Evangelism - The Reason for Our Existance
In the second part of this series, we are going to address the topic of church and church relationship in the context of Paul’s advice to us in the book of Ephesians. Not that church is the most important or most influential relationship any of us will have. It is down the list a little bit. But the lessons about church relationships we will bring out will help in any other relationship you have. We can learn from Paul’s advice to the church how to have good marriages, good families, and good friendships.
Looking at the church means that we are looking at people. Human nature is divisible into two. All of us fit into one or the other of these two groups. It’s more than just fitting into one of these two groups—we are contributing to every relationship in one of two ways. We are either acting like Cain to Abel or Abel to Cain. Our actions are the actions of Cain or Abel. Now let us do a little math. All of us can add, 1+1 = 2. So one Cain plus one Cain equals hell. Yes, put two haters together and you don’t have just two people. You have a living, growing hell.
The opposite is true also. Abel plus Abel equals heaven. Put two decent, kind, caring people together and you have a living, growing heaven. But then you have another way to hell. That is what happens when you put Abel together with Cain. It starts out with half of the equation unhappy and ends up with everyone who is still alive, unhappy. It only takes one representative of hell to ruin any heaven. You know it is true, for when a group of friends are happy together, it only takes one whiner or one hater to spoil everything for the rest of the group. But Jesus demonstrates that we can be heavenly in the pit of hell. He taught us to sing in prison by a life of joy in the midst of chaos; contentment rather than victimhood.
But back to the two main kinds of church members. . . . Cain represents those who will contribute to the church on their own terms. Everything revolves around their own selves. Their merits are what they think God needs. Their way of thinking is the way everyone should think. But Abel represents those that are humble enough to accept God. They consider other ways of thinking besides their own. They do not trust only in themselves.
“Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. Those who feel no need of the blood of Christ, who feel that without divine grace they can by their own works secure the approval of God, are making the same mistake as did Cain. If they do not accept the cleansing blood, they are under condemnation. There is no other provision made whereby they can be released from the thralldom of sin.
“The class of worshipers who follow the example of Cain includes by far the greater portion of the world; for nearly every false religion has been based on the same principle—that man can depend upon his own efforts for salvation. It is claimed by some that the human race is in need, not of redemption, but of development—that it can refine, elevate, and regenerate itself. As Cain thought to secure the divine favor by an offering that lacked the blood of a sacrifice, so do these expect to exalt humanity to the divine standard, independent of the atonement. The history of Cain shows what must be the result. It shows what man will become apart from Christ. Humanity has no power to regenerate itself. It does not tend upward, toward the divine, but downward, toward the satanic. Christ is our only hope. ‘There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ ‘Neither is there salvation in any other’ (Acts 4:12).”1
Anytime we decide to trust ourselves as wiser and better than God we offer the sacrifice of Cain. Anytime we trust ourselves to direct another in his or her duty before God we offer the sacrifice of Cain. Anytime we ask others to trust someone else than God to guide their conscience we offer the sacrifice of Cain.
Paul could have mimicked Cain according to Philippians 3:4: “I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more.” But Paul learned that there was something more valuable, as he says in verses 7–9: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” This then leads Paul to define church membership differently than his Jewish family and friends did. In verses 2 and 3 he tells us that real church membership is defined by an internal condition, not an external circumstance. “Beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which (1) worship God in the spirit, and (2) rejoice in Christ Jesus, and (3) have no confidence in the flesh.” He repeats the same definition in Romans 2:25–29.
Paul tells us that successful church members are those that live a life of Christian fruits. “Only let your conversation [that is, behavior: Oxford English Dictionary: “Action of living . . . among persons”] be as it becometh the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:12–15). “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (verses 1–4).
And Paul teaches us how to be the best church members. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (verses 5–8). Jesus sacrificed His life but not His character, His comfort but not His integrity. That is how to be a team player in the church. That is how to be a successful church member.
This life manifests itself in an appreciation of other’s life and circumstance, in contentment, in self-control of one’s thoughts, in gratitude, in humility, and in a lack of anxiety or fear. This internal condition comes from God through prayer and submission to Him. It leads us to ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church. We are to contribute to the well-being of the church as did Paul and Jesus. Church is what we make it. What will you make it?
Paul is a prime example. He could be an example because he was selfless and God was his helper. He gave up his life in Jerusalem on the prestigious Sanhedrin for a life of incessant travel and great sacrifice.
“Uniting with the church, although an important and necessary act, does not make one a Christian nor ensure salvation. We cannot secure a title to heaven by having our names enrolled upon the church book while our hearts are alienated from Christ. . . .
“Many do not realize the sacredness of church relationship. . . . Their course of action shows that they exalt their own judgment above that of the united church, and they are not careful to guard themselves lest they encourage a spirit of opposition to its voice. Those who hold responsible positions in the church may have faults in common with other people and may err in their decisions; but notwithstanding this, the church of Christ on earth has given to them an authority that cannot be lightly esteemed. . . .
“Church relationship is not to be lightly canceled; yet when the path of some professed followers of Christ is crossed, or when their voice has not the controlling influence which they think it deserves, they will threaten to leave the church. True, in leaving the church they would themselves be the greatest sufferers; for in withdrawing beyond the pale of its influence, they subject themselves to the full temptations of the world.
“Every believer should be wholehearted in his attachment to the church. Its prosperity should be his first interest, and unless he feels under sacred obligations to make his connection with the church a benefit to it in preference to himself, it can do far better without him. It is in the power of all to do something for the cause of God. . . .
“The observance of external forms will never meet the great want of the human soul. A profession of Christ is not enough to enable one to stand the test of the day of judgment. There should be a perfect trust in God, a childlike dependence upon His promises, and an entire consecration to His will. . . .
“If the world sees a perfect harmony existing in the church of God, it will be a powerful evidence to them in favor of the Christian religion. Dissensions, unhappy differences, and petty church trials dishonor our Redeemer. All these may be avoided if self is surrendered to God and the followers of Jesus obey the voice of the church. Unbelief suggests that individual independence increases our importance, that it is weak to yield our own ideas of what is right and proper to the verdict of the church; but to yield to such feelings and views is unsafe and will bring us into anarchy and confusion. Christ saw that unity and Christian fellowship were necessary to the cause of God, therefore He enjoined it upon His disciples. And the history of Christianity from that time until now proves conclusively that in union only is there strength. Let individual judgment submit to the authority of the church.
“The apostles felt the necessity of strict unity, and they labored earnestly to this end.”2
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Philippians 4:23).