For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matt 18:20 NKJV

Our ‘president’ takes a five-million-dollar bribe from the Ukrainians. The Pentagon ‘loses’ $6.9 billion (HOW is that possible?). A Supreme Court judge can’t define what a woman is, and Hollywood fights tooth and nail against a film that exposes child sex trafficking (sorry…but Oprah is a pervert). The list goes on and on…

The moral/spiritual/cultural atmosphere of society is always downstream from the Church, not the other way around. The Church is set on the high place of the right hand of God and all the influences of society run through it. The Church is to be THE filter against evil, throwing out the bad and allowing the good to flourish. The evil that seeks to permeate society must pass through the Church’s open gates first.

Thus, we see the rise of homosexuality/pedophilia/transgenderism was preceded by the decades of child abuse by the Roman Catholic priests in the USA, while the Pentecostals and Charismatics focused on ‘health and wealth’ and the Evangelicals focused on politics. The gatekeepers of society, the Church, stood passively by – when was the last time you heard a real preacher rail about sin and righteousness? And how long would we keep him around if he did? – as sin and decadence were mainstreamed into the culture. We, the Church, are responsible for the mess we are in…

The great, hopeful thing about responsibility is that once you accept it, then you can change it. You say, I’m only one person, what can I do? We are going to talk about that! The great influencers, the great leaders of all time were only one person…

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Eph 1:1 NKJV

The personal pronouns ‘I, me’ are only used twenty-three times in Ephesians, while ‘you (plural), we, and us’ are used ninety-three times. Most of the ‘I, me’ usages are used of Paul as the writer, not Paul as an individual. The overwhelming emphasis of Ephesians is on the community of the Church not the individual members. Not I and me but we!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Eph 1:3-6 NKJV

The Church is one body. My quandary as a writer is how do I preach something that I know my readers know, but it still needs to be preached? Perhaps the approach is to show them how I was confronted about things I thought I knew, but really didn’t, especially in this case about how the unified body really works. Ok, so here we go…

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Cor 1:10-11 NKJV

I was taught, and I think many of my readers will agree, that unity meant conformity of doctrine or belief. That seemed to be a reasonable interpretation of ‘you all speak the same thing’ and ‘you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment,’ except that it never worked! And, it seemed to separate out ‘our group’ from the rest of the body of Christ who weren’t perfectly aligned with what we believed. The absurdity of this position is shown in that even my wife and I, who you think should be the epitome of unity and conformity, can’t agree perfectly on everything. If the two of us can’t conform, line by line and precept by precept, how are we supposed to conform with the millions in the Church body?

Let me show you something else…

For there must also be factions (Grk. HAIRESIS, a choice or party) among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 1 Cor 11:19 NKJV

I was also taught that factions were evil. But the Greek political system from which the word for church (Grk. EKKLESIA) arose REQUIRED factions! In fact, all the factions, in say, a Greek city-state, would come together to hear from each other, through chosen orators, and then a consensus would be built that all could agree upon. So the Athenians would come together in EKKLESIA to represent that consensus of the people, while the Spartans and the other city states could come together as well. The root of EKKLESIA as the Church was also the root of democracy.

The key was that all the factions would listen to the others in respect and love and would build a consensus that all could stand behind and support. Thus the authority of the EKKLESIA had the support of all of the members. The ‘approved’ in verse nineteen are those who have been tested and are mature enough to love and listen to those brethren with whom they disagree. Do you see how that answers both problems?

You see EKKLESIA at work in the Church in Acts fifteen.

And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. Acts 15:1-2 NKJV

Big problem! So, the Church is going to come together in EKKLESIA fashion – with orators and factions – to handle this problem by forming a consensus. Note how everyone listened to the different orators representing the different factions – in this case, the legalist faction and the grace faction – in love and respect. Finally we see the work of three orators – Peter, Barnabas and Paul.

Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” Then all the multitude kept silent and listened ( EKKLESIA in practice) to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Acts 15:6-12 NKJV

It’s powerfully effective as an orator to have miracles to confirm what you are saying. I think as an orator I would have my son Collins to testify before I presented the ‘gifts of the Spirit faction’ to the EKKLESIA! (Yes, it is a FACTION in the body of Christ, in case you haven’t noticed!)

Now, in every EKKLESIA, there is usually one guy or lady that is the consensus builder. This doesn’t make him the leader or the Pope, but they are the one Holy Spirit is using in that situation to synthesize or to bring agreement to the EKKLESIA. This time, James hits the home run…

And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

 ‘After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.’

 “Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,  but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” Acts 15:13-22 NKJV

Now you are going to read the consensus, but there is one crucial flaw in the translation that I must point out for your edification. Where it says, ‘being assembled with one accord’ the text literally reads ‘having become assembled with one accord.’ They didn’t start out being of one accord. They were fighting! But they came together with the different factions – it also doesn’t say they compromised their factions. I don’t have to compromise my gifts faction to appease my frozen chosen brethren. We simply have to love, respect and listen to one another – and came up with a consensus that mollified all.

The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.

 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law” — to whom we gave no such commandment —  it seemed good to us, being assembled (having become assembled) with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. Acts 15:23-29 NKJV

Note the love, the kindness, the tenderness with which they spoke to the new Gentile believers. Love is manifested when true EKKLESIA occurs…

With this understanding of EKKLESIA and how it works in community, we are ready to see the authority of the Church and how it is to rule in the world, because Adamic authority over the earth has been restored to the EKKLESIA in the NT. That is something we will develop in successive articles. But for now, let’s practice treating our brethren with love and respect by greeting them in love. Years ago, as HS was teaching me to love my neighbors, He told me to greet everyone I saw with a smile, a wave and a kind word. I would run through my neighborhood in regular exercise and would greet every person I saw and every car that went by. Through doing this I noticed many of my neighbors would respond back, shyly at first and then more openly, and I built a pretty good reputation locally. That’s building EKKLESIA in the community, even among the unbelievers, and building EKKLESIA in the Church. Amen? Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…