Whose Church?
“And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22)
Do you know what ruffles my feathers? Do you know what puts a bee in my bonnet? When people say to me, “I’m going to come to your church one day!” I know, I know – people typically mean “the church of which you attend.” However, far too often we slip into thinking that the pastor runs the show, steers the ship, calls the shots. It’s his church. Let me be the first to say that neither Bethesda nor Raymond Presbyterian Church is my church. Christ is the Head of the Church. But what does that mean?
Christ is Head of the Church because He provides connection. Have you ever heard the expression: “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians”? When everyone is vying for control, no one is in control! There is disruption, disharmony, and disunity. That should never be a problem for Christians, for we have one Head – Jesus Christ. He is the Head; we are the body. As I have said before, when we are brought to God, we are brought together. We are transferred from the dominion of darkness to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son (Col. 1:13). You can say that we have the same King, the same citizenship, the same privileges, even the same zip code.
With that connection, our Head provides direction. As Revelation 14:4 says: “They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” Many of you may remember when the kingdom of Israel was torn asunder and Jeroboam reigned in the northern ten tribes. Our Head had already stated the mission, but Jeroboam said, “You know, I’ve got a great idea! I know you said this, but how about we worship two golden calves?” How’d that work out? The headwinds of modern culture attempt to blow us in a multitude of directions – solve this, fix this, accept this. That broad direction only leads to destruction, but Jesus directs us down the narrow way to life.
Alongside direction, our Head provides defense. All things are under His feet. Do you know what “all” means? As the beloved Raymond Methodist minister loves to remind me: “All means all.” All powers, all dominions, all authorities – Christ reigns over all; therefore, He defends us from all. Whatever evils He may send upon us in this vale of tears, He sends only for the furthering of His body in His one set direction. Not a stone could be thrown at Stephen outside His watchful eye. Yet from that moment of greatest suffering, Jesus expanded the defenses of the church to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the world.
The Church is not my church, nor your church. The Church is His Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. He may send us to our neighbors across the street or around the world, and even there He will direct and defend us.
