Lesson 12 December 15-21
Church Organization and Unity Sabbath AfternoonRead for This Week’s Study: Eph. 5:23-27; Matt. 20:25-28; Titus 1:9; Matt. 16:19; Gal. 6:1, 2; Matt. 28:18-20.
Memory Text: “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave” (Matthew 20:26, 27, NKJV).
As Seventh-day Adventists, we are Protestant Christians who believe that salvation is through faith alone in what Jesus Christ has accomplished for humanity. We do not need a church or a church hierarchy in order to receive the benefits of what Christ has done for us. What we get from Christ we get directly from Him, as our Substitute on the cross and as our mediating High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
Nevertheless, the church is God’s creation, and God placed it here for us, not as a means of salvation but as a vehicle to help us express and make manifest that salvation to the world. The church is an organization that Jesus created for the spreading of the Gospel into the world. Organization is important insofar as it solidifies and enables the mission of the church. Without a church organization, Jesus’ saving message could not as effectively be communicated to others. Church leaders are important, too, in that they foster unity and exemplify the example of Jesus.
This week we study why church organization is crucial for mission and how it can foster church unity.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 23.
Sunday ↥ December 16
Christ, the Head of the Church
As we have seen already in an earlier lesson, in the New Testament the church is represented by the metaphor of body. The church is the body of Christ. This metaphor alludes to several aspects of the church and the relation between Christ and His people. As the body of Christ, the church depends on Him for its very existence. He is the Head (Col. 1:18, Eph. 1:22) and the Source of the life of the church. Without Him there would be no church.
The church also derives its identity from Christ, for He is the Source and the Foundation and the Originator of its belief and teachings. Yet, the church is more than these things, as crucial as they are to its identity. It is Christ and His Word as revealed in Scripture that determine what the church is. Thus, the church derives its identity and significance from Christ.
In Ephesians 5:23-27, Paul uses the relationship between Christ and His church to illustrate the kind of relationship there should be between husband and wife. What are the key ideas of this relationship between Christ and His church?
Although we may be hesitant with the concept of submission because of how leaders in the centuries past have abused it, the church is nonetheless to be subject to the Head, Christ, and is subject to His authority. Our acknowledgment of Christ as the Head of the church helps us remember to whom our ultimate allegiance must belong, and that is the Lord Himself and to no one else. The church is to be organized, but that organization always must be subordinate to the authority of Jesus, the true Leader of our church.
“The church is built upon Christ as its foundation; it is to obey Christ as its head. It is not to depend upon man, or be controlled by man. Many claim that a position of trust in the church gives them authority to dictate what other men shall believe and what they shall do. This claim God does not sanction. The Saviour declares, ‘All ye are brethren.’ All are exposed to temptation, and are liable to error. Upon no finite being can we depend for guidance. The Rock of faith is the living presence of Christ in the church. Upon this the weakest may depend, and those who think themselves the strongest will prove to be the weakest, unless they make Christ their efficiency.” - Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 414.
How can we learn to depend upon Christ and not upon any other “finite being”, as it is so easy to do?
Monday ↥ December 17
Servant Leadership
During His ministry with His disciples, Jesus repeatedly experienced moments when He probably felt exasperated by the envy for power they seemed to have. The apostles appeared to be anxious to become powerful leaders of Jesus’ kingdom (Mark 9:33, 34; Luke 9:46). Even as the disciples were eating the Last Supper together, these feelings of domination and supremacy were palpably felt among them (Luke 22:24).
During one such occasion, Jesus clearly expressed His thoughts regarding spiritual leadership among His people. What principles of leadership do we learn from Jesus’ exhortation in Matthew 20:25-28? How can we manifest this principle in our lives and especially in our churches?
“In this concise passage Jesus presents us with two models of authority. The first is the Roman idea of authority. In this model, the elite stand hierarchically over others. They have the power to make decisions and expect submission from those below them. Jesus clearly rejected this model of authority when He stated, ‘Not so with you!’ Instead He presented the disciples with a breathtakingly new model of authority, a thorough rejection, or reversal, of the hierarchical model with which they were familiar.” - Darius Jankiewicz, “Serving Like Jesus: Authority in God’s Church”, Adventist Review, March 13, 2014, p. 18.
The concept of authority that Jesus presents in this story is based on two key words: servant (diakonos) and slave (doulos). In some translations the first word, servant, is often translated “minister”, and the second, “servant” or “bondservant.” Both words thus lose much of the force of Jesus’ intent. Although Jesus did not wish to abolish all authority structures, what He wished to emphasize is that church leaders must first of all be servants and slaves of God’s people. Their positions are not to exercise authority over people or to dominate them or to give themselves prestige and reputation. “Christ was establishing a kingdom on different principles. He called men, not to authority, but to service, the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak. Power, position, talent, education, placed their possessor under the greater obligation to serve his fellows.” - Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 550.
Read John 13:1-20. What example of leadership did Jesus give His disciples? What is Jesus still trying to teach us in this passage? How can we manifest the principle here in all our actions with others, in and out of the church?