29 March, 2024

The Christ, the Church, and the Christian

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by | 27 July, 2008 | 0 comments

By Knofel Staton

Is “Christ yes, but the church no” viable? How about, “I”ll support Christ, but not the church?” Is that really possible?

The Korean War was in full swing when I graduated from high school, so I enlisted in the Air Force. During boot camp, the military career counselor told me, “Your aptitude test reveals you would make a good control tower operator; may I request that for you?”

There were several things about his statement I didn”t understand: (1) I did not know I had taken an aptitude test; (2) I had no idea what the word aptitude meant; and (3) I had no idea what a control tower was, let alone what a control tower operator was to do. After all, I had never seen an airport with a concrete runway in my life.

Obviously I learned many essential truths from classes in the Air Force”s “control tower operator technical school.” Here are some of them:

1. Can a control tower provide service to pilots without a control tower operator? No!

2. Can a control tower operator effectively function without a control tower? No!

3. Is a control tower feasible without an airport? No!

4. Is air traffic at a busy airport, such as O”Hare in Chicago, safe without a functional control tower? No!

5. The primary purpose of a control tower operator is for service, not status or salary; it is for others””the pilots and passengers””not for self.

6. The controller must stay focused on the main thing”””the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic,” which is a line we memorized and repeated many times in those classes.

I would not have known that a control tower needed an operator had I not learned it in school. Without that orientation, I may have said, “Control towers yes, but control tower operators, no!” Perhaps all potential and present Christians need an individual “Christian orientation tech school” to realize and to commit to a relationship with Christ and his church as parallel essentials.

Let”s look at it from God”s “radar screen”””his operational manual, the New Testament.

ESSENTIAL TERMS

Certain terms are essential in air traffic control, such as: “hold your position,” “cleared for takeoff,” “this will be a radar vector,” and “cleared to land.” In a similar way, the following terms are functionally essential in Christianity:

“¢ Christian. This word is a translation of the Greek word for Christ with the Greek letters ianos added. Those five letters added to a person”s name or title identify him as a sold-out follower of that other person.

Take, for example, the ianos added to Caesar. Those who were called Caesarianos were easily and clearly recognized by all others as Caesar”s number one followers, advocates, boosters, and promoters of all Caesar practiced and planned. They were his cheerleaders. They supported what he supported, contributed to what he would build, observed his special days, and found fulfillment in living for him.

To be called a Christianos“”translated Christian“”in the first century identified a person who was 100 percent sold out to Christ in his conduct and commission, practices and priorities, and mission and message. Such a person was sold out to Christ, his Father, and his church. A Christianos would never, ever even silently think, Christ yes, but the church no!

“¢ Soldier. (See 2 Timothy 2:3, 4; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). This is a must term to understand in the “Christian tech school,” because spiritual warfare is in full swing. What does it mean to be a soldier in Christ”s army? It means, “It”s not for you to reason why, but to do or die.” It means, “If he said it, that settles it, I believe it.” It means to fight the good fight, to be faithful, to be on guard, to be ready, to follow Christ as God”s commissioned commander-in-chief.

Jesus” first words to seekers were, “Follow me.” It means we are not to be AWOL (away without official leave) by not assembling together (Hebrews 10:25). It means to be “strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10). It means, “to put on the full armor of God,” so that you can take your stand against the devil”s schemes (Ephesians 6:13). It means we are not to fight “against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12). It means we are to accept being disciplined when we mess up (and I certainly have in Christ”s army””the church) for the good of his army and the “soldier.”

As there is no army without soldiers, so there is no church without Christ”s soldiers. No soldier can support the battle with this commitment, “My commanding officer yes, but the army, no.”

“¢ Bride/Saint. The word saint is the most common word referring to Christ”s followers in the New Testament. It was first used in Greek culture to refer to a marriage in which each married person was called a saint“”one set apart to belong to, and live faithfully with””and for””his/her mate as well as with””and for””the biological family that was a result of the marriage.

To be Christ”s saint is to be his bride (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:26, 27; Revelation 19:6-9; 21:1, 2). It means to be faithful to him as our live-in mate. It means we are not to two-time him by linking up with another companion, such as Satan or pagan religious leaders, for to do so is to commit spiritual adultery (2 Corinthians 11:3; Jeremiah 3:8-10). It means to fall in love and remain in love with Christ. It means to deny selfishness in order to be present for and to live for our mate who is Christ and for his (and thus our) spiritual family, the church (Matthew 16:18, 24, 25). It means to financially support Christ”s mission and his missionary church. It means to love him with the kind of love that serves another (agape) and to love him with the kind of love that shares affectionate friendship (philos).

Perhaps in taking a person”s confession, we should have the person state a kind of marriage vow, “To take you, Christ, to be my spiritual mate for better or for worse, in poverty or in wealth, in sickness or in health. And rejecting all other spiritual influences, I promise you my faithfulness, my love, and my life for the rest of my life.”

“¢ Body. The church is never disconnected from Christ, who is the head of his body, the church (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 4:16; 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13). Each Christian functions as a cell in Christ”s body and remains functionally connected, neither inferior nor superior to any other part of the body (1 Corinthians 12:14-27; Romans 12:4-8).

If a cell in our biological body becomes disconnected, it dies. A physical cell cannot say, “A cell yes, but the body no.” Christ calls each disciple to participate with, in, and for the body, to be committed to him as the head, and to all the other parts of his body””and to do the “one anothers” mentioned in the New Testament epistles for the surrounding cells.

It is unacceptable for any cell in Christ”s body to demonstrate or declare, “the head yes, but his body no.” Neither the head nor the body exists on earth without the other. They are essentially connected in the spiritual body, the church, as they are in the physical body.

“¢ Family. The church is Christ”s family on earth (Matthew 12:46-50; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 3:15). That”s why God is called our Father, and Jesus is our elder brother; we are called children of God, and brothers and sisters. We are to answer “yes” to Cain”s question, “Am I my brother”s keeper” (Genesis 4:9). If we don”t answer in the affirmative, we can become our brother”s killer at worst or our brother”s ignorer at best; neither of these honors Christ.

There are more than 90 other terms in the New Testament that connect the Christian to Christ and his church””temple, light, leaven, salt, disciples, and branches, among them””however, none is functionally effective with, “Christ yes, but the church no.” Christ and the church are irreversibly, indispensably, intentionally, and relationally connected.

NEVER CONSIDER, NOT POSSIBLE

A person should never even consider living on earth with and for Christ, but not with and for the church. No person will live with one without the other in Heaven. Make no mistake about it, we will be judged by our faithfulness, commitment, and love to Christ and to his church””his followers, his army, his bride, his body, and his family.

It is not possible to be an on-duty soldier who is not in the army, to be a serving bride who does not have a mate, to be a contributing cell that is not in a body, to be an obedient child who rejects a family, to be a commissioned church without the commissioning Christ, and to be a faithful Christian who refuses to participate in Christ”s church. He lived to love, died to build, and ascended to continue the church. It is what his first-century body began through his second- through 21st-century follower, soldier, bride, body, and family.

A control tower operator without a control tower, or a control tower without an operator, or a control tower without an airport””no! Never!

“Christ yes, but the church no?” No! Never!


 

Knofel Staton is retired in Joplin, Missouri, after serving on the faculty and administration with Hope International University, Fullerton, California.

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