Last week concluded the discussion of how the early Church, commissioned with Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations”, devised the strategies and organisation to preach the Good News more effectively. This week we see how personal relationships within the Church, bonded by love and unity, brought about strong, active witness, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The outstanding characteristic of the New Testament ekklesia was that all the members were Spirit-filled. They had accepted Christ as their Saviour and now the Holy Spirit was working in them to God’s glory, not their own. They did not regard themselves as members of an organisation, but as belonging to a community of believers, each of whom had a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord of their individual lives and as Head of the Church.

The believers saw themselves as witnesses, not only of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but also of what he had done in their own lives. The whole body of believers shared in the mission, which was to communicate the Good News that had been entrusted to them to the people of all nations.

To enable them to carry out this mission task, the power of the Holy Spirit had been given to them. They discovered that the Holy Spirit brought different gifts into their lives and that these gifts acted in such a way as to complement each other, so that no one believer was complete without the others. They needed each other in order to be able to fulfil the mission given to them by the Lord Jesus.

No-one could say they had no need of each other; even the least played an essential part in the life of the Body. Thus, the members recognised an equality of status although differences of function. No one could be regarded as of greater worth than another since each had been given their gifts by the Father.

The new believers discovered that the Holy Spirit brought different gifts into their lives which acted in such a way as to complement each other, so that no one believer was complete without the others.

There are many indications in the New Testament of stress within the Body – what may be regarded as growing pains – as the believers struggled to break free from the values and practices of the world and to allow the Holy Spirit to direct both the mission of the Church and the quality of relationships within the Body. In Corinth, for example, there were divisions, jealousy and the desire of members to elevate themselves – even at the expense of others.

Nevertheless, the teaching of the New Testament concerning both the mission of the Church and relationships within the Body is clear and establishes an ideal that remains for all time, despite radical changes in the social milieu. The basic principle of the Church as a company of Spirit-filled believers empowered by the Holy Spirit, given different gifts by the Holy Spirit and directed by the Holy Spirit, is one that can be practised in every age and is applicable to every changing circumstance of the secular world.

If any generation loses sight of the basic spiritual principle that the Church is the Body of Christ, composed of believers who have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, the way is open for the Church to be regarded as an organisation after the pattern of secular organisations: directed by human wisdom, led by men and fulfilling the objectives set by men. Such a Church is the complete antithesis of the ideal revealed in the New Testament.

This ideal view of the Church needs some qualification because in practice, the Body of Christ on earth also includes men, women and children of all ages and different levels of spiritual maturity, from new believers to those of long standing, the very able and the less able: all are equally loved by the Lord who gave himself for the Church (Eph 5:25).

Headship of Christ

God has so founded the Church upon the headship of Jesus that the only way the mission of Christ can truly be fulfilled is under the direction and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. To attempt to do the work of Christ in any other way places in jeopardy the fulfilment of the purposes of God in a particular generation.

When the Church becomes an institution largely composed of a nominal membership adhering to formalised religious practices, the personal relationship of each believer to the Lord Jesus is in danger of being lost. However, such an emphasis should not confine spirituality to the private domain. Personalised spirituality does not mean privatised spirituality.

The basic principle of the Church as a company of Spirit-filled believers empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit is one that can be practised in every age and is applicable to every changing circumstance of the secular world.

Active Witnesses

The outstanding characteristic of the New Testament Church was that of every believer being an active witness. Spirituality can never become privatised where the obligation to share Christ with others is paramount. A personal experience of Christ should result in a strong urge to share the experience with others. Where that experience of the presence and the power of Christ is not simply a one-off, but a continuous experience, the urge to share is continually regenerated.

This was the experience of the first generation of believers. Everywhere they went, they saw the signs and wonders of the presence and power of the Lord Jesus, who even directed their steps from one place to another through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They were continually encouraged by seeing lives changed, the sick healed and even the dead raised to life.

This experience of the presence, the power and the activity of the Holy Spirit is not simply an ideal of New Testament Christianity, but should be the experience of believers in every generation where the conditions of trust in the Lord, openness to the Holy Spirit and dependence upon him are fulfilled. When each believer has a dynamic personal relationship with Christ through the filling of the Holy Spirit, the whole Body of Christ is mobilised for mission.

Relationships

Relationships between individual members within the Church and between different congregations or fellowships are largely determined by the quality of personal relationships to Christ as Head of the Church. This is emphasised many times in the teaching of the New Testament. If the relationship of believers to Christ is right, their relationships with each other will also be right.

When the believers are holding each other in high esteem and seeking to build each other up, bearing one another’s burdens and caring for others more than for themselves, their relationships will be characterised by love and unity. These are the qualities that Paul emphasises in his teaching as being essential for the spiritual health and vitality of the Body.

Love and Unity

Paul stressed that without love, the gifts cannot operate effectively. John sees our love for each other as a reflection of God’s love for us. He goes so far as to say that, “If anyone says, ‘I love God’, yet hates his brother; he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

Paul emphasises that the one essential requirement for unity within the Body is the acknowledgement of the headship of Christ, ”From him the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph 4:16). This is Paul’s vision for the life, growth and health of the Body as well as for individual maturity.

Next week we will look at leadership principles which defined the early New Covenant ekklesia.

Questions for further reflection:

1. How can flexibility be injected into church structures today, in order to enable the Church to meet changing circumstances in the secular world and also to make full use of the gifting and level of maturity of members of the Body?

2. In this chapter the statement is made ‘If the relationship of believers to Christ is right, the relationships with each other will also be right.’ How does this apply to church unity as against uniformity?

This article is part of a larger series. Please click here for previous instalments.