"Why We Exist"

The noted English historian, Alexander Kinglake, was interested in the claims of Christianity--but he was also very skeptical about the truth of the resurrection and the reality of the new life in Christ. He once suggested that every church should bear an inscription over the door: IMPORTANT IF TRUE.

Though Kinglake's suggestion is cynical, perhaps even sarcastic, there is a great deal of validity in his suggestion. If what the church has to offer is true, it is important--vitally and eternally important! If Jesus truly has been raised from the dead, if He offers all of humanity a new quality of life on earth, as well as eternal life in the world to come, then there is nothing in the world more important than the message of the church.

We who have Christ living in our lives know beyond any doubt that the message of the church is true--and infinitely important. And that is what Paul wants to teach us in Ephesians chapter 4.

In Ephesians 4:1-3 Paul presents us with a declaration of God's intention in forming His church. In these verses, Paul sets forth the church's purpose and ministry in the world--in every century, not just the first but the twenty-first. This passage, then, is as applicable to our lives today as it was to the lives of the Ephesian Christians to whom Paul wrote.

This passage is a condensed summary of the reason for the existence of the church and a statement of its function, and verse 1 is a key exhortation to those in the church as to how they are to view their calling as members of Christ's church. Paul begins this exhortation by again describing himself as the Lord's prisoner.

As we saw when in Ephesians 3:1, Paul is writing from Rome where he awaits trial before the emperor on charges of inciting a riot, with the implication of treason against the emperor himself. These charges had been lodged against Paul by the Jews in Jerusalem at the time of Paul's arrest in the dramatic encounter he had with the Jewish leaders in the city of Jerusalem (as recorded in Acts 21 and 22).

After languishing for two years as a prisoner in Caesarea, Paul was sent on a perilous sea voyage. Despite being shipwrecked, he arrived at last in Rome. There he lived in a private home, chained to a Roman guard day and night. Though a personal prisoner of Nero, the Roman Caesar, Paul never refers to himself as the prisoner of Rome. Instead, he looks beyond the chains, the guard, the imperial legal system, and the emperor himself. He sees only the controlling hand of Jesus Christ in his circumstances. He is, therefore, a prisoner of Christ.

The result of Paul's viewpoint is that he does not fret about being imprisoned. He doesn't feel limited by his chains. If Jesus put these chains on him, then the chains can only be a tool for furthering God's purpose and accomplishing His will. Paul's chains are not a hindrance but a help. As Paul says in another letter, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Paul's attitude is the same as that of Christ before Pilate. Pilate said to Jesus, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" And Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above" (John 19:10-11).

This has a direct bearing upon Paul's theme of the purpose of the church. The reason the church often seems so confused, divided, or misdirected in our own time is that we Christians tend to look on the things that are seen instead of the things that are unseen. We see ourselves as imprisoned by events, politics, ideologies, and worldly problems. Our view of our role in the world as members of Christ's church would be transformed if we instead saw ourselves as prisoners of Christ Himself. Instead of looking on ephemeral conditions and applying superficial solutions, we would live in the invisible, spiritual realm and be used as God's tools in His eternal plan.

How does Paul say the church should live in view of our invisible captivity on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ? "As a prisoner for the Lord, then," he says, "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." In other words, "Christ is our Lord and Commander--so obey His orders!"

Our duty as members of the church is to take our direction from the Head of the church. We must follow the divine strategy, not the shallow counsel of men. The church is not an independent organization existing by means of its own strength, like mere human organizations.

What is our calling? What are our orders? As we have already seen in our study, the first three chapters of Ephesians are devoted to a description of what Christians have in Christ as compared with their former condition. We are no longer in death and darkness, defeated citizens of the kingdom of Satan. We have been brought to life and light, as citizens of the kingdom of God and more, as children of God.

To Reflect the Character of Jesus

Paul always structures his letters very deliberately, beginning with foundational, doctrinal truth. The truth of God calls us to reality, to a realistic vision of life. In the first three chapters, Paul shows us our purpose in the present time and our purpose in eternity. In Ephesians 1:4, Paul says, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." That is our calling. The church was no afterthought; it was planned and founded from the beginning of time--and it was planned to be holy and blameless.

The moral character of God's people is essential to understanding the nature of the church. We are to be a moral example to the world, reflecting the character of Jesus Christ.

The story is told of two Americans riding a train in England. They noticed a distinguished-looking gentleman in the compartment, and one of the men thought he recognized the gentleman. In a low tone, he said to his friend, "I would wager money that he is the Archbishop of Canterbury." The other man said, "Him? The Archbishop? I don't think so! I'll take that bet." So the first man approached the gentleman and said, "Sir, would you mind telling us, are you the Archbishop of Canterbury?" The Englishman snapped, "You mind your own blankety blank business! What the blank difference does it make to you?" The first American shrugged to his friend and said, "I guess the bet's off. If he won't tell us, we'll never know if he's the Archbishop or not!"

The point is clear. Christians ought to be evident by the way they talk and live, the way they think and act. We are designed and created to live holy and blameless lives before God. That is one of the purposes of the church.

To Reveal the True Nature of God

Paul also tells us in Ephesians 1:12 that our purpose as Christians is so that "we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." We have been destined and appointed (here is our calling) to live for the praise of his glory. The first job of the church is not the welfare of other people--serving others is important, but not the central aspect of our calling. The first duty of our calling is that we live to the praise and the glory of God.

What is God's glory? It is the story of what God is and does. The glory of God is the revelation of His reality, of what He is truly like. It is the story of who God is and what He has done. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:6, "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

The problem with this world is not the lack of education, or the disparity of rich and poor, or the prevalence of conflict. The real problem with the world is that it does not know God. We see the calling of the church to reveal God's true nature in Ephesians 1:22-23, where Paul writes, "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." The secret of the church is that Christ lives in the church. The mission of the church is to declare Him, to reveal to the world the reality of the living Christ.

We see it again in Ephesians 2:19-22: "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." This is the holy mystery of the church: the church is the dwelling place of God. He lives in His people.

We see the purpose and calling of the church reflected again in Ephesians 3:9-10. Paul says his ministry is "to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." There are other beings beside human beings who are watching--and being instructed by--the church. This is an important aspect of the ministry of the church.

The last two verses of chapter 3--the verses immediately preceding the passage we are exploring--make it doubly clear what the calling of the church is. Paul writes, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." The calling of the church is to declare by our word and to demonstrate by our lives the character and the work of Jesus Christ who lives within us. We are to talk to others about the reality of a life-changing encounter with a living Christ, and to demonstrate that change by an unselfish life of loving, forgiving, and serving others.

That is why the apostle goes on to say, in Ephesians 4:2-3, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." He moves from grand, exalted, doctrinal truth to the realities of our everyday existence. He links the eternal plan of God to our daily grind. In order to carry out God's eternal plan, we have to get along here on earth--in our families, in our churches, in the situations of our lives that are irritating, annoying, and downright frustrating. The unity of the Spirit is our witness to the world of the reality of our living, resurrected Lord.

To Be Witnesses of Christ

The Lord Himself told us about our calling as members of His church. Just before He ascended, He told His disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). There is the calling of the church: we are to be witnesses of Christ.

A witness is one who declares what they have seen. As Peter states in 1 Peter 2:9 (emphasis added), "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." That is the job of the church. That is our calling.

Notice, this calling is always addressed to the individual Christian. It is amazing that the church is never addressed as a body in the Scriptures, but always as individual units within a body. Therefore the responsibility to fulfill this calling of the church belongs to every true Christian: We are all called--individually. We are all indwelt by the Holy Spirit--individually. We are all expected to fulfill our calling in the world--individually. The expression of the church's witness may sometimes be corporate, but the responsibility to do so is always individual.

Our Message is Our Purpose

In Scripture, the only message that the church has for the world is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not to say that the church has nothing to say about politics or social justice or civil rights or abortion or any other issue on the earthly scene. Christians are called to demonstrate compassion, and the Christian who can shrug off his fellow human being and say, "I'm indifferent to the needs of others," is not truly Christian--he is horribly sub-Christian.

We must recognize that the gospel is not a social agenda. It is a transcendent message of new life, eternal life. This is what men, women, and children need to hear. That is our message.

In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul calls us back to those great purposes of God for which the church was established. The church has no right to set its own agenda. It was placed here to carry out God's agenda. The church was not placed in the world with a mandate to correct the evils of society, but to declare and demonstrate the power of God in Jesus Christ. The great paradox of the church is that the more it focuses on its true spiritual mandate, the more effective it is in correcting the ills and evils of society. But the more preoccupied the church becomes with a social agenda, the less effect it has in the world.

So we must focus on our message--the simple story of what Jesus Christ has done in our own lives. Ask any Christian what is the greatest event in his or her life, and invariably, without hesitation, that Christian will reply, "The moment I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior." So if you then ask that person what is the greatest message he or she can give to others, that Christian will naturally reply, "The good news of how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!"

We are not to witness in arrogance and rudeness, or in holier-than-thou smugness, or in sanctimonious presumption, but in a spirit of Christlike meekness. And Christians cannot bear witness to the peace, love, and forgiveness of God while living in the factionalism, and grudge-bearing of ugly church fights.

Our calling, our purpose, our reason for existing as the church of Jesus Christ is to live out the character of Christ in our personal and corporate lives, and to tell forth the good news of Jesus Christ everywhere we go. We, like Paul, are the Lord's prisoners, and these are His orders. It is our joyful, glorious duty to carry them out, maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.