Paul says: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV.
We must ask ourselves how our church model compares with Paul’s description of the church. Are we on the right track biblically or spiritually? If we are honest, we have to acknowledge that our drive for “church growth” does not allow us much room to focus on the church being presented as spotless, holy and without blemish. The model in the majority of the evangelical movement is to bring as many people in the door to hear the gospel as possible. Because of that emphasis of bringing new people in all the time our message rarely deviates from talking about a felt need and then turning the corner to a gospel presentation. That is really all we can do in that model. In an expositional preaching model, there may be an opportunity to get there but it also may depend on which portion of scripture you are in at the time. There are other potential roadblocks in the expositional model as well. One of those is that often this type of preaching leans more toward informational than transformational content which does not accomplish this goal.
Many years ago I was part of a church that I found very unique. I had just graduated college and moved to a community for a job where I knew no one. I found this relatively small church that was simultaneously similar yet vastly different than any I had been a part of before. As the service began there was a guy at a piano on the platform. He was more of a worship facilitator than a leader because anyone could begin leading a song from the congregation and he would pick it up and run with it from there. Similarly anyone in the congregation could lead in prayer, scripture or exhortation. All was done in order and that portion of the service generally would last about 45 minutes. There was no program, simply opportunity for expressed worship or exhortation. At that point the pastor would come to preach.
I once heard John MacArthur say something along the lines of, “I don’t study to preach. I study to know God and I preach out of the overflow.” This pastor I think followed that path. I remember one morning he stood up to preach and told the congregation that he had a message prepared but given the direction of the worship time before, the Holy Spirit was leading him in a different direction and he told us to turn to Leviticus. Who does an extemporaneous sermon from Leviticus?! What was even more unique was that this church really functioned like a flock with a shepherd. This pastor led his flock in a way I had never experienced before nor have I since. When a sermon was discussed, the church as a whole was tracking along. Regardless who I talked to in the congregation, each person was taking away relatively the same message. My experience has always been that in talking about a sermon, each person I ask usually has a different takeaway from a sermon. This church body presented a different way to experience church growth. It is growth in depth more than in breadth. It was truly a flock that grew together. And this model allowed for the preparation of the bride to be pure and spotless, ready for her bridegroom.
If we define the church to be the believing body of Christ and we find our purpose not to be people centered but bridegroom centered, making much of Him, then we can more readily prepare, exhort and build up the body to be that radiant, spotless bride that Paul speaks of. But what does that radiant bride look like? There are certainly some high level attributes we can ascribe to a radiant bride. Holy would come to mind first. This is a bride that is set apart for her bridegroom. There is nothing competing for her attention because she is already spoken for and set apart for him. Next, a bride values the things her bridegroom values. So we must look at what Jesus valued. Jesus valued truth, He emphasized truth often and in fact He specifically said that the reason He came into the world was to testify to the truth so that is crucial for Him. Likewise, the bride must be unwavering in truth or there is a serious disconnect in the relationship. Jesus modeled loving people so the radiant church bride would love people. Jesus valued time with His Father and He submitted to His Father’s will. It only follows that the church bride would also value time with the Father and be submissive to Him. Jesus was compassionate and patient. A radiant bride would carry those attributes as well. In fact Paul gave us a pretty good list when he discussed the fruit of the Spirit.
Now go with me for a minute here. If the church was all these things, grounded firmly in truth, loving, compassionate, gentle, patient, kind etc. would God not be able to quickly, easily and effectively use that bride to draw people to Himself? Would we have to work so hard at all the gimmicks we use to try to attract people? Maybe, just maybe people would be attracted to the radiant bride of Christ as she reflects all of the attributes of a just, all-powerful, all-knowing, star-breathing, world-creating, life-changing, truth-telling God who loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. I think that would be more effective than robotic lights, smoke machines and cleverly crafted videos. What a difference there would be if the church truly desired to be a radiant bride for her bridegroom. Make no mistake, the end goal is to be a radiant bride for our Lord and Savior, it is not to be a supermodel poster for the world to be attracted to. But if we keep our focus clear and our actions pure, the result will be that the world will be attracted (and offended at the same time) to this radiant bride. And more importantly, the world will be more attracted to HIM! The key to the church getting here is worship. We probably need to look at worship.
Prologue
Relevant?
Defining Church
The Purpose of the Church
The Radiant Bride
Worship
Worship in the Church
Holy Huddle