FOR CHRISTIANS: We are Christ's body & Christ's ambassadors

I've been feeling an urgent need to speak lately. My primary burden, after a lot of searching and praying, seems to me to be a pained awareness of the state of the Body of Christ, particularly within the United States. As a member of Christ's Body, I feel its sickness the way the human body registers infection and fever with aches, chills, and other unpleasant symptoms.

We in Hanoi have been isolating since February, and the situation has brought into focus the Body of Christ, the church, for me. I met Jesus in September and found my church right away, Hanoi International Fellowship. It has been a source of comfort and strength for me through many trials already. Obviously, I wasn't thrilled to be cut off from worshiping with my fellow church members and mentors, but I was happy that we would be able to still see our pastors and elders and worship team online. It's not the same, but it has still been a blessing in a time of confusion and grief.

And I received a special blessing as a result of church going online: my husband, who had fallen away from faith and the church, and who did not attend with me, started listening to the sermons when they came online. As a result of this and other things, he has returned to faith and is now sharing this life in Christ with me. I have been praying for this since September, and the Lord wholeheartedly answered my prayer with a richness and warmth I have never experienced before. He chose to call my husband back over Resurrection weekend, which made it even more memorable and a holiday to celebrate. God truly wants what is best for His children, and when our desires align with His, He lavishes them on us!

Thus far, God has blessed Vietnam in this challenging season. In a country of 95 million people, fewer than 300 people have contracted COVID since its onset, and to date, not a single person has died. There are many factors, including the fact that face masks are a normal way of life here, the government's swift reaction thanks to many years of dealing with earlier epidemics, vigorous and immediate testing and quarantine, closed borders, as well as long months of social isolation. It has been almost a month since we have had a new case in the country.

I can't say what God's purposes are here, but I believe it would be foolish not to take note and prayerfully put our thinking caps on.

Christ's ambassadors

Ambassadors live in countries not their own, and while they do, they represent their own countries. They follow the laws of the country in which they live, to be a good example. They are a bridge of knowledge and respect between those two countries. In 2 Corinthians 5:19-21, Paul calls us who are disciples ambassadors of Christ: "...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

I look at churches in the US openly rebelling against stay at home orders, drawing ire and dismay, and I feel compelled to speak. They are not being good ambassadors for Christ.

They are putting forth two arguments:

1) that to be prevented from gathering is an attack on their religious liberty, and

2) that they will continue to meet, even in the face of rampant infection, because the Bible says "forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25) 

First of all...stay at home orders have been issued against any large gatherings, in order to protect everyone from spreading this invisible, highly infectious, slow-to-show-symptoms virus. By being asked not to meet, churches are not being singled out for persecution in this time. To maintain otherwise is willful ignorance and harmful to our witness. It is disingenuous and contrary to the spirit of God's revelation to us in Christ.

Second...God has not promised us religious freedom. Even if there was some back-room conspiracy in governments across the country to curtail religious liberty, the Christian response should not be to lean on (and misinterpret) the Constitution, but on God. Jesus Himself refused to use His power and deity to crush the Roman empire, as many of His followers hoped He would as the Messiah, but rather to die in perfect submission to the will of God. Likewise, Jesus told us that we would be persecuted for His name's sake, and that in spite of the suffering it caused us, it would be a blessing. But drawing ire and punishment for disobeying civil orders is virulently unbiblical.

Look at Romans 13, regarding submission to governing authorities:

"1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities,
not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience." (Romans 13:1-5)
And 1 Peter 1:11-17:

"11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor."

There have been times, and there will be again, when orders are issued specifically against Christians meeting and spreading the gospel. When that happens, by all means, we must continue to speak the truth in love, whatever the risk to our health, wealth, and life. BUT. This is not one of those times, and crying wolf is detrimental to the cause of Christ. Let's get real about what persecution for the name of Christ meant to Jesus. 

Third, responding to the second point. We must look at the context of Hebrews 10, and indeed of the entire book of Hebrews in general. This epistle is directed at Jewish converts in the early church, who were indeed experiencing harsh persecution, both from the Roman overlords and their fellow unconverted Jews. The pressure was immense, and there was a temptation to hide their new faith in Christ. The early church, by and large, had become a new community, sharing all their wealth and possessions among each other, meeting daily in one another's houses to worship and fellowship. This would have been well known in the greater community. If someone wanted to hurt, rob, arrest or kill you for being a Christian, so long as you were meeting every day, you were easy to find and target.

The author of Hebrews was encouraging believers to resist the temptation to hide their faith, or worse, reject it in order to keep themselves and their families safe. Verses 1-11 address the rituals of Old Testament Judaism for purging sin. Verses 12-18 remind the recipients that Jesus has replaced this old covenant with Himself, and His one-time sacrifice for sin. And Verses 19-39 warn them that turn their backs on Jesus in fear of persecution, having experienced His grace, is apostasy; only by continuing in faith will they be saved. And how does the author suggest they do that? By encouraging each other, continuing to meet in faith in Christ despite the physical danger.

This is not what the church in the US is experiencing right now, and it is sinful to argue that it is. For pastors to be making these arguments is especially dangerous, because their people are listening and acting accordingly.

When we read the Bible, we need to read prayerfully, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten the eyes of our hearts, and with intelligence, rightly dividing the word of truth, not picking verses out of context to meet our sinful desires.

God uses the circumstances and events of earth, both good and bad, for myriad and vast purposes, most of which we cannot even imagine. There is no doubt in my mind that this incredible, previously unthinkable upheaval of the global community is achieving many things simultaneously. For some, the stress and fear of COVID will cause them to seek and find God for the first time. For others, it will cause them to look at their lives and priorities and remember that this life only a breath, and recommit to living in light of eternity.

So the fact that we are being faced with orders not to gather presents us with a unique opportunity. It won't be forever; this is a temporary situation. It needs to be met with humble turning to God: in repentance, for guidance and instruction, for a fresh revelation of His mysterious love. Not with rebellious protest, callous to the vulnerable and sick and the dying, which the whole world can see and then use as an excuse to revile Christ.

What is a better witness for Christ: angrily ranting about the stay at home orders, flouting the orders en masse and putting people at risk? Or being open about how much you miss your family in Christ and why, but you are humbly committed to looking out for your neighbor? The need for good neighbors has never been more obvious. Ahmaud Arbery needed a good neighbor and didn't get one.

It's ok to mourn our inability to meet in this time. It is right to lament before God the wretched state of Earth, groaning with all creation "as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time" (Romans 8:22). But we are not to worry, or despair, or sin as we lament. We're weak and ignorant, but that isn't an excuse, because we have the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us in submission to God, for His glory.

"26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:26-28).

When we humbly look to be a blessing to the community around us, in spite of our own desires, as a Body, as a church, so far from hiding our faith or bringing reproach on the name of Jesus, then we will be shining like a light for His glory.

For those of us in Christ, He is going to heal us completely, forever, when He returns. And at that time, we will all gather to worship Him together, forever. Therefore, our purpose, our focus until then MUST BE on the lost, NOT on our own comfort or desires, however holy they may be. We have a hunger to meet together - good. But the pain of not being able to do it is one of those 'light, momentary afflictions' which, if used well, according to His will and His mercy and grace, will call many out of judgment.

IF however, we insist on our 'rights', stubbornly flouting stay at home orders, among other things, we will lose the opportunity to be salt and light to our neighbors. Christ will deal with us for that. He calls us to be humble, contrite, and broken-hearted, not prideful and rebellious. 

Here is a well-written, sensitive approach to the matter of re-opening the country while much of it is still being ravaged by COVID, by a Christian doctor with years of experience dealing with viral outbreaks.

Christ's Body

This leads into the other thing that has been pressing on me. It pains me to see the flag of Christ being flown above unrepentant and unchecked sin. And the most insidious one to infect the church?

PRIDE. 

I had to really examine myself before writing this, because it would be easy for me to get on a high horse and start accusing people of sin.

But as I mature in faith, I am becoming more and more jealous for the reputation of Christ. And I am alarmed at how much of the Bible is getting twisted, misunderstood and misused by Christians, glibly and carelessly, thoughtlessly - as in, without thought. The truth is getting melted down and mixed with half-truths and blatant falsehoods, and Christians who don't have their noses and hearts in the Bible aren't catching it. And when people don't realize that they have strayed from the truth, in this state, they are boldly proclaiming false doctrine. And it is spreading to unbelievers.

I may start to tackle specifics in future posts, but currently my aim in writing this one is to encourage everyone who is in Christ, or who thinks that they are in Christ, to plunge into the Bible and read with a zeal you have never had before, because that is where the Truth is, where He lives and speaks to us today. Read OT and NT together; read Isaiah with Numbers and Hebrews; read the Psalms with the Gospels; better yet, read Job with the Gospels. Read the prophets with the Pauline epistles. Every in the morning, every day, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you what you need to know. Ask Him to reveal your blind spots and your pride. 

It may not be my place to speak on these things. But they have to be said. We have a job to do, and time is running out for those outside of Christ. I'm talking to myself here, too. May the Lord make me open to Godly correction and give me the discernment to recognize it. (I have a comments section - use it!)

Christ's Body, the church, is widespread and diverse, both in body and mind, which is wonderful. In this late hour, however, it is also full of false teachers, chaff, tares and wolves scattered among the sheep.  Jesus and His apostles warned that it would happen and that it is vitally important to test everything to determine what is of God. In Acts 20:29-31, Paul said: "I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!" 

We don't like to point fingers, because we can't see into the heart the way God can. But we can and should be awake to reality that many people who claim to be Jesus' disciples are not. There are even those who think they are Jesus' disciples, but are actually not. (I was one for 30 years, hello. I do kind of wish someone had been more blunt with me, but everything worked out and God called me into His truth on His timing).

Why does this matter? you might say. God will deal with them in the end, whether they are truly in Christ or not. Yes, that's true.

However, this should be of immense concern to us, both as individuals and as a church. Steven Lawson said that "the hardest person to reach with the gospel is the one who thinks he is saved, but is not. He cannot be converted until he knows he is lost. Until then, he does not know that he does not know." I've also heard it said that the reason the church seems worldly is not because the church acts like the world, but that the church is full of worldly people who think they are in Christ.

This is why Paul tells us to "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (2 Corinthians 13:5).

The book of James acts as a mirror that we can hold up to examine ourselves and see whether our actions and words come from God-given, life-changing faith or not.

I think we also have an obligation to hold this mirror up to others who profess to know Christ. If we turn a blind eye toward speech and behavior in the church that does not reflect Christ, we run the risk of first condoning it, then allowing it into our own speech and behavior - and then, to unbelievers, it looks like we DO condone it. This blurs and mars the message of Christ.

It's not a pleasant task, but it's one that the apostles make very clear is essential to the health of the church. It is important to be concerned not only with our individual witness to the world, but the church's as a whole.

This is a delicate thing. In terms of individuals in local churches, this ought to be done by church leaders, in private and with gentleness. We are concerned not only to maintain a good witness to the world to draw people to Christ, but we also want healing for misguided believers who have fallen into sin, whatever it is. We're one Body: when one of us is in trouble, we all are:

"My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

The Book of James provides us with loads of instruction, and his main goal in doing so is to drive us to LOOK HARD at ourselves through the mirror of the Gospel.

-Ask God for wisdom. He will give it to us.
-Persevere under trial
-Be careful what we say, how we speak, and what we teach
-Be patient in the face of suffering
-Submit to God
-Grieve, mourn and wail
-Humble ourselves before God, and He will lift us up
-PRAY

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5) serve as another mirror for those seeking the Kingdom of God. They provide a baseline for checking our attitudes, our heart stance in Christ, toward Christ, because of Christ.

-We recognize our destitution before God. He has given us everything, even the faith to believe in Him. We live in total dependence on Him: for salvation, for justice, for protection, for love, for the power to obey Him and know His will.

-We mourn our sin and continually turn from it daily.

-We crave Christ's righteousness above anything else.

-We are meek; that is, we have a humble attitude that expresses itself in the patient endurance of offenses. Meekness is not weakness; it is power under control. It's a virtue that draws courage, strength, conviction, and good disposition from God, not from self-centered human resources. This is the epitome of Christlikeness. 

-We are supposed to be peacemakers. Christians, living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in obedience to Christ, will inevitably influence the world for good.

If we are living in and by the Spirit, we will be loving God with our whole hearts and souls and minds, and our neighbor as ourselves. What does this look like? It looks like 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us, truly examining ourselves, we are bringing every aspect of our daily lives into contact with the Bible, and humbly submitting to God in what we discover there. That means our behavior in the privacy of our homes, outside on the street, and on the Internet.

When we forget to seek His will, our flesh quickly takes over. Our lives soon look no different from the rest of the world, and our testimony is damaged.

But when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, and the only man to ever live perfectly without sin, two things will happen:
1) we will feel utterly our inability to follow His commandments and to love as He loved, and
2) we will rejoice in the knowledge that He lives in us, and is changing us day by day (as we abide in Him via His Word), so that when we see Him, we will be like Him.

My prayer for the whole church is that we will make it a priority to ground ourselves in the Bible every day, to pray for the Holy Spirit to guard and guide our thoughts, words, and behavior, and that we will be deeply convicted in every area of our lives, so that we can live out the words of Ephesians 5:6-17:

"6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."

And, because I can, I'm including the entirety of Romans 12, a beautiful, concise picture of the church acting as Christ's body on earth:

"1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."