The True Calling of the Church can only be Accomplished in Harmony
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
The Church in Harmony
In my last blog, I discussed how the church has failed to respond to the needs of its people and, as a result, has declined, divided, and (in many cases) died. What went wrong? How did the church fail Jesus and His teachings to allow things to get this bad? Previously, I pointed out that the role of the church was to:
- Strengthen our faith
- Strengthen our families
- Find and develop our spiritual gifts
- Send disciples into the world
All of these are important functions in the life of the church, but there is one that is designed to hold us all together — to find and develop our spiritual gifts. Unfortunately, I believe this is the place where Satan got in and weakened the church, exposing it to greed, pettiness, and decline. To understand what I mean, we must first appreciate what Jesus’ intent was behind the giving of the Holy Spirit in the first place. When a church understands, teaches, and supports the ministry of the Spirit, there is harmony, health, happiness, and growth.
The Importance of the Spirit
As we delve into this mystery, we must begin at the beginning. The Heavenly Father and Jesus have spent thousands of years preparing humanity to receive the Holy Spirit. Yes, I did mean to imply that Jesus existed before He was born as a man in Bethlehem. Read what the Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15-16 (NCV):
15 No one can see God, but Jesus Christ is exactly like him. He ranks higher than everything that has been made. 16 Through his power all things were made—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ.
For some, this is a new concept, but if we understand the Trinity, Jesus has always been with the Father and is one with the Father. So, when we look at scripture (whether Old or New Testament), we must ask, “What did the Father and Jesus have in mind here?” In the Garden, we learn that Adam and Eve were made “in God’s image.” But to what purpose? So that we might eventually become part of God’s family — joined to the Trinity. But God wanted us to fully understand what this “holy calling” would mean. The first step in accomplishing that goal was to place us in an environment where everything was perfect (Eden). We were like children to God, and He was our parent. But then Satan tried to convince us we could do better — not unlike how the world tries to tempt our children to reject their parents’ sound teaching, leave the safety of home, and experience the world for themselves. In Genesis, this initial act of rebellion was called “sin,” and with that decision, death was introduced into the world. Our sin built a wall between us and God. If we were to ever be a part of Him and His family, that wall needed to be destroyed. From the Garden until Jesus, God proved there was no hope of that happening on our strength alone. How? Just look at God’s Chosen People, the Jews. Despite all God’s instructions on what needed to be done to destroy that wall (“to be perfect just as I am perfect.”), it was clear that the Jews (and thus, all humanity) could not erase their tendency to sin and break down that wall. The wall that separates us from God is best illustrated by the curtain in the Jewish Temple that separated the Holy of Holies (the place where God was present) from the rest of the Temple where people were allowed to worship. That curtain kept sinful people separated from their perfect God.
Lesson #1: Only God (through His Son, Jesus) can break down the wall of sin, remove its stain, and restore humanity to its rightful relationship in God’s family.
Humanity’s only hope was in Jesus. Jesus came to tear down that curtain (wall) and establish a way for humanity to (once again) commune directly with God (as it was in the Garden of Eden). Jesus’ willing sacrifice of His life on the cross changed everything. His blood washed away our sins and made it possible — for the first time since Eden — to approach God and have fellowship with Him. But, the most important accomplishment of the cross was that God’s Holy Spirit could now reside in our human bodies because (once we accept Jesus) His blood cleanses us and makes our bodies an acceptable vessel for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. There is no more need for a curtain (or wall) to separate us.
19 You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you. You have received the Holy Spirit from God. So you do not belong to yourselves, 1 Corinthians 6:19 NCV
The Unifying Force of the Spirit
Now, here is where our story shows how the church got it wrong. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit came 40 days after Jesus arose from the dead. Its appearance was nothing short of impressive:
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a noise like a strong, blowing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they (Jesus’ followers) were sitting. 3 They saw something like flames of fire that were separated and stood over each person there. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” Acts 2: 1-4 NCV
Now, you might ask, what was the purpose and significance of Pentecost? There is no way I can effectively communicate how significant Pentecost was to humanity in general and to the Church in specific. Simply said, for the first time since Eden, humanity was given another chance to have direct contact with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their bodies, penetrating their minds. Luke tells us in the book of Acts what happened:
3 After his suffering, he (Jesus) presented himself to them (His disciples) and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1: 3-5 NIV
Jesus is telling His disciples that they will soon “be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” The use of the term “baptized” is the key to understanding just how important this event is. When we are baptized, as our body is submerged in the water, it symbolizes our death. When we are raised out of the water, we are born again into a new life with Jesus. The old sinful life has passed away, and a new life free from sin has been born. This is only possible because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross! The wall that once separated us from God has been removed. We can now have a one-on-one relationship with God. As Paul wrote in Corinthians (above) “your body is (now) a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you,”
Lesson #2: PROGRESS! We are moving closer to God in our return to Eden. Our bodies are now the Temple where God resides, BUT we are responsible for the care of our Temple!
So, what follows our baptism? Now that all believers have access to the Holy Spirit residing within them, what does that mean? What happens next? What the scriptures teach us is this:
- We must respect the spirit that resides within us. Just as the priests in the Old Testament were instructed to respect the Holy of Holies, your body now contains the Spirit of the living God, the Creator of everything living inside you. Treat that holy assignment with respect and take care of your Temple.
- The goal of the Spirit is to unite us and help us to function as one body. Remember, in our last blog, we pointed out that the Church will, one day, be united in a form of marriage to Jesus. Jesus wants a healthy, balanced, functioning Church body. The key to that happening is to discover, accept, and nourish the special gifts that the Holy Spirit will give to those who seek them.
Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. 1 Corinthians 14: 12b NCV
- The gifts of the Spirit produce different fruits — intended to provide support and nourishment to the body. Just as your body has many parts — each with a special function, in the same way, the Holy Spirit gives gifts that are intended to bring strength and harmony to the church and unite it.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-6 NCV
What Paul means by these words is that there are many types of gifts given by the Spirit that are intended to work together to serve the needs of the whole body (the church). It is the function of the church to help its members recognize and develop these gifts so that the church will have all those gifts working together in harmony to help it function and grow, When the church fails to teach its members about these gifts, much less recognize them in their people, the church suffers. Read what Paul wrote his letter to Timothy, he put it this way:
Remember the gift that God’s Holy Spirit has given to you. You received that gift when the group of church leaders put their hands on you. They spoke messages from God about how you would serve him. So do not stop using that gift from God. 1 Timothy 4: 14 EASY
This is where (I believe) the church has failed. Instead of church leaders recognizing and commissioning their people to use their gifts, they chose to limit their distribution and keep them for themselves. In that way, they made the people subservient to them. They effectively robbed the church of many gifts that could have been working cooperatively with other members to produce a full and cohesive body. By suppressing these gifts, those “leaders” forced the church to operate without many of its key parts.
Lesson #3: When those called to lead the church fail to teach, recognize, and encourage the development of Spiritual gifts in ALL their members — the church and ALL its members suffer.
What have we been missing?
Now its time to review the gifts that were endowed by the Spirit on the people? There are many mentioned in the Bible and, surprisingly, not all of them are taken from the New Testament (as God used certain people even before Jesus for special callings that involved the Holy Spirit — although the Holy Spirit was not operating from within, but from an external perspective). Below is just a sampling of some of the gifts one might receive from the Holy Spirit. Take a careful look. Do you see how such gifts (if present in a church, encouraged by all its members, and allowed to operate freely under the control of the Holy Spirit) could help. unify, electrify, and inspire its members to greater heights? Do you see a gift that you think you might have?
Even Jesus attested to the power of the spirit working through Him with (at least) four gifts (We know He had much more!):
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me. He has put His hand on Me to preach the Good News to poor people. He has sent Me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent Me to tell (a form of prophecy) those who are being held that they can go free. He has sent Me to make the blind to see and to free (evangelize) those who are held because of trouble. Luke 4: 18 NLV
Paul summarizes the ultimate purpose of the gifts in his letter to the Ephesians:
But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift… He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. Ephesians 4: 7-13 MSG
11 And Christ gave gifts to people—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God’s people. 12 Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. Ephesians 4: 11-12 NCV
Lesson #4: When the church teaches, recognizes, nourishes, and exercises the gifts of the Spirit freely and without judgment, the church flourishes.
Are Some Gifts “Expired?”
One of the many reasons why the gifts of the Spirit have been squashed over the years is because prior leaders have deemed that some gifts (if not all) were only intended to be used to launch the church and, once done, they were done. That is totally not true. But Satan would like us to believe that lie. For example, it has been argued that the gift of healing is an expired gift. Yet, I have read many credible books proving otherwise. Some critics argue that the charismatic movement has made a mockery of the practice of speaking in tongues by turning it into a theatrical “show” rather than a genuine blessing. That may be true for some, but it does not take away the validity of the gift. Others say that the gift of prophecy is obsolete. They make this argument based on the idea that the Bible contains all the prophecies we need to take us to the end of the earth. True, but scripture is filled with prophets that came along “for such a time as this,” in which God wanted to tell us just a little bit more. That’s exactly what I feel God did with me in my book, “God (still) has BIG plans for the Jews.” I feel that God’s Holy Spirit gave me the gift of prophecy just so I could share the story contained within that book. Without that gift, I would not have been able to imagine the insights shared in this book. They were given to me by God’s Holy Spirit to share with the world. Some people will hate me for it, and some (I hope) will rejoice and be glad.
Closing Remarks
It is my firm belief that Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit so we could enjoy a closer relationship with Him. However, if that relationship is to be fully realized, we must first recognize the gift(s) God has placed in each of us, and then we must encourage and nurture the growth of those gifts in community with our church body. We must work to ensure that ALL gifts work together in harmony with our Christian brothers and sisters so that the church will be healthy, grow, and provide a mighty, Godly influence in the world.
58 So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. 1 Corinthians 15: 58 NCV
If you don’t have anyone to help you discover your gift, I’d direct you to C. Peter Wagner’s book, “Finding Your Spiritual Gifts.” I’ve used it many times as a teaching aid, and it is a good place to start. However, the best way is to find a local Christian church where the members will help you by confirming what gifts they see manifested in you by the Holy Spirit. In my experience, there is nothing more gratifying than having fellow Christians affirm that they see the Holy Spirit of God working in and through you via one or more gifts.
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