   www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/spiritualformation/faithaction.html

[14] Flynn, John. “Christianity’s Contribution” www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=5250

[15] Bishop, Tom. “Shakespeare and the Bible” Academia.edu www.academia.edu/12388291/Shakespeare_and_the_Bible

[16] Mauro, JP. “The little discussed faith of Beethoven” Aleteia 12/22/19 aleteia.org/2019/12/22/the-little-discussed-faith-of-beethoven

[17] Demar, Gary. “The Impact of Christianity on the World” The American Vision 15 Dec 2009 americanvision.org/1403/impact-of-christianity-on-world

[18] Faith From Evidence “Christianity and Architecture” Faith from evidence www.faithfromevidence.org/christianity-and-architecture.html

Observe

Read Matthew 5:13-16; Hebrews 10:19-39; James 2; 3:13–18; 1 Peter 2:11-25.  How is the church encouraged to do good deeds?

The challenge of the church

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

The Challenge of the church

[Bible references: 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; Galatians 2:7; Colossians 2:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:4-15; 1 Timothy 2:14-26; 6:11-21; 2 Timothy 1:12-14; 2:16; 3:14-16]

Mysteries and distinctives

There is an impossible task set before the believers through the world who comprise what some call the invisible, universal church: Differences have arisen which have caused different local congregations to have some disagreements about what the correct theology is. We will call these differences, distinctives. It is from these distinctives that local congregations divide from one another with some finding themselves aligned into different groups that we call denominations or associations, and some not formally aligning themselves with any other congregation at all.

Although while trying to understand God, we may find that although some things are incomprehensible, other things are knowable. The knowable things make it possible to construct a limited theological framework, despite the tensions cited in Chapter 2 that require us to hold some things in tension.

When distinctives become heresies

Trying to understand a complex, incomprehensible and paradoxical God leads naturally to some diversity of thought. The problem is trying to detect when diversity leads to heresies, ideas that are identifiably contrary to the Biblical message and ought to be rejected by all the major bodies in the church. Heresies typically develop when biblical verses are taken out of context, or when attempts are made to mesh non-Christian ideas with biblical ideas.

The following is a list of some of the most prevalent heresies. For a more comprehensive list of some of the heresies and the terms used for them, read “Appendix F – Partial Listing of Heresies”.:

  • Matter is inherently evil and only the spiritual is good,
  • being saved by grace allows us to ignore any laws or norms,
  • rejection of the Old Testament,
  • rejection of the Trinity,
  • only the Father is God,
  • Gentiles need to be circumcised and follow the Jewish laws,
  • the validity of sacraments depends on the moral character of the person administering the sacraments,
  • those guilty of grave sin are permanently excluded from the church,
  • we can choose to be good apart from God’s grace,
  • Christ is not fully human and fully divine,
  • prophets who claim that they supersede the apostles,
  • all truth and knowledge of God is accessible by the human mind.,
  • all people will be saved.

Even within our limited framework, it is possible to find that sometimes someone’s theology seems so wrong that it must be corrected and dealt with more strongly. In those cases, the church must determine when some of our distinctives have crossed over from being a ‘distinctive’ to being a ‘heresy,’ teachings that are not just different but cause fundamental theological problems in the teachings of the church. The task of identifying and correcting heresies is a job that must be done but these days is complicated by the divisions within the church. This is one area where we need to recognize Dynamic Tension at work: balancing the need to deal with doctrine and practices that are deemed to be heretical with the need to, as much as possible, retain whatever unity is possible in the church.

There was a time that it was more possible to call together representatives from all parts of the church to discuss difficult issues and come to a common agreement, but that is no longer possible. Between AD325 and AD757 there were seven ecumenical councils[1], councils that were called by the Roman emperor which tried to resolve various questions, at least within the empire, which were dividing the church.

“all the doctrinal definitions of the Seven Ecumenical Councils (councils which have always, and still do, receive the unqualified acceptance of both East and West) … An Ecumenical Synod may be defined as a synod the decrees of which have found acceptance by the Church in the whole world”[2]

One of the most essential products of the councils were increasingly detailed creeds[3] for the church, statements written in response to perceived heresies that were being taught, clarifying what the orthodox teaching of the church ought to be.

Because of the complexities of the different viewpoints, the increasingly detailed creeds were never able to entirely resolve the differences between the Latin speaking and the Greek speaking parts of the church leaving the church with very intense divisions in the aftermath of each of the councils. After the seven Ecumenical Councils, the divisions in the church had become irreconcilable and it is no longer possible to call a council in which all sections of the church would be able to have an agreement on critical theological issues. There have been various ecumenical efforts through the years, including the creation of the World Council of Churches, but such efforts have not been able to overcome those disagreements on critical issues.

This division has complicated the issue of when theological differences become heresies. The inability of the visible church to resolve such issues forces us acknowledge our dependence on Christ; that the Gospel is the good news about our salvation to be found in the grace of Christ – and not in His still fractured church. In the meanwhile, despite the visible fracturing of the visible church, we need to humbly acknowledge the mystery of the unity of the church in Christ.

[1] Orthodox Church of America. “The Councils” Volume I – Doctrine and Scripture, Sources of Christian Doctrine, The Councils www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/doctrine-scripture/sources-of-christian-doctrine/the-councils; Keating, Karl. “The 21 Ecumenical Councils” Catholic Answers www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-21-ecumenical-councils. Protestants and Eastern Orthodox regard only 7 ecumenical council, while the Roman Catholic regards 21 ecumenical councils because the Roman Catholic Church regards Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Churches as “separated brethren”.

[2] Schaff, Philip (1819-1893) (Editor) Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, “A select library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Second Series. Volume XIV. The Seven Ecumenical Councils. For a summary of the seven ecumenical Councils, See Appendix H

[3] See Appendix I – Creeds of the Church

Observe

Read 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; 1 Timothy 4:1-4; 6:1-10; 2 Timothy 2: 14-26. What are the warning signs of “false teachers?”

Limits of theology

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

The limits of theology

[Bible references: Isaiah 55:1-13; John 8:43;21-30; 41-48; Acts 1:1-11]

The church is the body of the incomprehensible Christ, and this incomprehensibility creates tension because many of us who are in this body think we understand different aspects of God. Somehow, we end up disagreeing on issues that each of us thinks should be clear to everyone else, resulting in us taking sides and dividing because: not only can’t we understand everything about God, but we are also subject to our personal human frailties (e.g., sins, particular inclinations and weaknesses), the cultures we live in and the languages we speak (which inform the way we interpret scripture) and the events around us (e.g., wars, revolutions, politics, etc.). Those frailties have led to a rather mixed history of how the church has lived into what it knows about the gospel. Sometimes we seem like the Indian fable about six blind men and the elephant,[1] we end up seeing God from such different places that we seem to be describing a different God.

Language may not determine thought, but it focuses perception and attention on particular aspects of reality, structures and thereby enhances cognitive processes, and even to some extent regulates social relationships. Our language reflects and at the same time shapes our thoughts and, ultimately, our culture, which in turn shapes our thoughts and language.[2]

Our culture and our language are inseparably bound together, they affect how we think and how we perceive the world and, particularly, they tend to cause misunderstandings when people from two or more different language/cultural groups communicate with each other.[3] In the case of the church, there were four major languages involved at the beginning: Aramaic, the local language of the Jews in Israel and the region to its east; Greek, the international language of the Roman Empire; Latin, the legal language of the Roman Empire; and Hebrew, the language in which the Old Testament was written.

The majority of the church first developed in the Roman Empire. While the legal language of the empire was Latin, the international language of the empire was Greek, and it was Greek culture that had been strongly adopted within the empire. Even the cultural influences of Plato, Zeno, Aristotle, and Epicurus persisted affecting the development of the church and its values.

Aramaic was the language of the “Church of the East” which developed primarily outside the Roman Empire. In addition to some isolation because of the language differences, it was further isolated by being outside the Roman Empire.

Even within the same people group, misunderstandings occur when people from one time period are interpreting information from an earlier time period. All these factors were in play at the time the church was forming. For example

  • The scripture from the Old Testament was written over a 1400-year time period with different authors using different literary styles.
  • As the church grew across the world, different cultural issues arose.
  • and the New Testament documents written about them were high-context documents but were being interpreted with low-context.[4]

There are also other issues creating internal tensions within the church. We also have a natural propensity to segregate ourselves into different groups. All our communities also experience cultural changes.

The game plan for spreading the gospel throughout the world didn’t follow any typical conventions. The people Jesus selected to be apostles did not receive any training in building organizations, neither did he tell them to plan for the long-term survival of the church that they were charged to begin building. The key instruction that they did receive was “wait,” that is, wait for the Holy Spirit. Jesus may have a master plan, but he only let them know (just as he lets us know) one step at a time. Naturally then, we respond to his revealed plan only one broken step after another and, as we do, we discover our need to lean on him as we work through our frailties and sin. The plan is and was for us to follow the Great Commandment and the Great Commission and the Holy Spirit. Not much detail, no written instructions, sometimes confusing, but that was the plan. Some would characterize the apparent plan as “Love people and tell them about Jesus.”

[1] All About Philosophy “Blind Men and the Elephant” www.allaboutphilosophy.org/blind-men-and-the-elephant.htm ; Saxe, John Godfrey. “The Blind Men and the Elephant” Poetry.com www.poetry.com/poem/101535/the-blind-men-and-the-elephant

[2] Burton, Neel. “How the Language You Speak Influences the Way You Think” Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201808/how-the-language-you-speak-influences-the-way-you-think

[3] White, James Emery, “the Greek, the Latin and the Hebrew” Crosswalk.com 2 Sept 2008 www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-james-emery-white/the-greek-the-latin-and-the-hebrew-11581208.html; Leveridge, Aubrey Neil, “The Relationship between Language and Culture and the implications for language teaching” TEFL.net Sept 2008 www.tefl.net/elt/articles/teacher-technique/language-culture

[4] High context communication occurs when people are in a shared environment with common values, history, etc. where many things are not said because it is assumed that the other person already knows and assumes those things as well. In low context communication, there is much less assumed about what the other person knows and so many more details are included in the communication.

Observe

Read Acts 1:1-11. When it comes to leading the church, what are the strengths and weaknesses of relying on the Spirit?

The context of theology

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 13 – Distinctives within the body of Christ

The Context of Theology

[Bible references: Matthew 22:37-39; John 13:34-35; 15:1-17; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12; 13; Ephesians 4:11-16]

More than doctrine

Everybody has an opinion of some sort when it comes to ideas about God. That is, everybody practices theology. According to one classical definition, theology is “faith seeking understanding.”[1] The only question is. whether our theology is good or bad. That said, there are some who may question whether or not to make a big deal of theology because it seems to create such divisiveness and others think that we should just keep everything as simple as possible.

We were created by God with mind, body, and soul – and it is through all those means that we can come to know God. The formal field of study that we call “theology” has often been restricted to academia, focusing on the intellectual – the mind; but as beings created in the image of God it would be a mistake to restrict our theology to just our mind. It is through our whole being that we can come to know and be transformed by God. Jesus once said that this transformed people would be recognized not by their knowledge, but by their love. Although it is beneficial if our love is informed by our knowledge, love is expressed in its action. In fact, Jesus identified the greatest commandments as loving God and loving our neighbors. Therefore, the practice of following Jesus (aka discipleship) is something we practice in community.

Once we understand all this, that our understanding of God requires the effort of our whole being, then we can see that while theology may have an academic component, it is more than an intellectual exercise. In fact, our soul, or spirit, is the first place in our being to examine our theology. Our theology is lacking if our God’s love is not overflowing through us into the rest of our lives.

To evaluate what our overflowing love might look like, we can consider the descriptions we find for the “fruit of the spirit” as shown in Galatians 5 and in 1 Corinthians 13: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, does not envy or boast, is not proud, rude or self-seeking, is not easily angered, takes no account of wrongs, takes no pleasure in evil, rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. We can also consider how we express our love through the various gifts of God that He provides each one of us for the purpose of building each other up in the faith: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophets, discernments, tongues and their interpretation, leadership, serving, exhortation, giving, mercy, helps apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher.

It is interesting that many non-Christians, even those with limited knowledge of the Bible or of the church, are able to critique Christians by contrasting Christians with Christ. They may possibly misunderstand Christ, but because they have been designed as image-bearers of God, even they have some basis to compare the behavior of others to Christ.

The whole of faith

Meanwhile, in this in-between time, even disciples of Jesus are affected by sin and our theology is subject to corruption. We misuse theology in various ways: sometimes using it as a tool to achieve something else such as gaining power or justifying bad attitudes (e.g., arrogance or hatred), sometimes by focusing on just the academic side while neglecting the spiritual or practical aspects; or sometimes neglecting the academic side and try to avoid the truth or complexities of theology and simply stop asking questions, preferring instead to yield to fideism, which can be described as the “exclusive or basic reliance of faith alone” [2]

A robust faith is not a blind faith, but rather a thinking faith, a faith with eyes wide open to the realities of life’s circumstances and the reality of God’s providence,[3] a faith that seeks God with our whole self: body, mind, and spirit. So, we should not ignore the academic side of our faith or our theology. The process of taking all the knowledge we have gathered about God and then using that to “build up into an organic and consistent whole all our knowledge of God and of the relations between God and the universe” is called systematic theology.[4]

The all-encompassing nature of systematic theology requires care. Scientific models are helpful in understanding natural phenomena but are limited in predicting future behavior because the models are only approximations of the phenomena they describe. Similarly, our systematic theologies are helpful in understanding the infinite God and his works, but we need to be aware of its limitations. One of those limitations is how our perceptions are influenced by our particular personality, our particular environment/culture, our particular language, and our particular historical context.[5]

The problem of the other

Ever since the creation of humanity, we have continually chosen to idolize ourselves and to not love God, which also meant we have chosen to not love others. This mindset then causes us to blame whatever problems we have on others or even to blame God. It is this sort of mindset that would cause the New Testament church to disconnect itself from its Judaic heritage, setting the church up for continued divisiveness in the future. So it is worth exploring what led to the church to the severing its Judaic roots.

We know that Jesus spoke of how scriptures – and he could only be referring to what we call the Old Testament scriptures – pointed to him and his ministry, and how he was the fulfillment of those scriptures. That would mean that Jesus’ ministry was a continuation of God’s love and grace as set out in the Old Testament. Later on, as the ministry of the church strongly expanded to Gentiles, the apostle Paul spelled out that the Gentiles in the church were like the branch of a wild olive tree being grafted into nurtured tree; the tree being the Jews that were in the church and whose roots went back to the Old Testament people of faith. Paul then warned the Gentiles not to become arrogant about any of the other branches that were broken off because God is capable of grafting the original branches back onto the tree.

As the ministry to the Gentiles proceeded and expanded, Christian Jews still met in the temple and the synagogues with the non-Christian Jews, increasing their ministry there even as many of the non-Christian Jews strongly resisted. But there were two events that would change the trajectory of the church.

In AD 66 the zealots started to revolt against the Roman government. The Christians in Jerusalem want to avoid getting caught up in the rebellions and moved to Pella, causing tension between the zealots and the Christians. After the rebellion was defeated by the Romans in AD 70, the temple was destroyed and the Jews were scattered, but now there was increased tension between the Christian and non-Christian Jews.

Later on, in AD 132, a zealot nicknamed Bar Kokhba (meaning “son of the star”) arose to start another rebellion. He, with the support of a prominent rabbi, declared himself a messiah. Now, the Christian Jews not only did not want to participate in a rebellion, but they had to refuse to acknowledge a messiah other than Jesus. And the zealots, who supported Bar Kokhba, declared Bar Kokhba as messiah, thus rejecting Jesus as messiah, which quickly led to a hardening of those non-Christian Jews against the church, making them more resistant than before to the gospel. When the Romans defeated the zealots, Jews were now banned on penalty of death, from entering Jerusalem.

After this point, when leaders in the church tried to reach the Jews with the gospel, they encountered hardened hearts. However, instead of the recognizing that it had been foretold that Jews hearts would be hardened until the time of the Gentiles was over, the leaders in the church now arrogantly hardened their own hearts and became increasingly anti-Semitic. This resulted in the church increasingly turning away from their own roots and thus becoming susceptible to increasing influence of Greek philosophy. This would create dramatic effects in the development of theology in such areas as the rejection of the human body and sexuality as evil and sinful, and the conversion of asceticism from a form of spiritual discipline to a rejection of the pleasures God created as good things.[6]

The limits of language

Early on, in church history, there was an attempt to overcome the problem of the language barrier in the church. It was thought that the church could be united if theologians across the church world could use a common theological language. This attempt in the 5th century, when the languages included Aramaic, Greek, and Latin as well as all the local languages, did make it easier to find solutions to theological problems, but the negative consequence was that differences in theological views became heightened, leading to what may be the inevitable schisms in the church.

Theologians believed that one faith has to be expressed in one language … Distortion of language, they believed, inevitably leads to distortion of the common faith … ‘Byzantine scholasticism’ emerged in the post-Cyrillian era. This shift had both positive and negative consequences. The positive ones were that theologians started speaking one language. This helped them to easier find solutions to theological problems … The negative consequences of language-centrism were that when theologians disagreed on terms or categories, the regarded their disagreements about theological formulas as essential theological difference. This became one of the most important reasons of the church schism in the post-Cyrillian era.[7]

We cannot approach any field of study as a blank slate. All of our particular factors contribute to which particular theological method people may choose to use. Charles Hodge identified three general classes of methods used within the field of systematic theology: Speculative, Mystical, and Inductive.[8] Given all of that, we can see that there can be many approaches to even framing the questions we might ask about God, never mind the types of answers towards which we may lean. Engaging in the quest of trying to understand the current multi-faceted state of the current church can be overwhelming and most people don’t have the time to study a typical church history book of 800-1000 pages. To make this task more bearable, the approach here will not be to present a comprehensive study but to develop an overview of the church by focusing on 1) the internal and external issues that affected the development of the church, and 2) the main questions that the church has asked and briefly sharing the different answers formulated by different congregations.

[1] Migliore, Daniel L. “Faith Seeking Understanding”  William B. Eerdmans Publishing, third edition. 1991

[2] Amesbury, Richard. “Fideism” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ©2016 plato.stanford.edu/entries/fideism

[3] Migliore, Daniel L. “Faith Seeking Understanding” William B. Eerdmans Publishing, third edition. 1991 (pp. 3-5)

[4] Bible Study Tools “Chapter III – Method of Theology” Bible Study Tools www.biblestudytools.com/classics/strong-systematic-theology/part-i-prolegomena/chapter-iii-method-of-theology.html

[5] Migliore, Daniel L. “Faith Seeking Understanding” William B. Eerdmans Publishing, third edition. 1991 (p.205) Confession of Jesus Christ takes place in particular historical and cultural contexts … our response to questions of who we say Jesus Christ is and how he helps us will be s shaped in important ways by the particular contexts in which these questions arise … all theology is contextual

[6] Dualism rejects the physical world as evil or not desirable. “Mystery of Wisdom.” (p. 166)

[7] Hovorun, Cyril. Studia Patristica Vol. LVIII, Volume 6: Neoplatonism and Patristics, Peters 2013.  “Importance of Neoplatonism on Formation of Theological Language” (p. 17-28)

[8] Hodge, Charles, “Systematic Theology” (Chapter I: On Method) Eerdmans Publishing Company, (Chapter I: On Method) 1940

Reflect

How can love affect your ability to know someone?

Observe

Read John 15:1-17; Ephesians 4:11-16. How do these passages relate to each other?

Future of the faith

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Future of the faith

[Bible references: Isaiah 65:17-25; 66:22-24; Luke 20:34-362 Corinthians 5:1-10; 2 Peter 3:10-15; Revelation 21:1-8]

As mentioned in the previous section, the war against evil has been won. Christ has won the battle over sin and death. We need to keep our minds fixed on that when the battles rage around us. We need to remember that we are the side of the victor and not get defensive – our God is not small! We need to remember that the forces of evil have reigned since the fall and so, when Jesus came in the flesh, it was the forces of good that have intruded on the forces of evil, not the other way around.

With the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Kingdom of God has entered onto the earth and Jesus continues to bring the Kingdom of God on earth through his church. Unfortunately, we need to wait until Jesus returns before he completely restores the Kingdom of God. But He will restore it!

One of the in-between time confusions centers around what happens in the day that Christ returns. In this time, when Christians die, we are not automatically resurrected, instead we leave earth to go to heaven to be with the Lord. But that is not our last destination! When Christ returns, He will unite heaven with earth, and it is then that we will then receive our resurrected bodies so that we can live on that new earth.

One of the other confusions around what happens what is the relation between the old earth and the new earth. The language in 2 Peter 3:10 can make it seem that the old earth will simply be annihilated and replaced with the new earth. However, that would seem to conflict with Acts 3:21 where God is said to “restore all things.”

“The times of the restitution of all things – The noun rendered restitution … does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The verb from which it is derived occurs eight times. It means properly “to restore a thing to its former situation,” as restoring a “strained” or “dislocated” limb to its former soundness. Hence, it is used to restore, or to heal, in the New Testament …”[1]

It so happens that “all but one of the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts do not have the final words “will be burned up” but instead have “will be found, …”[2] and that would be more in line with Acts 3:21.[3] What has been the more common rendering of “burning up the earth” has caused some to not care about our current earth, but if the earth is to be transformed rather than destroyed then we might, as the stewards of the earth, pay more attention to taking care of the earth.

[1] Biblehub “Acts 3:21” Biblehub biblehub.com/acts/3-21.htm

[2] Wolters, Albert M. “Creation Regained: Biblical Bases for a Reformational Worldview” William B. Eerdmans Publishing 1985, 2005. (Location 568 of 1582)

[3] Bible.org “A Brief Note on a Textual Problem in 2 Peter 3:10” the meaning of the term is virtually the equivalent of “will be disclosed,” “will be manifested.” Thus, the force of the clause would be that “the earth and the works [done by men] in it will be stripped bare [before God].” BAGD suggests a slight modification of this: be found as a “result of judicial investigation” (s.v. εὑρίσκω, p. 325. 2), citing Acts 13:28; 23:9; John 18:38; 19:4, 6; and Barnabas 21:6 as approximate parallels. Danker2 suggested a parallel between 2 Pet 3:10 and Ps Sol 17:10 (“Faithful is the Lord in all his judgments which he executes on the earth”; the link here is conceptual, though in v. 8 εὑρίσκω is used of the exposure of men’s sins before God). We might add that the unusualness of the expression is certainly in keeping with Peter’s style throughout this little book. Hence, what looks to be suspect because of its abnormalities, upon closer inspection is actually in keeping with the author’s stylistic idiosyncrasies. The meaning of the text then, is apparently that all but the earth and men’s works will be destroyed. Everything will be removed so that humanity will stand naked before God.

Observe

Read 1 Peter 3:10-15. What should our attitude be because we know that the new heavens and earth will be happening?

Doctrine of unity

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Doctrine of unity.

[Bible references: John 17:23; Philippians 2:1-11; 4:1; Ephesians 4:11-13; Philippians 1:27: 2:2; Colossians 3:14; 1 John 4:8]

There are several types of doctrine that ought to lead to unity in the church, such as our knowledge of God, our love of God and others, and our maturity in the faith. Working together these doctrines will increase our knowledge of God and His love not just to us but to those around us. The more aware of we are of God’s holiness and, consequently how far short of that we are in our sinfulness, should be led to greater humility and acceptance of others. When we are called to God, we are called to His Body of which we each have a part in building one another up.

Observe

Read Philippians 2:1-11. What might be our biggest barrier to developing unity with others?

Doctrine and the knowledge of God

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Doctrine and the knowledge of God

[Bible references: 1 Corinthians 1:10; 8:1-13; Romans 12:1-8; 15:5-6; Philippians 1:27; 2:2-5; 1 Peter 3:8]

We can see the apostle Paul tackling the issue of doctrine and the knowledge of God in the book of Romans, written in the context of much hostility between Jew and Gentile, where he explains in many different ways how the doctrine of the faith actually binds Jew and Gentile together. Then towards the end of that lengthy exposition he says to be of one mind and accept one another in the same way as Christ who came to serve us and has accepted us.

Unfortunately, in our attempts to become more knowledgeable about doctrine, we get off-balance, forgetting that “love builds up” and instead get caught in the trap of “knowledge puffs up,” starting to think of ourselves “more highly than we ought.” In those same passages that remind us of that trap, we are also reminded of our responsibility to remember God’s grace to us and to remember that we all belong to the same Body of Christ.

Our knowledge gets distorted when we focus on the knowledge of the Biblical text and not the knowledge of the God who gave us the text. Our knowledge of doctrine should not become an end to itself. Our habitual forgetfulness to seek our unity in Christ has led to the claim that “doctrine divides.”  However, doctrine, as the properly taught knowledge of God, should lead to unity.

Observe

Read Romans 12:1-8. How can this passage help us handle issues of doctrine?

Paradox of responsibility

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Paradox of responsibility

[Bible references: Jeremiah 3:1-9; 31:1-4; Zechariah 8:16; Ephesians 4; Philippians 2:1-18]

This then is our paradox; we are given the responsibility of correctly handling the Truth of God even when we cannot completely understand what that Truth is. For instance, how can we understand that there is one person, God, and yet have God revealed in three personalities:  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? How can the God who exists outsides the confines of time and space, confine Himself to a particular space and time and come to be born and then to live and die as a normal human being? How can these things be?

As we look across the breadth of the history of the church, we see the church wrestling with these paradoxes and others. The result of that wrestling sometimes has gotten downright ugly with the church sometimes quite literally killing each other about it, not only with those outside the church but within it. In fact, if one were to look across the world at the state of Christianity, it might seem to one of the most fractious and divided groups ever.

How can it be that God would entrust this church with the task of bringing that His Truth to others and from one generation to the next, the church that has from time to time seemed to fail the apostle Paul’s challenge to be “one in the Spirit.”

Reflect

When children are not compliant as they grow up, do we just give up on them?

Observe

Read Zechariah 8:16; Ephesians 4; Philippians 2:1-18. What should the church look like as it handles its responsibility to presenting the truth of God to each other and to the world?

Guardians of the truth

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Guardians of truth

[Bible references: Psalm 25:2; 45:4; 145:18; Proverbs 12:19; 22:21; Isaiah 45:19; 59:15; Jeremiah 5:1; Zechariah 8:16-19; John 1:14-17; 4:23-24; 8:44-45; 14:6; 16:13; Acts 20:30; Romans 1:18-25; 2:1-20; I Corinthians 11:18-19; 1 Timothy 4:6; 2 timothy 2:14-29; 1 John 2:20-21; 3 John 1:1-12]

God is always in part incomprehensible, mysterious, and paradoxical, which leads to an inevitable diversity of ideas about Him. And yet He has left us with a challenge, He has declared Himself to be the Truth and He has charged the church to be His instrument in making disciples, therefore making us the guardians of that truth. This means that when the church goes about its business of growing in the knowledge of God and developing doctrines about the One who always mysterious, there will be an inevitable tension of trying to discern when the developing diversity of ideas about the Truth will lead to ideas that oppose the gospel or lead to the revealed knowledge of God.

Observe

Read 2 Timothy 2:14-19. What lies are Timothy told to be concerned about?

Need for doctrine

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Need for Doctrine

[Bible references: 1 Timothy 1, 4; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9; 2 John 1:8-9]

The growing process has not been easy, and the combination of new challenges and our ever-present sin has resulted in wide divisions in the church, leading some to think that the doctrine that ought to be holding us together seems to be tearing us apart instead. In fact, the opposite should be true. Our doctrine should be holding us together. In fact, if the church doesn’t have its own doctrine and culture, how would we stay together as a church if we are all simply doing our own things? How would we agree how to worship in common or define who is in the church or how we would worship? Under what pretext would we invite people into the church? What common truth would we hold to?

Observe

Read 1 Timothy 4. Whatwarnings are given to Timothy about those who would create problems?

Guarding the faith

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Guarding the faith

[Bible references: Matthew 5:11-12; Romans 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:29-31; 13:7; Ephesians 6:10-18; Philippians 1:10; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:10-12; 4:5; Hebrews 10: 36; James 1:2-12; 3:2-12; Revelation 2:3]

The church was launched in a world that was opposed to it. Jesus made it very clear that following him was in invitation to suffer. There would be enemies both within and outside the church, enemies that were sometimes not so apparent and therefore requiring discernment by the faithful. The opposition takes many forms but behind all the opposition are the spiritual forces in heavenly realms.

The real enemy is not so much the individual people we see but the spiritual forces of darkness acting around us manifesting as deceivers, scoffers, false apostles, divisions in the church, idolatry, or immorality – all either around us or within us. The challenge of fighting against those forces requires us to put on the full armor of God: truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the Spirit, and the Word. We are called to be alert, to always pray, to learn discernment, to endure and persevere.

By both his life and his death, Jesus offered reconciliation to all cultures. By his teaching Christ called Jew and Gentile together; both were offered a place in God’s kingdom, with the ethnicity of the Jews giving them no advantage whatsoever. While Jesus modeled this reconciliation in his own life and ministry, it took his followers some time to put this aspect of his message into effect. When they did, however, the results were revolutionary. The Jewish disciples of Jesus were taught to reach out with love and acceptance to the Gentiles, whom they had come to think of as beasts. The Gentiles were invited into fellowship with the Jewish disciples without having to become Jewish. … multiculturalism means fostering a genuine respect for diverse cultural expressions such as music, art, literature, and dance, and diverse cultural traditions in such matters as education, the family, and work. Such respect does not mean ignoring moral or spiritual failings reflected in these cultural expressions and traditions (since these can be found in any culture, including European). It does mean recognizing that certain constants of human life — love, growth, need, aspiration, suffering, hope — find expression in all cultures. [1]

As we engage with other cultures, we can celebrate God’s imprint on his image-bearers which has produced many creative, diverse, and multicultural ways to display God’s goodness. As we do, we should take care to recognize that all the world’s cultures are also subject to corruption. In our role as God’s ambassadors, we can recognize the good displayed in each culture and also reach out to offer God desire to reconcile all people to himself.

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:  Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. (Colossians 2:20-23, NIV)

In our discerning of the good and the bad in the cultures around us, we should be discerning of our own cultures and behaviors, not just the good and the bad, but the universal and cultural expressions of the gospel.

[1] Bible.org “Christ and Cultures: Multiculturalism and the Gospel of Christ” Bible.org bible.org/seriespage/12-christ-and-cultures-multiculturalism-and-gospel-christ.

Read Ephesians 6:10-18; James 3:2-12. What does it take to survive as a fruitful Christian?