Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Universal Church & Her Spiritual Unity
The local church is a group of believers in Jesus Christ who meet in some particular location on a regular basis. The universal church is the name given to the church worldwide and is made up of all believers. In this case the idea of the church is not so much in the assembly itself but rather in those constituting it. And the church should reflect her spiritual unity to the world which emphasizes that all Christians are one by virtue of being committed to and serving the same Lord. They are joined together in the invisible church, of which Christ is the Head. The existence of separate organizations of the visible church, even in the same area, does not constitute a challenge to this unity.
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When coming together as one universal Church, how do we deal with different theological perspectives? One pastor said: "If they don't accept your doctrine, they will accept your ice cream!" Please comment.
Hi Andrew,
I do agreed that the universal church should reflects her spiritual unity to the world. But that subject to the visible churches to contend as one in-order to emphasize the virtue of communicating one faith in Christ Jesus. There have been a number of Christian bodies tried to achieve that purpose but seems not successful. Could you suggest how?
The invisible church seem not a problem in portraying the sovereignty of God.
But the visible coming together and label as universal church seem create much tension when come to doctrines and theological wise.
How can we resolve this issues and reflect to the world that we're one body in Christ as a universal church.Thanks.
Dear Brother Ndru, that maybe true that we are united spiritually whether or not organically. However, many times, Muslims and other non-Christians ask: "Why do you have so many different churches when the Muslims only have one mosque?" How do we deal with them?
To Jonathan, Freedie, and Jerome... I think when the people of God truly see that the center of Christianity is fellowship with God, and that this fellowship is realized through Jesus Christ, then they will see the true causes of the divisions in the churches, and will understand the way to get rid of them. The primary cause of these divisions is the institutionalism and organizationalism of the churches and missions. I think we cannot seek to find fellowship and spiritual security on this basis, but instead turn to Christ Himself as our center.
Even the Bible itself is interpreted and understood in various ways and often becomes the cause of sectarianism. In the same way, dogmas and creeds cannot bring Christian unity, because human mind are not so uniformly created that they can unite in a single dogma or creed. Even our understanding of Christ Himself cannot be the basis of unity, because He is too big to be understood fully by any one person or group. Our limited understandings do not always coincide. One emphasizes this point about Christ, another that, and this again becomes the cause of division.
Only as we take our fellowship with Christ as the center of Christian faith, will all Christians realize their oneness. There are different understandings of Christ. There are varying opinions about the Bible and its teachings. There are various kinds of institutions and ceremonies. But this need not hinder our practicing the unity of the Body of Christ. Our fellowship, however varied, is with the same Lord. And the same Savior is our one Head.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your explaination, You did not share much on the spiritual unity of the Church. Can you please explain how the church can show the world its spiritual unity.
Thank you.
hi andrew, just want your clarification on ' it is not assembley but it is constituing'
Hi Andrew,
I like your explanation to Jonathan, Freddie, and Jerome.
In that you mentioned certain things which I strongly felt you could and should have mentioned in your blog. Nevertheless it is vital that we understand that Jesus is Lord of both the visible and the invisible church.
This I feel should have been more emphasized in your blog.
Ok, I'm a bit confused by your last sentence, "The existence of separate organizations of the visible church, even in the same area, does not constitute a challenge to this unity."
I'm assuming by "this unity", you are referring to the invisible church. Can you also please explain what you mean by separate organisations even in the same area? I suppose the words "separate" and "same" could seem oxymoron-ic, but I guess I understand that our unity and 'same-ness' lies in our fellowship with Jesus.
Dear Brother,
You have emphasised on the Universal church and its spiritual unity,but on the visible level the Chrch of Jesus Christ isn't faring very well as far as unity is concerned.Can you suggest some ways how the churchs and denominations can come together unitedly for the end time harvest of souls.
Hi Eunice, Jason... I think the spiritual unity of the church in a sense is this. The church does not need uniting, because its very existence is based on the fact of an already existing unity. That glorious unity of our all being 'one Body in Christ', which the Body, by its very 'life', is in constant communion with the living Christ. That is the case when we said it is invisible. But whether we reflect this in the 'visible' world it is another issue, which by right based on the fact above, we should. Whether this truth is 'incarnated' so that it is evident in the natural visible world is another issue.
My dear brother Andrew, What are you saying? "The church does not need uniting, because its very existence is based on the fact of an already existing unity." Without the organic unity, how do people know we are united? As Freddie and some others seem to think that the Muslims are united since htey go to the same mosques. the Bible also seems to tell us that there should be only one local church at one local vicinity. That is why the followers of the evangelist Mei Yee and Watchman Nee called their churches "Church of Singapore" ; "Church of Kuantan" so on and so forth. Although I have reservation about such church theology myself, what do you think?
Hi Eunice, Jason... I think the spiritual unity of the church in a sense is this. The church does not need uniting, because its very existence is based on the fact of an already existing unity. That glorious unity of our all being 'one Body in Christ', which the Body, by its very 'life', is in constant communion with the living Christ. That is the case when we said it is invisible. But whether we reflect this in the 'visible' world it is another issue, which by right based on the fact above, we should. Whether this truth is 'incarnated' so that it is evident in the natural visible world is another issue.
hey, Andrew
i think your answer is kind of ambiguous. in your blog you mentioned that church ought to be united but now you said we are part of the Body of Christ and hence we do not need unity.
may i know in what area that the universal church and her spiritual unity?
thanks ya
To Joe... 'no so much in the assembly itself but rather in those constituting it' means not so much in which we can see in the natural as in local gathering, but in reality which is spiritual in nature which encompassed all true believers.
One of the most popular questions non Christians ask is "Why are there so many denominations and church groups in Christianity? Why so much disagreements?"
This proves to be challenging your statement, "...the church should reflect her spiritual unity to the world which emphasizes that all Christians are one by virtue of being committed to and serving the same Lord."
To Dohnie... What you assume is right in regards to what I want to convey. To clarify on "The existence of separate organizations of the visible church, even in the same area, does not constitute a challenge to this unity", it means the separate organizations of the visible church, though varied, should not and need not hinder or affect us emphasizing the reality of our spiritual oneness by virtue of being committed to and serving the same Lord. Thanks for asking...
To Alwin... Well, of course the statement that I make is a politically correct one. Ideally, or by right the church 'should' reflect her spiritual unity to the world which emphasizes that all Christians are one by virtue of being committed to and serving the same Lord. But in reality that does not happen very well isn't it? Or at least not yet. Maybe the church had not come to a stage where it is build to a fully matured state yet (Eph. 4: 11 - 13). This is supposed to be the case with the church that Jesus build. It will attain unity and maturity. But why the many problems and disunity that we had today? Well, I think a 'great deal' of it is perhaps due to men trying to build the church, in His name, but according to our wisdom. The church is referred to as 'Jerusalem Above.' And it can only be built according to wisdom from above which is higher. When men build according to human wisdom from below, one of the result will be disorder, according to James 3: 13 - 18. I don't profess to know a lot in this matter, but these are some thoughts that I had. Thanks for your comment...
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your expalination. we always want ot show the world our unity when many a times there is no unity amoung the members from the same church, which need to be fix first.
To Raymond... Someone said the basis of our unity with one another is our unity with the Lord. I believe this is the only basis for true unity among believers. Or we can be gathered together in the natural, as though we are united, but in reality we are not. Our hearts are not united. I mean, this is possible. The deal is, true unity is not a human effort thing, and we must not glory in it. Our goal of wanting to see unity may be noble and good, and rightly so we should work towards it, but our good intention is not good enough without God's intervention. It is His nature that unifies. God had to be in our midst through our vital and living fellowship with Him and one another. Do we exhibit the same nature that Christ has? Are we prepared to lay down our lives for others? Are we readily esteemed others highly than ourselves? The Bible says it is He who works in us both to will and to do. How much of our lives has we surrendered to God in order for His grace and love to work in us and change us to be more Christlike in nature? How much are we willing to give up? How much had we live the way of the cross? I think these are some questions we all need to reflect... Thanks Raymond
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