The church is a wonderful idea. Flawed as it is, the church is God’s ordained place where Christians gather for worship. It’s a place where they pray together, praise together, minister together, rejoice and weep together. It’s a place ordained by God where we come to put ourselves under the authority of the teaching of scripture. It’s meant to be a place of unity, where the people of God, through the leading of One Spirit, prepare to minister the gospel to a fallen world.
The church is a unique idea. It’s not a social club, even though fellowship in the church is social in nature. In many social organizations, the members commit themselves to the organization and its goals. In the church, members take a covenant oath before God to be committed to Him AND to the other members of the church. That’s because the church, even as an institution, is not about an organization but about relationship.
The church is about relationship. Membership requires a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This profession is never meant to be a bare declaration. It’s not about intellectually assenting to the idea that Jesus is Lord. It’s about committing yourself fully to be in a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ as your Lord. Then, under the covenant promise of One Spirit, you are committing yourself to be in a relationship with the other members of God’s people, which we call the church. And because the people of God are still fallen people living in a fallen world, God has given us directions on how to assemble.
The church requires order. When the Apostle Paul addressed disorder in the Corinthian church, he wrote: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace”… “But all things should be done decently and in order.” This command isn’t meant to hurt the church or stifle its members. Instead, God’s instructions are intended to promote harmony, peace, and unity. Anyone in any group or organization knows that maintaining peace and unity is no simple task. That’s why the church is set up with leaders.
The church is given leaders on purpose. God could have organized the church any way He pleased. This means that we know the structure of the church is exactly what God intended. Some are appointed to serve as leaders so that the church maintains sound doctrine, peace, and unity under the authority established in the New Testament. This authority is seen in Acts 14 and Titus 1 so that everything, including conflict, can be resolved in a decent and orderly manner.
The church is called to resolve conflict. In Matthew 18, Jesus describes how to deal with conflict. First, the parties involved try to resolve the dispute and be reconciled on their own. If this isn’t possible, the offended party is called to take one or two witnesses who may help as mediators. If no resolution is attained, then the offended party may bring it to the church. However, this isn’t the entire body. As before, when the individuals tried to work the issues out between themselves, the offended party is to bring the issue to the pastor, then in our case at Timber Ridge to the deacons. After that the deacons, along with the offended parties, may decide to bring the issue before the entire body.
The gospel has the power to bring reconciliation. The Apostle Paul and Barnabas embarked on a missionary journey, taking Mark along. Mark left them and returned home while they were in Pamphylia. Later, Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed about taking Mark with them again. This disagreement caused Paul and Barnabas to separate and go different ways. Later, Paul asks Timothy to get Mark and bring him along, “for he is very useful to me for ministry.” This reconciliation was possible because of the work of the gospel. We’re not told the details, but it’s clear that the Holy Spirit has worked in such a way as to reconcile Paul to Mark. We wouldn’t have believed or guessed it was possible without being told in 1 Timothy 4 about Paul’s call to bring Mark. But healing will come when God’s people are committed to the gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. (BTW – when Mark left Paul and Barnabas the first time, Mark used that time at home to write the gospel of Mark).
The gospel calls us to be peacemakers. In Sunday school this year, we studied the call for peacemaking in the church. We had twelve lessons we went through together. The Bible requires peacemaking of us in the body. The first verse we looked at in our study of “Dealing with Conflict was 1 Corinthians 10:31, which reads, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We then looked at two questions. 1) How do you feel about putting ‘resolving conflict’ under the authority of this verse? and 2) Why is it so hard to put conflict under the authority of this verse? To answer these questions in a positive way, we need to preach the gospel to ourselves.
The gospel tells us God is at peace with us. The gospel message is an extraordinary declaration of peace amid the greatest conflict. It is so wonderful that it can be hard to believe it’s true. Does God really save sinners? Are we really reconciled to Him? Is He truly and completely at peace with us? Jesus tells us, through His life, death, and resurrection, that the gospel message is true – God is at peace with everyone who calls on Jesus as Lord and Savior. The peace that God brought was not easily won; He had to send Jesus to the cross. But it was a victory that can never be taken away. All of us, including me, need this reminder. We need to preach the gospel to one another. Where there is conflict peace is not easily won, but when it is grounded in grace and sought after for the glory of God, it can survive all worldly conflicts.
