The Messenger 6
Introduction
Since we began with these reflections on Ephesians we have been focusing on the profound depths of God’s plan of salvation. The sheer grandeur of what we find in the first chapter defies all human imagination. Its message lifts the human spirit to new heights of worship and leaves us with a sense of overwhelming gratitude towards this great, holy, gracious and awe-inspiring God.
In chapter two we learn about God’s decisive action in Christ to restore what had been fragmented and alienated from Himself. We see God gathering unto Himself a new humanity as a “dwelling in which He lives by His Spirit.” Paul reminds his Gentile readers that they too are included in this great plan. Formerly alienated from both God and Israel they have been reconciled to God in Christ and brought into this glorious new humanity.
In all of this it is the Father’s ultimate intention in the ages to come to show the incomparable riches of His grace expressed in His kindness to us in Christ.
Jesus the Cornerstone
We turn our thoughts now to the final verses of chapter two, verses 19 – 22:
Consequently, you (Gentile believers) are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. With Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.
In the process of reassuring Gentile believers of their inclusion in God’s plan for His people Paul has left us with three interesting images of the Church: God’s household (family); a building that is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus as the chief cornerstone; a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. All three of those images are intended to highlight the importance of unity in God’s Church and the fact that it is God’s unique creation and His unique possession.
As we look at the history of the Church and the many and often conflicting expressions of church life, it is not always easy to see the kind of unity that is reflected in those verses. Nor is it easy to think of the Church as God’s unique creation and possession. After all the gap between the various expressions of today’s church is vast. Differences range from the traditional, liturgical churches led by a minister in robes to the informal churches with their music bands and charismatic worship styles led by a Pastor (the title by which some like to be called), some of whom seem happy to preach in an open-neck shirt and a pair of jeans; from the ultra serious to the ultra light-hearted; from the 10-minute read sermon to the various preaching styles that characterise the more modern church.
Elizabeth Esther has drawn up an amusing list of ten preacher types that she has listened to over 32 years. She put the list on her blog. Let me just touch on a few: the soap-box preacher who has a pet doctrine he likes to work into every sermon; the “get high on god” preacher who considers his preaching a success if everyone is moved to tears; the prosperity preacher who promises that following Jesus equals lots of material “blessings”; the meddler whose favourite topic is sin and who uses your problems as sermon illustrations.
It all seems confused and confusing and light-years away from the early church. The late Selwyn Hughes in an edition of his Everyday with Jesus had this to say: “The task of the Christian Church is not to invent new gospels, new moralities, or new theologies, but to be the faithful guardian of the one and only Gospel. There is a need, I think, for another reformation, for all Christians to take a stand foursquare on the Word of God, as did Martin Luther, and say with him: ‘Here I stand. I can no other.’”
I want to add my own “amen” to that statement. But let me be clear about something. Being a faithful guardian of that one and only Gospel does not mean that we cannot modernise the methods and strategies of presenting the message in our contemporary world. The challenge the Church faces, however, is how to present the Gospel message in a contemporary way without compromising the integrity of the message that God has entrusted to it nor detracting from the awesomeness of a holy God. So how does the Church remain relevant to this generation while still, in the words of Selwyn Hughes, standing foursquare on the Word of God?
The Christian youth organisation, Youth for Christ, has a tagline that I believe successfully embraces this challenge – “Geared to the times, anchored to the rock.” Commenting on this tagline in his blog, Dave Bartlett, a former fulltime worker within the organisation, writes – “methods and strategies in ministry will continue to change but the message of the cross will never change.”
New methods and strategies in ministry will not only impact the way in which the Gospel is shared but ultimately begin to impact how the Church is shaped in the 21st century. So how are we meant to distinguish today between what can change and what should never change? How do we decide which change is right and which is not? In other words, how do we determine what changes are acceptable to God and what aren’t?
In verse 20 Paul speaks of Jesus as the chief cornerstone of the building. “The cornerstone was the major stone that was set down. It had to be so large to support the super structure. It had to be so accurate because the walls were all conformed to the angle of that stone. And every other block in the entire building fit into that stone. So the cornerstone was the thing that framed everything. It was the thing to which everything was adapted. The cornerstone was the support, the unifier, the connector, the strength giver, it was everything. And that is Jesus Christ……..And notice it says that the foundation then is built of the apostles and prophets. Now we could say then that the foundation is the apostles and prophets and that would be true in a sense, but I think more accurate than that is the fact that they laid the foundation. In Greek, for those Greek students who might be here, we would call it a subjective genitive. And we would say what it means is not so much that the apostles and the prophets are the foundation as that they laid it” (John MacArthur).
In structuring the church and in proclaiming the message today there is a flexibility when it comes to non-essentials – methods, styles and strategies. In the essentials, however, we are to make certain that we do not compromise the integrity of what God is putting together nor the integrity of the doctrine laid down through the New Testament apostles and prophets. Whatever we are doing in shaping the Church it needs to be checked out to see if it lines up with the chief Cornerstone. Whatever is being preached from the pulpit needs to be checked out against the doctrines laid down through the New Testament apostles and prophets. And if we are being built together, as the Word teaches us, to become a place where God dwells by His Spirit, is His Spirit really present when we come together? Or is reliance on the Spirit being replaced by a reliance on human dynamics, church traditions and a good entertainer for a preacher?
Churchgoers can be extremely gullible at time and can get carried away by every novel teaching and doctrine. The Berean Christians of Paul’s time set us an example that we could all follow (Acts 17:11). We need to take responsibility to ensure that what is being taught, proclaimed, received and practiced in the church today lines up with the Cornerstone and checks out with the doctrines of the New Testament apostles and prophets if we are truly to be “geared to the times and anchored to the Rock.”
If you have a question or a comment about this series please feel free to write to me, Brian, at