We Believe in the Holy Catholic Church

It’s pretty obvious that the church has a bad reputation. And I think social media has amplified this. Facebook can be a pastors' worst enemy based on the things people post about Christianity. Recently, I saw someone boldly posted: “Normalize believing in God but not in religion.” Well, I was intrigued and wondered what they meant, so I took the risk of reading the comments. At one point the person said “"Church" to me is drinking a few beers & talking about dark times I’ve been through & what pulled me out. What God has done & what I’ve seen happen. Not some building where I have to dress nice, am expected to give money & am judged.”

Now, of course, I have sympathy to what they were saying, but I also wanted to respond! The critique of ‘organized religion’ always fails to recognize that humans organize everything. Think about going to an unorganized military and being a solider, where you just drink beers and talk about the enemy. Or unorganized sports where it’s a free-for-all after the ball. Nothing gets done and nothing is fun! But I didn’t say anything, I realized I just wanted to control this person’s thoughts, and that’s not what I need to do.

But here’s the thing. This kind of thinking is very common. Even the rock-star Mick Jagger once said: ‘Jesus Christ was fantastic, but I do not like the church. The church does more harm than good.’

Really?

So, is it possible to be a follower of Jesus and not go to church?' And anyway, what does `going to church’ mean? What is church? Why are we planting a church? We live in a time and place where any group, with a Bible, is called church. So, does that mean “church” can be just a group of people who share a common passion for something connected to the Bible?

According to the Apostles Creed, “the Holy Catholic Church” is something much bigger and deeper than a house group, spiritual hangout or political protest. Those are just microcosms of the church. The Church is bigger than just any church! In fact, that’s why the Creed says, “We believe in the Holy Catholic Church.” The word Catholic in it doesn’t refer to the Roman Catholic denomination, for there was no Roman Catholic Church at the time the creed was written, but One United church. The word catholic means “universal” or ‘global’. We believe in the Holy Global Church! The church is not limited to one denomination, nationality, ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or sex. Anyone—male or female, rich or poor, European, Asian, or Hispanic—can be a full member of the church of Jesus Christ. All that is required is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation!

That is the church! Much more than a casual conversation or religious ritual, and It’s much bigger than any single organized denomination. All these things are the expressions of the church, but they’re not the essence of what the church is about. It’s a lot like Marriage. ‘What is marriage?’ You could say marriage is a ring, a certificate, a wedding ceremony, with marriage laws… Marriage does include all of those things, but that’s not the essence. At the heart of marriage is something far more profound and beautiful. And at the heart of the church is something amazing, something wonderful, something beautiful.

It is the invisible unity that all who believe in Jesus share. Everyone who knows Christ as Savior is united to everyone else who knows Christ as Savior. That overwhelms every boundary! We believe in the Holy Global Church!

-BOOK

And it’s not just because we believe in an old Creed. This is what was written in the very Word of God! And today’s passage is a much older declaration of belief, a creed in the Bible itself that serves as a point of unity. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church in Ephesus calling for such unity! Yet, he didn’t want unity at any price, where the truths of the gospel are dumbed out. According to verse 3, he was “eager to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” by knowing and holding to the truth!

Then instead of focusing on the differences and majoring on the minors, he drew the Ephesians and our attention to the positive truths which form the foundation of a united church. And so, Paul proceeded to list seven elements that unite believers in the one body of Christ. When we are tempted to break unity, we need to remember these unifying truths. And as we plant this church, we want to hold onto these: We believe in One Body, One Spirit, One hope, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism and One Father!

The church is One Body in verse 4. The church is an organized whole made up of parts and members. Here Paul describes the invisible Church, the mystical body of Christ. Jesus is the head, and the Church is the body. Just think about a body made up of organs in different places, functions, and use, but is yet one. The church, no matter where it is at, or in what age of the world it exists—no matter what ethnicity, blood, or color are its members, or the languages—is one, no matter the distance or time, or physical, intellectual, and social distinctions. They all are useful to the whole. Are you part of this One Body?

The Church is filled with One Spirit in verse 4! This refers to the same Holy Spirit who has awakened, convicted and converted every single Christian throughout history and around the world, who makes up the global church. The great, eternal, invisible Person, God the Spirit, dwells in this body called the church. Not just us individually, but the entire body as a whole. He is the power behind the Christian church, not its numbers or influence. Are you filled with this One Spirit?

The Church has One Hope in verse 4! Christians have the same hope, which makes us one. We long for the return of the Lord Jesus to be forever with Him, to be like Christ, and to be free of the presence and pleasure of sin. This is not a vain hope, that may or may not come. Hope in the Bible is a desire for some future good with the confident expectation of obtaining it. Our one Hope is the looking forward to Him with great confidence expecting fulfillment. Do you await this One Hope?

The Church belongs to One Lord in verse 5! The title Lord is one of Paul’s favorite names for Jesus and is actually the name of God, YHWH. You see, the apostle viewed Jesus as none other than God Himself. As there is only one Lord! Salvation rests in Him alone and only His demands matter to all people. In fact, people from around the world experience true unity with another based only upon this foundation. It is in this Jesus that we have been following that total, exclusive Lordship is found. He is the One we follow and obey and no one else. Do you submit to this One Lord?

The church believes in One Faith in verse 5! We have one, united, and objective body of content that is believed. We believe in the revealed, inerrant and infallible Word of God. We trust in and hold to the Bible as how God governs and speaks to His people! And we also have one, united and subjective experience of faith as we trust in Christ alone for redemption. This is the to the very essence of the Gospel that the Apostles preached. It is naked, bare faith in Christ alone for salvation, nothing else! The true church believes in this One faith! Do you believe in this One Faith?

The church has been submerged into One Baptism in verse 5! When we affirm this one faith and rest on Christ alone as our One Lord, we also share one baptism, an outward demonstration of the inward conversion where we are miraculously joined to Christ. It's a visible sign of what it means to be a Christian. Paul puts it like this in Romans 6: ‘All of you have been baptized into Christ Jesus.’ So, imagine this piece of paper is every Christian and this Bible is Jesus. Through faith and conversion, demonstrated through baptism, in a kind of mystical way you all became part of Christ. The Church is now ‘in Christ’. Have you been washed in this One baptism?

The church belongs to One Father in verse 6! God the Father has a family which is entered into by faith in Christ from around the world. He is the Father of all believers, no matter their background, ethnicity and language. This is what brings family unity. Paul is not saying that God is the Father of every single individual person and is inside of every single thing, as if He were a universalistic paganistic deity. No, He is saying that God is the Father of all peoples who place their faith in Christ. Not just the Jewish people, but all peoples! And Christians serve one God, not the variety of divinities around us. Do you belong to this One Father?

Look –

When you put all of this together you should have in your mind the image of a body full of the spirit, with Jesus the Lord as its head, it belongs to a father, it's been washed in baptism, has one heartbeat of faith and it is hoping for something. It actually reminds me of the old story Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. In one part, Gulliver falls asleep on an island and wakes up, tied down as he is a giant on an island of smaller people. His gigantic body just wrapped around the land. This is a lot like this image of the Church of Jesus Christ. This giant body that is laid out all across the globe is the church! You see, the global, universal church is vast. Do you know, there are over two billion Christians in the world today? That’s about a third of the world's population. And tens of thousands of people become Christians every single day. And it’s not at all a 'white mana religion' at all. Now, because we live in the West, we think the church has been in decline. But that’s a narrow view of the world: because when you look globally it’s a totally different picture. As Tim Keller, a thought leader in New York has said: "The whole world is not getting more secular, white people are getting more secular." The church is growing faster than ever! Just over 100 years ago there were only 10 million Christians in Africa. Now, 100 years later there were 360 million Christians in Africa. And that’s not to mention all that’s happening in South America, China, in the Middle East. And it’s the most diverse group in the entire world! Just imagine what it would look like if we could get 2 billion Christians together in one place, not to mention all Christians from the past. It would be the most bizarre looking family reunion you’ve ever been to. You would notice several things: only a small segment would be speaking English. The average skin tone would be a much darker brown. There would be different clothing and culture styles all around us. We would be overwhelmed with such beauty and diversity! And you know what unites them all! the gospel of Jesus Christ!!! They don’t need anything else, no man-made philosophy, theory or strategy, only Jesus! And even in all the diversity, you’d be able to see in image and likeness of Jesus! In fact, that’s a discipline to cultivate noticing the image of Christ in other believers.

I just attended a seminar on ethnic reconciliation and the gospel. in it, Timothy Shorey, a pastor from inner city Philadelphia showed how the gospel informs and changes our interaction with one another. He said "every human being is worthy of [respect] by virtue of being made in the likeness of God… The glory of God is resident in every human image bearer which is wrong to ignore even if we feel we have every right. Our mouths and ears automatically veer towards disrespect, disdain, and disregard. Which means that the only hope for us to truly and properly respect individuals as fellow image bearers is to rely on a very important gospel assurance— that Jesus offers full and complete forgiveness to those who have scorned God’s image by trading our life of filthiness for his life spent perfectly respecting the image of God in others. Now we are free to begin fervently respecting others as Jesus did, by acknowledging the value and worth of every life through how we listen and speak." My friends, there is nothing like the church in all the world. Only the Christian gospel can unite people with so many diversities. Only this one faith provides the content and substance that makes us united, and not just uniform. There is indeed one body and one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one father! We believe in the holy, global church!

Took –

Now you might be thinking to yourself, well, all around us there are many gods, and many lords, and many faiths, and many baptisms into many bodies of people… Isn’t it narrow-minded to think Jesus and Christianity is the only truth?

But what you may not fully realize is that all religious and viewpoints end up being exclusive, in one way or the other. Everyone has a line in the sand for who is in and who is out.

In fact, Tim Keller says, “All religions are exclusive, but Christianity is the most inclusive exclusivity there is.”

Catch that language: Christianity is inclusive exclusivity. We’re not accepted in because of our moral record, our education, our marital status, our ethnicity, or our political views. God gives salvation as a gift to all who will repent and receive Jesus in humility and faith.

Even further, if you were lost in the woods, you would want to find the path, out right? Jesus claimed he was the only path to Godin John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s either totally true or totally false. But if Christianity is true, then we must accept what Jesus is saying! If you believe Jesus to be true, then the issue is settled.

You see, the gospel is the only claim that says, “Whosoever will may come.” Regardless of the ethnicity, class, culture, language, your past, your present, or fear for the future—you come to Jesus, and Jesus saves—whosoever!

And that produces 4 things that you see Paul mention in verse 2 of today’s passage: “with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love”

This incredible Unity of belief doesn’t produce pride, arrogance, isolation and anger. Instead, it produces these 4 things: Lowliness, Meekness, Patience and Forbearance. Think about those:

Lowliness: This should make us feel very lowly. Lowliness means that we think lowly of ourselves and highly of Christ. Because we have been granted to know God, we realize we are very lowly. Our knowledge and wisdom and righteousness are small and fragile. It takes God to know God, and He has brought us in. That should never puff you up. You don’t want praise. You don’t act in self-assertiveness and self-confidence. The only thing you bring to the table is the grace and gifts God has given to you.

Meekness: This makes us feel meek as well. Meekness is unpretentiousness, gentleness, sweetness and self-effacement. Meekness is simply power over your own selfishness, and the ability to control your strength. You don’t force your own way. You recognize what you are strong and good at, and you control that for the good of other people. You think better of others than you think of yourself.

Patience: This also makes us patient. Throughout the Bible, it’s called Long-suffering. I’ve told my wife many times that there is a reason my last name is Long, she has to suffer a long time with me. But you see, arrogant people are not patient. Patience requires a desire for someone else’s good and the ability to look ahead of someone, not just where they are now. Patience means you don’t just get tripped up with someone’s immediate sin or problem. Instead, you have a vision of where things can be. You recognize the time and attention needed to get there. Thus, you are patient, and you depend on God’s grace, knowing He will give you the strength to wait and will turn every delay or obstacle into strategic victory.

Forbearance: This finally makes us forbear or endure. We endure with one another. We forbear with each other. This frees you from needing to think anyone here is perfect. Perfect people don't need to be endured or forgiven or engaged in church. But we do, you and I do, all the time! Just get around people long enough and the idealism rubs off. People are grumpy or critical or unreliable or insecure. You probably already know all my gaping weaknesses. But endurance means you don’t run away when the going gets tough. You endure the good and the bad. You are running the race, not in isolation, but with a variety of brothers and sisters all around you!

Christ Centered closing

Meek and Lowly, Patience and Forbearing…. Does this sound like anyone to you?

We fail at these all the time. But one person did not. He’s the embodiment of those traits.

That is Jesus, who said of Himself in Matthew 11:29: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

In Hebrews 12:2, we are instructed to “look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus is not fully frustrated or disapprovingly disappointed all the time. He isn’t quick to give up. Our differences, sins and suffering doesn’t make Him run away from us. Jesus is the Meek and Lowly One. He is patience with us and endures all things. He is at the center of all of this. In fact, He is the cause of unity for the church around the world and throughout time. He is the One Lord that we have a One faith in, who fills us with One Spirit, brings us to our One Father, washes us in His One Baptism, and we wait with a fervent One Hope.

Jesus is “the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to himself all things, making peace by the blood of His cross” according to Colossians 1:18-20

He is our anthem, our message, our life, and the reason for all of this. He is the center and uniting point for Billions of people. He is what makes this church what it is. We believe in One Holy Global Catholic and Universal Church, because we believe in One Lord Jesus…. And one phrase that came from His lips while He was on that one cross makes the difference. As He hung on that cross beam, between heaven and earth, He had to have remembered what He said in John 12:32: “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.” And that’s exactly what He has been doing, even here today. People from every nation, language, tribe, tongue and ethnicity gathered up around Him, with the One passion of His heart:

In the words of Allen Hood’s song, “Oh the Beauty of the Man”:

For the sake of love, He left His Father's throne Searching for a bride, bone of His bone Such a humble kiss to make her dust His own

See His hands, His head, His feet and His side They bear the marks of wrath, a pure sacrifice To secure her love by giving up His life Oh the beauty of this Man

And with that One phrase beckoning them and keeping them, He died for His church, His bride. And with that One phrase He sustains His Bride until He returns and brings her to Himself. And what is that phrase? It’s the most important three words that unites the church: It is finished! Amen

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