Traditions

Heaven’s Family

May 18, 2017 By Rick Smith

In the eyes of God the church is a beautifully dressed woman, the bride of Christ. She was a colony from heaven, not a man-made organization from earth. “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:2,3).

Jesus prayed the church would be one, not one as it is today, splintered to smithereens, but one as he was one with the Father. John wrote, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their (apostles) message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21).

The early church enjoyed the favor of all men (Acts 2:47) as they saw the beauty of Christ on display within the colony of heaven. But before too many years the pride and traditions of men began rising above the simplicity of the Lord’s will. Paul wrote, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul” (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)?

It took me a long time to realize that the Christ-followers of which Paul wrote were as prideful as all the others. Each fragment of the body was lifting itself up, therefore belittling all the others. Just because some used Christ to proclaim their soundness, didn’t make it so. They were denominating or separating themselves, as were the followers of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. None in this list of the Apostle Paul were free from dividing and mutilating the beauty God had constructed in heaven. They were attempting to dissect the colony of heaven into factions.

It would be helpful to avoid the word “church.” It does not adequately translate the Greek ekklesia. It has become a theological term, and has taken on a kind of professional or institutional twist. There is no indication in the Scriptures that God intended to form what we view as the church. Certainly He did not design “churches,” with their varied creeds, laws, and traditions.

Paul’s statement in Ephesians gives us a meaningful and broader sense of the ekklesia: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Eph.2:19). That paints a beautiful picture of God’s family, which the word “church” has distorted. Again, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:25-27). Let’s be reminded, each time we read the word “church” we’re seeing a translation of the word ekklesia. What theologians have done to it over the centuries has become shameful ~ as well as what many of us think and accept today.

I prefer the word “community,” which seems to me to best render the word ekklesia. Colony, and congregation is a good term. It comes from the Latin grex, flock, and means “to flock together.” But it also has suffered from the abuse of theologians, who tend to corrupt the words they use. Ekklesia literally means “called out,” but it also implies a calling together, and in the case of God’s call, it is a calling together into a fellowship, the sharing of eternal life. The community of God in any area embraces all who are part of the family of God. It consists of all who have heard the call of God and have properly responded to it. There may be many “churches” in a city, but there is only one community of heaven. Sadly, and here’s the rub, churches embrace those who see things a certain way. But the community of heaven is composed of all who have embraced Him as the Way. There is a difference in “the life of the church” and the community of the Life.

The word community suggests those who are bound together by a common tie. This common tie is not a creedal compilation, a written or unwritten code, a particular opinion, or a special way of doing things. The tie that binds is faith in the person of Jesus.

ECHOING CLICHES

March 11, 2017 By Rick Smith

As we grow older and gain more wisdom our perspectives may change. Some folks don’t like change, others are intolerant, and all should be skeptical. We never want to accept falsehoods that undermine our spiritual foundation. So, when we learn something we’ve not previously comprehended, how do we present it to honest brethren in ways that will not shake them?

Although it’s comfortable to sit firmly on held beliefs, that feeling of security may become a painful cactus sticking us in the derriere. A fresh look may be more biblically sound than some old paths. After all, we must carefully heed the warning of Jesus, “Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matthew 15:6ff).

Our goal must be to lift up Christ, not echo clichés that have become traditional. For instance, our penchant for certain words can diminish Christ while lifting the Church higher than the cross. We seldom say someone believed on the Lord, or became a disciple of Jesus, or began to follow Christ. Instead, we parrot the cliches and say someone “became a member of the Church.” Preachers urge their congregations to “be faithful to the Church” and never “leave the Church,” or if they do, to “come back to the Church”. It’s as though the church died for Christ, not he for the church.

Can you see what I’m saying; do you understand? How many times have you heard someone say, “So and so fell away from the church?” Why didn’t they say “So and so fell away from the Lord”? Now you tell me ~ who did they fall away from, if not the Savior?

You may argue that it’s only a matter of semantics, but is it? Or, could it be a mindset that diminishes the headship of Christ, and elevates the church as an institution?

The church didn’t die for us, Jesus did. When we accepted Christ, we became part of HIS church. The church is made up of all the saved people on earth. Your congregation is a family of believers who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.

The Apostle Paul puts this in proper perspective as it’s not a matter of word usage, it is a matter of spiritual understanding. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:18-23).

When we recognize the church as a body of people called out of sin into salvation because of the sin offering of its Savior, our speech will then acknowledge us as having our first devotion to the Lord. Let’s be careful to acknowledge and lift up Jesus (Jn.12:32), so all people will be drawn to him!

Obi Wan Kenobi

November 18, 2016 By Rick Smith

In the movie, Star Wars, a legendary Jedi Master named Obi Wan Kenobi was a noble man and gifted in the ways of the Force. His wisdom was sought by all the good guys. But I digress…

My brother-in-Christ, Billy Kersh, and I made a visit to the real life mirror image of Obi Wan Kenobi. First you need to know a little about Billy. Billy is 73, has an IQ of 132, and is literate in most all Bible subjects. I took Billy with me thinking he and my old friend, Howard Trimmer, would enjoy a biblical discussion. As it turned out, Billy, who is usually a chatty fellow, sat almost nose to nose with Howard, who is blind and nearly deaf, listening to him share depths of biblical wisdom neither Billy nor I had grasped before. Billy commented afterwards that he wished we had recorded what Howard said.

Howard is 93 years old, a man who knows science from black holes to the orbital measurements making possible the workings of planets and the flight of satellites. He was once part of the team working on the Hubble Telescope’s trajectory. I met him years before he was blind and relegated to a wheelchair. I can’t explain why he and I are such close friends, why he thinks he ever learned anything from me, or why he wants my company, but he does, and for that I am blessed.

That’s the back-story to this post. I dare not share all that he revealed to us as there is neither time nor ability. I will offer a tidbit ~ just enough to whet your taste buds and hopefully make you scramble for your Bible.

Howard is concerned the church is becoming so institutionalized that it will lose the Lord’s original intent. He‘s concerned we are becoming like starched shirts hanging on the clothesline instead of lively stones building up the Kingdom. He believes we have become second cousins to the Pharisees, making rules, laws, and regimentation that will stifle and eventually make the body of Christ unrecognizable. Some things he said hit us in the face like a wet skunk. After reaching into his memory (since he can no longer read), he quoted Scriptures we were familiar with, but hadn’t recognized the heart behind them.

In this post I will not relate our experience except to ask that you never quit studying the Word of God. All I will reveal is this: the principles Jesus taught in his daily life, which are recorded in the Gospels, are far superior to the deductions brilliant scholars think they’ve discovered. The Bible is a book for all, not just those knowing Hebrew or Greek. Never leave your brain on the church building doorsteps when going to worship with the saints, and never leave your heart anywhere ~ not ever!

God bless.

The Only Saints in Town

November 14, 2016 By Rick Smith

I’ve changed my mind about the body, the church of Christ, since the time I was a young preacher. I no longer see that body as a faction centering around a partisan doctrine. I don’t regard it as a denomination bearing a specific name and meeting behind recognized signs that display a certain title. I no longer believe that fellowship is conditional upon agreement with someone’s church view. It seems that what people have in their heart is far more important that what they have in their heads. The Holy Spirit can dwell in some pretty ignorant people. If not, a lot of us are in big trouble.

I believe in the one body! There is one body precisely as there is one Spirit and one Lord. And that body is the called-out fellowship of believers. Every saved person is in that body. Man can no more create another body than he can create another Spirit or Lord. It’s sad when congregations see themselves as the only saints in town.

The body of Christ is not a collection of congregations, all of which are stereotypes, and often sterile reproductions of one another. Congregations in apostolic days were not alike. Their unity was in Christ. Jesus was their pattern. They were different from one another. If not, one letter would have been plenty for all. They were different in problems and in point of view. Sound familiar?

The body of Christ is not composed of movements in history. The body never died and it did not have to be restored. It befuddles me when certain groups lay claim to being the most recent “Movement” of the Lord. It’s as though they believe they’ve now got all the Christians, and the rest of the church is going to hell. It’s become so bad that congregations within movements have advertised to tell where “faithful brethren” meet. I’d like to see just one that says: “Churches Loving God and His Family”.

The one body is not the restoration movement and the restoration movement is not the one body. The body is bigger than any movement. It is greater than all of them put together. God knows how great it is, but no one on earth does. You can no more count the redeemed on earth while they are scattered than you can in heaven when they are all together. John said, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb'” (Revelation 7:9-10).

For this reason, I’ll rejoice with all those who are in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When I’m in heaven I’ll be relieved I counted them among the fellowship. If you’re not there, because of your rejection of them on earth, I’ll give them your regards.

Echoing Cliches

October 25, 2016 By Rick Smith

As we grow older and gain more wisdom our perspectives may change. Sometimes when this happens, and you’re the preacher, it can threaten the spiritual family. Some folks don’t like change, others are intolerant. To them, it seems like their religious foundations are being shaken. So, how do we present new ideas to honest brethren in ways that will not offend them?

Although it’s comfortable to sit firmly on held beliefs, that feeling of security may turn on us and become a painful cactus sticking us in the derriere. A fresh look may be more biblically sound than some old paths. After all, we must carefully transcend the warning of Jesus, “Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matthew 15:6ff).

Our goal must be to lift up Christ, not echo traditional clichés. For instance, our penchant for certain words diminishes Christ while lifting the Church higher than the cross. We seldom say someone believed on the Lord, or became a disciple of Christ, or began to follow Jesus ~ instead, we say the person had “become a member of the Church.” Congregations are encouraged to “be faithful to the Church” and never to “leave the Church,” or if they do, to “come back to the Church”. It’s as though the Church died for Christ, not he for the church.

Do you see what I’m saying; do you understand? How many times have you heard someone say, “So and so fell away from the church?” Why didn’t they say “So and so fell away from the Lord”? Now you tell me ~ who did they fall away from, if not the Savior?

The church didn’t die for us, Jesus did. When we accepted Christ, we became part of his church. The church is made up of all the saved people on earth. Your congregation is a family of believers who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.

The Apostle Paul puts this in proper perspective as it’s not a matter of word usage; it is a matter of spiritual understanding. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:18-23).

When we recognize the church as a body of people called out of sin into salvation because of the sin offering of its Savior, our speech will no longer betray us as having our first devotion to something other than the Lord. Let’s lift up Jesus (Jn.12:32), so all people will be drawn to him!