The Global Church

"Now You are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it."  1 Corinthians 12:27

I got into an interesting discussion with another pastor the other day if the United Methodist church is really an international church. His arguments were compelling to be honest.  He noted that we all have different issues. Concerns for us here in the US are not the major issues facing the church in Africa for instance. We have cultural differences. We have different economic issues.

He also noted what he saw as an imbalance in the church. Because the church is exploding in the third world, they will have an increasing influence and voice in the denomination. Yet the US, and Europe to a lesser degree, will bear most of the burden economically.  "Why should we be forced to pay and they not carry more of the burden?"

All fair questions to be sure.  Fair, but they also illustrate a wrong understanding of what the church is.  If we were talking about a business that had stores all over the world his arguments would make a lot of sense. But we are not. We are talking about the church. And the church is unlike anything else we have ever seen.

We do not get to dictate the parameters of what the church is. Only the one who created it, the foundation itself, can define what the church is.  The church is global because Jesus has declared it to be so.  In fact as we look at Scripture I don't think Jesus looks at the church as the Asian church, the European church, the rural church or the upper class suburban church. Jesus simply sees the church. Each group working together with the blessings they have to further the Kingdom of God.

Early in 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about the love feast, the regular celebration of the church. The people of God would join together each bringing what they had, as they had been blessed by God, and they would share it together. They would celebrate. There was no place for arguing over who brought what, or to whom more was due.  In fact Paul goes to great lengths to tell the people they should no do this.

I see now Paul is talking about more than how we should behave at potlucks. The meal serves as an example of what the church is. This incredible, fallible, stumbling blessed instrument is somehow being used by God to tell the world about Jesus, from the home church in China, to the mega church in Texas, from Trinity to Scum of The Earth Church (It's actual name) in Denver.

We saw this last week as our annual conference joined together to bless the plane we helped purchase for Wings of the Morning. As we prayed, it struck me we prayed with a great crowd of witnesses, those missionaries who first went to the Congo, to the Christians there who prayed for this miracle, to the saints who took a young man in and helped him get his education and pilots license, from the churches that made great monetary contributions, to the child who emptied her piggy bank. Each one of us is a part of this great ministry.

Yesterday we brought 19 young people into membership of the church.  Not the four walls that bear our name, but the church I described above. For this we should be thankful. The church indeed is a wonder. And at times, when we work together, a miracle.

In Christ,
Dr. Brian Jones <><