When we discuss the church, we often go quickly to topics such as ecclesiastical polity, worship styles, or culture wars. Many times, a church is deemed legitimate, biblical, or authentic based on where they stand on a spectrum connected to any or all these issues.  While a church’s position on these issues is important, they become inconsequential if the church forgets that it exists first and foremost as a projection of God into the world. 

Paul is attempting to communicate that the church exists as a projection of God into the world in his letter to the church in Ephesus. While we often read Paul’s letter as individuals, as if he were speaking to our personal experience, it is the grammatical plural that is used throughout the passage.  Though they have experienced a journey to Christ as individuals, the goal of that journey is the corporate reality that is the church.  God is incorporating them as individuals into a collective. 

¹¹ Therefore remember that previously you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who previously were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace; ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the hostility. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; ¹⁸ for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11-22)

At our church, the parsonage is located between the main building and the FAC (Family Activity Center).  Because the house is centrally located, we have placed the Wi-Fi router there.  While this enables the Wi-Fi to reach much of the main building and the FAC, the signal is weak to non-existent in the parts of each building furthest away from the router.  For that reason, we purchased extenders to place both in the main building and the FAC.  These extenders do exactly what the name implies, they take the signal from the router and extend it further where it did not previously reach. For this to work, the extender itself must be close enough to pick up the signal from the router.  The extender is not the source of the signal; it simply extends it. I mention this because I think it serves nicely as an analogy for the role of the church in the world. Through our proximity to God, we extend His attributes out into a world far from Him. The early generations of Christians identified these attributes as unity, holiness, universality, and historicity.

We begin with unity and the reality that the church is one. This statement seems almost laughable given the existence of countless denominations that frequently find reasons for very public disagreement and animosity. Even within denominations, fellowships, and individual churches, we often find discord. On what basis do we declare that the church is one? To put it simply, the unity of the church is found in Christ. Paul knew that he was writing to an Ephesian church consisting of imperfect people, yet that did not prevent him from writing:

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who previously were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace; ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the hostility. (Ephesians 2:13-16)

Notice that in four verses Paul uses the word “one” three times.  Christ has “made both groups into one.”  Christ has in Himself made “the two one new person.” Christ reconciles them both “in one body to God through the cross.” Two chapters later he intensifies the use of the word when he writes, “⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6) Paul makes the same point in his first epistles to the church in Corinth when he states, “¹² For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:12-13) Again, the word “one” features prominently. 

    Paul understands that in a world where people are so often divided by race, gender, economics, politics, or any other difference that exists, the unity and oneness of the church is a projection of the unity that exists between Father, Son, and Hoy Spirit.  Indeed, the oneness of the church is the expressed wish of Jesus. During His last night on this earth, Jesus prays for the unity of the church in what has come to be known as His High Priestly Prayer:  ¹⁸ Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

²⁰ “I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me. (John 17:18-23)

Jesus not only prays for the unity of His believers, but grounds that unity in the unity that exists between the Son and the Father. While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as three persons, they act and think as one. When the world sees us come together with shared purpose and unified action, they are seeing us project an attribute of God revealed. Of course, the inverse is also true. If the world sees nothing but division and dissension in the church, it will be impossible for them to discern the truth of who God is. The truth of our theological positions, the Scriptural basis of our worship become obscured by our refusal to pursue the unity that Jesus spent his last hours praying for. ‘

A second essential attribute of the church is holiness. The church is enjoined to be holy, just as Israel was by God.  In the passage we read from Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, we see that Paul identifies a transformation among those in the body there, ^“So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,” (Ephesians 2:19). He makes a similar identification in Romans when he writes “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7) What does it mean to be called as saints, and to be of God’s household? The language is reminiscent of the Tabernacle and the instruments that were made and set apart for use in the worship of God. To be a saint is to be holy and set apart, which implies purpose and intention. What makes us holy? Is it our behavior, our knowledge, our accomplishments? While these things can be a result of our holiness, they do not create it. Our holiness, like our salvation, is a gift from God. It is God’s Spirit that sanctifies us and makes us holy, just as it was God’s indwelling presence that sanctified the Tabernacle. Without the presence of God resting there the Tabernacle is just another tent, and the Temple is just another building.  Similarly, without the abiding presence of God’s Spirit within us as individuals and among us as a body, we are no different than anyone else. Peter recognizes God as the source and foundation of the church’s holiness when he writes in his first epistle:

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:13-16)

Before Peter quotes Leviticus he prefaces the injunction to be holy with the instruction to “set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is the setting of our focus on the grace that flows to us from Christ that puts and keeps us in a state of holiness. The implication, of course, is that left to our own devices we are anything but holy, conforming our priorities and desires to the lust of the world. If the world sees a church that mirrors its priorities, commitments, and principles, it begins to ask the very fair question, “why does the church even exist?”

A third fundamental mark of the church is its universality. The word used by the earliest Christians was the Greek term catholic, which means applying to the whole. Of course, in time the word would be adopted by the Roman Catholic Church, which is itself intriguing given its insistence on the use of Latin throughout most of its history. Nevertheless, the term predates what we know as Roman Catholicism and has biblical roots. Again, in Ephesians 2 Paul addresses the universal scope of the gospel when he writes, “¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; ¹⁸ for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.  (Ephesians 2:17-18) For most of history until the coming of Christ, humanity could be divided into two groups- Jews and Gentiles, those who were “far off” and those who “were near.” (This way of thinking probably undergirds Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 when the prodigal was said to journey to a “distant country,” and in the end finds himself working with pigs.) As we noted earlier, the church is made one through the work of Christ, no more dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile.  This is because the good news of what Christ has done on Calvary’s cross is for all people.  It is universal. James understood this when at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 he went to the prophet Amos and connected the restoration of the Davidic line with the bringing in of the nations:

¹¹ “On that day I will raise up the fallen shelter of David, And wall up its gaps; I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old; ¹² So that they may possess the remnant of Edom And all the nations who are called by My name,” Declares the Lord who does this. (Amos 9:11-12)

We find the idea present in other passages, such as Zechariah:
²⁰ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘It will yet turn out that peoples will come, that is, the inhabitants of many cities. ²¹ The inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, “Let’s go at once to plead for the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of armies; I also will go.” ²² So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of armies in Jerusalem, and to plead for the favor of the Lord.’ ²³ The Lord of armies says this: ‘In those days ten people from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’” (Zechariah 8:20-23)

Rather than being rejected, the Gentiles should be welcomed as they genuinely seek the God of Israel.  This was God’s plan all along and was a foundational part of the promise made to Abraham when God said to the patriarch “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) Looking back to that divine promise to Abraham, we can also look forward and see where God is leading history.  We read of John’s experience during his great vision:“⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; ¹⁰ and they *cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Note the universal nature of heavenly worship.  Every nation, tribe, people, and language making the proclamation that “salvation belongs to our God.” The mission of the gospel is universal in scope, with the purpose of making the God of Israel the God of the nations.

A final attribute of the church is its historicity. The earliest Christians described it as Apostolic, which meant that it was born out of the testimony of the apostles concerning the truth that Jesus was the Messiah. The church exists not in a vacuum, but in a historical continuum in which God’s plan continues to unfold. This is why the Jerusalem Council saw the mission to the Gentiles not as a refutation of what God had done in Israel, but as a continuation of it. Going back to Ephesians 2, this is why Paul describes the church in Ephesus as “²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22) While Jesus is the cornerstone that holds it all together, the church is built on God’s previous revelation through the prophets and the work of the apostles. This helps us better understand Peter’s confession in the gospels:

“¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-19)

There is a temptation for us as Protestants to deny that this has anything to do with Peter, but that isn’t the case. While the confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God is of primary importance, it is not insignificant that it is Peter who is making the confession. After all, it will be none other than Peter that preaches on Pentecost, boldly proclaiming the truth of the gospel, bringing thousands to faith in Jesus Christ. The reality is that professions of faith happen in history. When Jesus says that the church will be built on Peter, it is not a statement of authority but rather of progression. As the first to make such a confession, Peter occupies a unique place, from which even more confessions of faith will flow. Authority remains with Jesus, as the gospel makes clear in the Great Commission:

^“18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The role of Peter and the other apostles is not to reign as princes, but to act as conduits through which the teachings of Christ bring people to faith in Him. As Karl Barth wrote, “The Real Church is the assembly which is called, united, held together and governed by the Word of her Lord, or she is not a Real Church.”

The church exists to project the truth of who God is into a world far from Christ. Just as those Wi-Fi extenders at the church function because of their proximity to the source of the signal and work to extend that signal even further, our nearness to God as a church should create in us the same unity that exists between Father, Son, and Holy. Our closeness to God should imprint us with a holiness that is not our own, but whose origin is divine. Our contiguousness with God’s universal will for humanity first revealed in Abraham should cause us to point toward our shared future in worship around the throne and the Lamb. Our intimacy with the divine should help us to see our work as a church in our unique time and place as a continuation of what God first began in the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. Sometimes those Wi-Fi extenders cease to work, but the fix is simple.  I unplug them, count to ten, and then plug them back in. This has the effect of resetting them, allowing them to once again pick up the signal from the router. If we have ceased as a church to project the reality of God into the world around us, perhaps we find ourselves in need of a reset. The church does not exist in and of itself, nor for itself. We as the church only function when we are in proximity to God, projecting the truth of who He is.

-Justin Simmons lives in Glenmora, LA, and is the preacher at Glenmora Church of Christ.