THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD
The apostolic Church, as was observed in the Student's Text Book, found itself from the beginning in the midst of an environment more or less actively hostile. If we had been in Jerusalem at about the year 30, we should have observed a small group of disciples of Jesus, outwardly conforming to Jewish customs, but inwardly quite different from their countrymen. In Corinth and in other pagan cities of the Greco-Roman world, the contrast between the Church and its environment was even more striking; these cities were sunk in superstition and vice; the Church was leading, in the eyes of the world, a very peculiar life.
The presence of a common enemy led in the apostolic age to a closer union among the Christians themselves, and so it will always be. When Christian people realize the power of the enemy against whom they are all fighting, then they will have no time to fight among themselves. The Christian life is a warfare against sin—sin in a thousand deadly forms. In such a warfare, if we are to be good soldiers, we must all stand shoulder to shoulder.
The apostolic Church was waging an audacious warfare against the intrenched forces of heathenism and sin. Fortunately it had a Leader; and by that Leader alone it won the victory. The Leader was Christ. The primary relation of the soldier is the relation to the commander; the relation of the individual soldiers to one another is dependent upon that. So we shall study to-day the lordship of Christ; by that study, the work of the whole quarter will be introduced.
1. TERMS DESCRIPTIVE OF DISCIPLESHIP
The lordship of Christ may profitably be studied by an examination of some of the various names which in the New Testament are applied to the Church and its individual members. The individual titles should be studied first. After all, the Church exists for the individual believer rather than the individual believer for the Church. The primary relation is the relation between Christ and the individual soul. Brotherhood comes only through the union of individuals with a common Lord.
(1) "Christians."—Probably the first title that occurs to us to-day to designate the individual members of the Church is the title "Christian"; yet as a matter of fact that title appears only three times in the New Testament, and then only as it was taken from the lips of unbelievers. In accordance with the explicit testimony of Acts 11:26, the name was given for the first time at Antioch; it had no place, therefore, in the early Jerusalem church. A moment's thought will reveal the reason. The name "Christians" would have meant to a Jew adherents of the "Christ," or the "Messiah." Obviously no Jew would have applied such a name specifically to the disciples of Jesus; for all the Jews, in one sense or another, were adherents of the Messiah. The Jews were adherents of him by way of anticipation; the disciples thought he had already appeared; but all earnest Jews alike would have rejoiced to be called by his name.
Evidently the name was applied in Antioch by the pagan population. The Church had become so clearly separate from Judaism that a separate name for it was required. The name "Christian" suggested itself very naturally. "Jesus Christ" was forever on the lips of these strange enthusiasts! "The Christ" was indeed also spoken of by the Jews, but only careful observers would necessarily be aware of the fact. The Messianic hope was an internal concern of the synagogues, with which outsiders would usually have little to do. The new sect, on the other hand, brought the title "Christ" out from its seclusion; "Christ" to these enthusiasts was something more than a title, it was becoming almost a proper name; like "Jesus," it was a designation of the Founder of the sect, and accordingly the adjective derived from it could be used to designate the sect itself.
In Acts 26:28, the name appears as used by Agrippa; in I Peter 4:16, also, it is evidently taken from the lips of the opponents of the faith. The Christians, however, Peter implies, need not be ashamed of the name which has been fastened upon them. Rather let them strive to be worthy of it! It is the highest honor to be called by the name of Christ; and if they are true "Christians," their confession will redound to the glory of God.
In modern times, the name is often misapplied; the use of it is broadened and weakened. Nations are declared to be Christian although only a very small percentage of their citizens really deserve the name; teaching is called Christian though it is only similar in some respects to the teaching of Christ. Such a use of terms should be avoided wherever possible; the original poignancy of the designation should be restored. Properly speaking, "Christian" means not "like Christ" but "subject to Christ." A Christian is not one who admires Christ or is impressed with Christ's teaching or tries to imitate Christ, but one to whom Christ is Saviour and Lord.
Are we willing to be known as "Christians" in that sense? At the time of First Peter, it would have been a serious question; an affirmative answer would have meant persecution and perhaps death. But it is also a serious question to-day. Confession of Christ involves solemn responsibilities; dishonor to the "Christian" means dishonor to Christ; the unworthy servant is a dishonor to his Master. But let us not fear; Christ is Helper as well as Lord.
(2) "Disciples."—The earliest designation of the followers of Jesus was "disciples" or "learners"; during the earthly ministry perhaps scarcely any other designation was commonly used. Jesus appeared at first as a teacher; the form of his work was somewhat like that of other teachers of the Jews. Nevertheless, although he was a teacher from the beginning, he was also from the beginning something more. He had not only authority, but also power; he was not only Teacher, but also Saviour. His followers were not merely instructed, but were received into fellowship; and that fellowship made of them new men. "Disciples" in the Gospels is more than "learners" or "students"; it is a fine, warm, rich word; the Teacher was also Friend and Lord.
The same term was continued in the early Palestinian Church, and the resurrection had brought an incalculable enrichment of its meaning. The "disciples" were not merely those who remembered the words of Jesus, but those who had been redeemed by his blood and were living now in the power of his Holy Spirit. If we use the term, let it be in the same lofty sense. Let us be learners, indeed; let us hear the words of Jesus, as they are recorded in the Gospels; but let us hear them not from a dead teacher, but ever anew from the living Lord.
(3) "Saints."—A third designation is "saints." This term is used as a title of the Christians in Acts 9:13,32,41; 26:10, and frequently in the epistles of Paul and in the Apocalypse. Its use in the New Testament is very different from some uses of it that appeared at a later time. The Roman Catholics, for example, employ the term as a title of honor for a number of persons carefully limited by the Church; Protestants often designate by it persons of exceptional purity or goodness. In the New Testament, on the contrary, the title "saints" is clearly applied to all Christians.
In the original Greek the word is exactly the same as a word meaning "holy"; it is simply the adjective "holy" used as a noun. "Saints," therefore, really means "holy persons." Unfortunately, however, the word "holy," as well as the word "saint" has undergone modifications of usage. "Holy," in the Bible, is not simply another word for "good" or "righteous," but expresses a somewhat different idea. It has the idea of "sacred" or "separate"—separate from the world. God is holy not merely because he is good, but because he is separate. Undoubtedly his goodness is one attribute—perhaps the chief attribute—that constitutes the separateness; but other attributes also have their place. His omnipotence and his infinitude, as well as his goodness, make him "holy."
The word "holy" or "saint" as applied to Christians has fundamentally the same meaning. Believers are "holy" because they are in communion with the holy God and therefore separate from the world. Undoubtedly the most obvious element in their separateness is their goodness; the moral implications of the term "holy" are sometimes so prominent that the specific meaning of the word seems obscured. But that specific meaning is probably never altogether lost. Christians are called "saints" because they are citizens, not of the present evil world, but of a heavenly kingdom.
The familiar word, thus interpreted, has a startling lesson for the modern Church. Can modern Christians be called "saints," in the New Testament sense? Are we really separate from the world? Are we really "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people" (A. V.)? Do we really feel ourselves to be strangers and pilgrims in the earth? Or are we rather salt that has lost its savor? Have we become merged in the life of the world?
(4) "Brethren."—A fourth designation is concerned, not with the relation of the believer to Christ or to the world, but with the relation of believers among themselves. That designation is "brethren." It is a very simple word; it requires little explanation; the rich meaning of it will be unfolded in the whole of this quarter's study.
(5) "Church."—After studying the New Testament terms that denote the disciples of Jesus individually, it will now be well to turn for a moment to the chief designation of the body of disciples considered as a unit. That designation is "church," or in the Greek form, "ecclesia."
The word "ecclesia" is in itself a very simple term indeed. It is derived from the verb "call" and the preposition "out." An "ecclesia" is a body of persons called out from their houses to a common meeting place, in short it is simply an "assembly," and an assembly of any kind. This simple use of the word is found in Acts 19:32,39,41; the Greek word which is there translated "assembly" is exactly the same word as that which is elsewhere translated "church."
Even before New Testament times, however, the word had begun to be used in a special, religious sense. Here, as so often, the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament prepared the way for New Testament usage. In the Septuagint the word "ecclesia" was used to denote the solemn assembly of the people of Israel. That assembly was of course religious as well as political; for Israel was a theocratic nation. Hence it was no abrupt transition from previous usage when the New Testament writers selected the word "ecclesia" to denote the Christian congregation.
In the New Testament, the word is used in various ways. In the first place, it designates the body of Christians who lived in any particular place. So, for example, the epistles of Paul are addressed to individual "churches." In the second place, however, the word designates the whole body of Christians throughout the world. This usage is prominent in the Epistle to the Ephesians, but it also appears even in the Gospels, in the memorable words of Jesus at Cæsarea Philippi. Matt. 16:18. It is a wonderfully grand conception which is thus disclosed by the familiar word. "The Church" is a chosen people, ruled by the Lord himself, a mighty army, engaged, not in earthly warfare, but in a spiritual campaign of salvation and love.
(6) "The Kingdom of God."—One further conception requires at least a word. What is meant by "the kingdom of God"? This conception is evidently related to the conception of "the Church," but the two are not identical. The kingdom of God is simply that place or that condition where God rules. As the kingdom of Cæsar was the territory over which Cæsar held sway, so the kingdom of God is the realm where God's will is done. In one sense, of course, the kingdom of God embraces the whole universe, for nothing is beyond the reach of God's power. But in the New Testament the term is used in a far deeper sense; it is used to denote the realm where God's will is done, not of necessity, but by willing submission. Wherever human hearts and wills are in true accord with the will of God, there the "kingdom" has come.
In one sense the kingdom of God belongs to the future age. It is never realized fully upon earth; there is here always some lurking trace of sinful resistance. Nevertheless, in the New Testament the kingdom is by no means always represented as future. Though it has not yet been fully realized, it is already present in principle; it is present especially in the Church. The Church gives clear, though imperfect, expression to the idea of the kingdom; the Church is a people whose ruler is God.
Entrance into the Church is not to be obtained by human effort; it is the free gift of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. No other gift is so glorious. If we are members of that chosen people, we need fear nothing in heaven or on earth.
2. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS
Two lessons should be conveyed by our study of to-day: in the first place the lesson of separateness, and in the second place the lesson of unity. Neither can be truly learned without the other. There can be no true Christian unity if individual members of the Christian body make common cause with the unbelieving world. A knowledge of the common enemy will draw us all into closer fellowship. That fellowship need not necessarily be expressed in a common organization; but it will be expressed at least in a common service. Separateness from the world will not mean leaving the world to its fate; the Christian salvation will be offered freely to all. But the gravity of the choice should never, by any false urbanity, be disguised. It is no light difference whether a man is within the people of God or without; there is a definite line of demarcation, and the passing of it means the transition from death into life.
In the Library.—Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": articles on "Church," "Disciple," "Christian." Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Gayford, article on "Church." Hort, "The Christian Ecclesia." Charteris, "The Church of Christ." Westcott, "The Two Empires: The Church and the World," in "The Epistles of St. John," pp. 250-282. "The Epistle to Diognetus," introduction and translation in Lightfoot, "The Apostolic Fathers," pp. 487-489, 501-511. Erdman, "Coming to the Communion."